Fontevraud Abbey: 700 years of feminine power

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The Abbey of Fontevraud is an astonishing portion of medieval architecture and history, located successful the Loire Valley successful the halfway of the aptly-named Fontevraud-l’Abbaye village. The Abbey was the halfway of a immense European powerfulness operation led by a azygous pistillate Abbess for astir 700 years, a highly antithetic hierarchy.

Robert d’Arbrissel, its founder, was a talented travelling preacher whose eloquence persuaded galore to travel his spiritual teachings. In 1096, helium spoke successful the beingness of Pope Urbain II successful Angers, who was truthful impressed that helium ordered him to give each his clip to preaching the gospel. Gautier de Montsoreau, a vassal of the Count of Anjou, gave to Robert a territory called Fons (fountain) Ebraldis (Evraud), named aft the galore springs successful the country and a section bandit whose hideout was successful the wood nearby. A tiny religion was constructed initially, but the fig of followers grew truthful rapidly that the existent Abbey was built straight implicit the uncompleted operation successful 1101. At the aforesaid time, Robert d’Arbrissel created the “Fontevrist Order”, a spiritual question that included some men and women monks housed successful abstracted monasteries. They practiced “ora et labora” (prayer and work), poverty, chastity, silence, and obedience arsenic preached by St Benedict.

A azygous pistillate Abbess ruled implicit the full structure, reporting straight to the King of France and to the Pope. D’Arbrissel saw the submission of the masculine monks to a pistillate person arsenic the eventual enactment of subservience to the Lord, inspired by the submission of Jesus and St John to the Virgin Mary. Confiding the enactment of not lone the Abbey but the full Fontevrist Order to a pistillate was a arguable determination astatine the time, and initially, galore of the antheral monks did not hold to taxable to a woman.

Their expanding desertions led Mathilde d’Anjou, the 2nd Abbess, to petition enactment from Pope Anastace IV successful 1154; helium confirmed her enactment presumption and halted the desertion of the monks. At its height, Fontevraud was the biggest monastic metropolis successful Europe, with much than 700 antheral and pistillate monks surviving wrong Fontevraud Abbey successful 4 abstracted monasteries. An further 2000 monks housed successful 70 monasteries built passim France, Spain, and England belonged to the Fontevrist Order, each of whom reported to the Abbess of the cardinal Abbey successful Fontevraud.

Robert d’Arbrissel was precise well-connected among the starring class; helium had the enactment of Foulque V, the Count of Anjou, whose vassal granted him the onshore connected which helium built the Abbey. All of the 36 Abbesses who ruled Fontevraud Abbey from 1115 to 1792 were of noble descent.

The Abbey gained royal presumption successful 1189 erstwhile Eleanor of Aquitaine (“Aliénor d’Aquitaine” successful French) decided to hide her husband, King Henry II Plantagenet, connected the Abbey grounds. Her determination was some a governmental and a applicable one: Fontevraud was located successful the halfway of the Plantagenet’s immense kingdom that extended for 50 years from the Pyrénées mountains bordering Spain to the confederate borderline of Scotland, and Henry died successful adjacent Chinon successful the vigor of summer, excessively acold distant for his assemblage to beryllium transported to his preferred burial tract successful Grandmont successful the Limousin region.

The recumbent effigies (“gisants” successful French) of Eleanor of Aquitaine, her hubby King Henry II Plantagenet, and her lad Richard the Lionheart were each designed by Eleanor herself and are inactive disposable successful the Abbey cathedral. Amazingly, they’re inactive intact fixed the turbulent past of the Abbey. Eleanor resided successful the Abbey during the past 5 years of her beingness and was buried determination beside her hubby aft she died successful 1204. Thus, Fontevraud became the royal burial crushed of the Plantagenets.

Recumbent effigies (“gisants” successful French) of Eleanor of Aquitaine and her husband, King Henry II Plantagenet, successful Fontevraud Abbey. credit: Wikipedia

The prestige and royal presumption of the Abbey drew galore noble families and descendants of royalty to amended their children there, including Eleanor of Aquitaine’s ain children and King Louis XV’s 4 youngest daughters. Of the 36 Abbesses who ruled Fontevraud, 5 were relatives of the royal Bourbon family; these 5 royal Abbesses ruled successful succession implicit the Abbey for 150 years. Among them was Renée de Bourbon, the 27th Abbess, who was a nonstop descendant of Saint Louis IX, King of France.

The 33rd Abbess, Marie-Madeleine Gabrielle Adélaïde de Rochechouart, sister of the famed mistress of King Louis IV, Madame de Montespan, was appointed erstwhile she was 25 years old, pursuing the past Abbess of Bourbon descent, Jeanne de Bourbon. The King of France called her “the pearl of the Abbesses” due to the fact that of her intellect and wit. She invited galore writers and philosophers to the Abbey during her reign.

Julie-Sophie-Gillette de Gondrin de Pardaillan d’Antin (known arsenic “Julie d’Antin”), the past reigning Abbess, had entered the Abbey astatine the property of 3 and remained determination her full beingness until French revolutionaries ransacked Fontevraud successful 1792. She escaped from the Abbey disguised arsenic a peasant woman.

Julie d’Antin, the past Abbess. credit: Wikipedia

In 1804, Napoléon ordered the conversion of the Abbey into a prison; it opened successful 1814, lodging up to 2800 prisoners until its shutdown successful 1963, with a estimation among French criminals arsenic 1 of the harshest prisons successful the country. An grounds successful 1 of the erstwhile situation buildings tells the communicative of this darker information of the Abbey’s history, including the memories of writer Jean Genet, who was imprisoned determination during his turbulent youth.

Renovation of portions of the Abbey had begun successful 1840, but it was not opened to the nationalist until 1985. A modern creation depository was opened successful 2021, and determination are continuous modern creator residencies on-site. A existent creation task nearing completion is the recreation of the Abbey bells. The archetypal bells, six successful all, were melted down during the French Revolution. For the past 6 years, a azygous doorbell was commissioned each twelvemonth to an creator who chose a taxable representing 1 of the humanities figures of the Abbey. The bells are presently connected show connected the Abbey grounds.

Step done the ample treble doors of Fontevraud Abbey and participate different world…a town-within-a-town dispersed implicit 16 Ha (32 acres approximately).

This nonfiction tin lone picture tiny tidbits of what it’s similar to sojourn this astonishing place. It’s precise casual to walk an full time (or 2!) exploring the buildings, history, and art. You tin adjacent walk the nighttime successful the Abbey; a hotel and a Michelin-starred restaurant person been installed successful 1 of its priories.

Have you ever visited this humanities monument? What did you bask most?