The Abbey of St. Vincent, Laon (french: Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon) was 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 ...

monastery in

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. ...

, Picardy, northern France.

History

The abbey was founded in c. 580 and initially followed the Rule of St. Columbanus, adopting the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

in 948. In November 882, after the monks had been decimated by the

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

invaders, the abbey was sacked, pillaged, burned and ruined. A few years later, Bishop Didon had the church rebuilt and settled a dozen monks here again. In 925, Bishop Adelhelm took advantage of a visit by King Rudolf and obtained privileges from him for the new church to be built. The chronicler

Aimoin Aimoin of Fleury ( la, Aimoinus (Annonius; Aemonius) Floriacensis; ), French chronicler, was born at Villefranche-de-Longchat, Southwestern France about 960. Early in his life he entered the monastery of Fleury, where he became a monk and t ...

of Fleury reports that King Louis IV was anointed king in the abbey in 936 by Archbishop

Artald of Reims Artald of Reims (died October 1, 961) was twice Archbishop of Reims. He held the post first 931 to 940, when he was displaced by Hugh of Vermandois. He was restored, with the help of Louis IV of France, in 946. Biography In 931 he was imposed as b ...

. A little later, the church outside the city was plundered once again by

Hugh the Great Hugh the Great (16 June 956) was the duke of the Franks and count of Paris. Biography Hugh was the son of King Robert I of France and Béatrice of Vermandois.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der E ...

during his unsuccessful siege of Laon in the battle against Louis IV. Bishop Rorico, an illegitimate son of

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person t ...

and half-brother of Louis IV, sent for twelve Benedictine monks from Fleury Abbey who were subject to the more moderate Benedictine rule. On 26 September 987, the privileges granted by his predecessors were confirmed by King

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

. In 1072, Bishop Helinand consecrated a new monastery church, and in 1082 Abbot Adalbero had the abbey surrounded by a wall, also to separate the monastery precinct from the town, which in the meantime had grown right up to the abbey. In 1145, the church caught fire during a storm. Reconstruction did not begin until 1175. Pope Alexander III placed the abbey directly under the Holy See in 1171, thus emphasizing its importance. A 13th-century wall painting to the left of the altar was discovered in 1769 by Canon Villette (archdeacon of the church of Laon) showing three generations of the chevaliers d'Eppes (Jehan died in 1273, a younger Jehan who died in 1293, and a third family member with no epitaph). In 1359 during the Hundred Years War the troops of

Edward III of England Edward III (13 November 1312 – 21 June 1377), also known as Edward of Windsor before his accession, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from January 1327 until his death in 1377. He is noted for his military success and for restoring ...

attacked a poorly fortified part of the town called ''la Villette'' and set fire to the abbey, destroying its rich library. Only 257 manuscripts were saved, fifty of which are now in the Laon City Library, and a few more in the Royal Library of Belgium. In 1520, Abbot Jean Charpentier had the church façade renovated and the vaults of the nave rebuilt. He was the last regular abbot of Saint-Vincent, after him the abbey was subjected to the system of commendatory abbots. Geoffroy de Billy, later ''député aux états-généraux'' for the region of

Blois Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours. With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the most populated city of the ...

from 1576 to 1577, became abbot of Saint-Vincent and also of abbey of Saint-Jean, Amiens. In 1561, he fought against

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

ism when he was involved in the case of Nicole Aubrey, at which time he exorcised 30 devils, including four from Nicole herself. In 1594, King Henry IV set up his general quarters in the abbey during the siege of Laon. In order to increase the range of his guns, he had some of them placed on the vaults of the church, which were thus subjected to strong vibrations. As a result of the next siege of Laon, that of 1618, the nave and the bell tower collapsed. The church was not rebuilt for the time being, so that from then on services were held inside the church but in the open air. It was not until 1640 that reconstruction began, which ended in 1771 with the completion of the three-gabled abbot's palace. The abbey 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 ...

. Many of the buildings were dismantled and the materials sold off, and others were destroyed later in the 19th century, leaving the abbot's lodging as the only surviving structure. Permission for demolition was issued in 2007. A fire on 14 June 2008, apparently arson, caused serious damage.lunion.presse.fr
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Gallery

Église st-Vincent Laon.JPG, View of the former abbey and the church Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon 2007-05-06.jpg, The building in 2007 Abbaye st-Vincent 06044.JPG , Façade of the abbot's lodging after the fire of 2008 Muraille et meutrières 06050.JPG, Abbey wall forming part of the ramparts of Laon File:Saint-vincent de laon.jpg, Abbey church interior 1860

References

Sources

* (1re éd. v. 1680/1685)

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Laon, Saint Vincents Abbey Benedictine monasteries in France Monasteries in Aisne Saint Vincents Abbey