The abbey of Saint-Ausone is a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

founded in Angouleme in the Charente in the 11th century. Image:AngStAusone6.JPG, Cloître at Saint-Ausone Image:AngStAusone4.JPG, Autre côté du cloître Image:AngStAusone5.JPG, Clocher de l'église qui est près des remparts Image:AngStAusone7.JPG, Bibliothèque et toit du pigeonnier

History of the Abbey

Ausone would have been the first bishop of Angouleme. His burial would be on the edge of the city at the site where the Benedictine abbey of women took place.

Foundation of the Abbey

It is placed under the aegis of St Ausone and its term "Sepultus in confinio urbis, in occidental parte." The ladies of Saint Ausona kept their monastery of Saint Calfagia, contemporary of Saint Ausonius, the first bishop of Angouleme. The monastery was created at the bottom of the ramparts, near the tomb of Saint Ausone.

Evolution of status

It is a Benedictine abbey of women. In memory of Saint Ausone the entrance of the bishops in Angoulême was done in procession of the monastery of Saint-Ausone until the cathedral. The illegitimate daughter of Charles d'Orleans, Madeleine was abbess of 1476 to 1543.

Loss of Religious Function

In 1792 (following the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

), the church and the Abbey of the Benedictines were disused and transformed into a prison. The buildings were used for a Central School which then became a college and then a

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

. In 1844, it was decided to shave everything to rebuild a new high school and better adapted to the plans of the architect

Paul Abadie Paul Abadie (9 November 1812 – 3 August 1884) was a French architect and building restorer. He is considered a central representative of French historicism. He was the son of architect Paul Abadie Sr. Abadie worked on the restoration of Not ...

snr. The present chapel was built between 1862 and 1867 by Paul Abadie Jr on the site of the parish church of the late 18th century. Before the reconstruction of the church of Saint-Ausone in 1864 excavations took place which allowed the discovery of sarcophagi. Today There's nothing left of the Monastic buildings The parish church was rebuilt on the site of the abbey. Located below and outside the ramparts, it forms with the archive one of the buildings of the archbishopric. They also include a cloister and numerous annexes including a dovecote.

Abbots

* 11??-1152 : Sainte Caléfagie

Gallia Christiana The ''Gallia Christiana'', a type of work of which there have been several editions, is a documentary catalogue or list, with brief historical notices, of all the Catholic dioceses and abbeys of France from the earliest times, also of their occupan ...

* 1152-1222 : Alix I * 1222-1225 : Agnès I de Pons * 1225-1260 : Agnès II de Chambon * 1260-1261 : Marguerite I de Mixe de Luxe * 1261-1284 : Guillemette de Villars * 1285-1306 : Isabelle I * 1307-1311 : Gillette * 1311-1312 : Barthélémie I * 1312-1324 : Alix II de Lusignan de La Marche * 1324-1332 : Pétronille I de La Caille * 1333-1338 : Isabelle II du Tison d’Argence * 1338-1370 : Barthélémie II Geoffroide de Saint-Amand * 1370-1383 : Aude * 1384-1392 : Agnès III * 1393-1395 : Jeanne I * 1395-1448 : Agnès IV de Montferrand * 1449-1453 : Marguerite II de Ragos * 1454-1461 : Marguerite III des Aigues * 1461-1489 : Marguerite IV de Gaing * 1489-1490 : Pétronille II de Gaing * 1490-1519 : Madeleine de Valois-Orléans-Angouleme * 1519-1533 : Renée Guibert * 1533-1550 : Marie Paulmier * 1550-1585 : Barbe de Saint-Gelais de Lusignan de Lansac * 1585-1587 : Anne d’Arnaud de Chalonne * 1587-1654 : Luce de Montmorency-Bouteville de Luxe * 1654-1682 : Charlotte-Catherine d’Aure de Gramont * 1682-1686 : Angélique d’Espinay de Lignery * 1686-1711 : Jeanne II de Villelume du Bastiment * 1711-1747 : Françoise-Gabrielle de Valois-Orléans-Rothelin * 1747-1759 : Jeanne II Elisabeth-Thérèse de Pérusse des Cars de La Renaudie * 1759-1766 : Gabrielle-Marthe de Pérusse des Cars de La Renaudie * 1766-1793 : Marie-Françoise de Durfort de Civrac

References

{{reflist Angoulême Benedictine monasteries in France