Abbey of Saint-Jean-le-Grand, Autun The Abbey of Saint-Jean-le-Grand (french: Abbaye Saint-Jean-le-Grand d'Autun) is a former

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 ...

nunnery, in

Autun Autun () is a subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the early Roman Empire by Emperor Augustus as Augustodunum to give a Ro ...

, Saône-et-Loire, France, possibly founded by Queen Brunhilda and Bishop Syagrius of Autun. According to Gregory of Tours, it already existed in 589. This monastery was plundered and destroyed by the

Saracen upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Pe ...

s in 732, and again in 765 by

Waiofar Waiofar, also spelled Waifar, Waifer or Waiffre (died 2 June 768), was the last independent Duke of Aquitaine from 745 to 768. He peacefully succeeded his father, Hunald I, after the latter entered a monastery. He also inherited the conflict with t ...

, Duke of Aquitaine.

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

had it rebuilt and gave it the name of St. John.Éliane Vergnolle, ''L'ancienne abbaye de Saint-Jean-le-Grand à Autun'' in "Bulletin monumental", no 135-II, 1977, pp. 85-107
online version
It was suppressed during 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The abbey church was demolished; a parish church was built on the same site in the 1850s. Most of the conventual buildings were also demolished. The few that survive are from no earlier than the late 17th century and early 18th centuries.

References

Benedictine nunneries in France Buildings and structures in Saône-et-Loire {{France-Christian-monastery-stub