Aiguebelle Abbey (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Aiguebelle) is a

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

monastery situated in the communes of

Montjoyer Montjoyer (; oc, Montjoier) is a commune in the Drôme department in southeastern France. Population See also *Aiguebelle Abbey *Communes of the Drôme department The following is a list of the 363 communes of the Drôme department of Fra ...

and

Réauville Réauville (; oc, Reauvila) is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population See also *Aiguebelle Abbey *Communes of the Drôme department *Albert Severin Roche, WW1 Legion o ...

in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Drôme Drôme (; Occitan: ''Droma''; Arpitan: ''Drôma'') is the southernmost department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. Named after the river Drôme, it had a population of 516,762 as of 2019.

, on the borders of the

Dauphiné The Dauphiné (, ) is a former province in Southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was originally the Dauphiné of Viennois. In the 12th centu ...

and of

Provence Provence (, , , , ; oc, Provença or ''Prouvènço'' , ) is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which extends from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the Italian border to the east; it is bor ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

History

Benedictines

The first monastery here was

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 ...

, founded in 1045 by Hugues Adhemar, baron of

Grignan Grignan (; oc, Grinhan) is a commune in the Drôme department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in southeastern France. It has a Renaissance castle and is mentioned in the letters that Madame de Sévigné wrote to her daughter, Madame de Gr ...

, and visited by

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

in 1107, but shortly afterwards it fell into disuse.

Cistercians

The abbey was re-founded as a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

monastery by Gontard Loup, lord of Rochefort-en-Valdaine, in 1137, and settled from

Morimond Abbey Morimond Abbey is a religious complex in Parnoy-en-Bassigny, Haute-Marne department, in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France. It was the fourth of the four great daughter abbeys of Cîteaux Abbey, of primary importance in the spread of the Cis ...

, of which it was a daughter house. The founder endowed it with land nearby, and through the 12th and 13th centuries other benefactors added to its lands, thus ensuring its prosperity. Already by 1167 it was sufficiently established to found a daughter house of its own, Fénier Abbey, closely followed by Le Bouchet Abbey in 1169. By the end of the 13th century the abbey was extremely well established and influential, but gradually lost its position through the 14th century. In common with many other monasteries it suffered from the effects of the

Black Death The Black Death (also known as the Pestilence, the Great Mortality or the Plague) was a bubonic plague pandemic occurring in Western Eurasia and North Africa from 1346 to 1353. It is the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causi ...

and the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

, and also from changing views of spirituality which led to a fall in the number of vocations, especially among the

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

s who worked the estates, which in turn led to the estates being leased out. In 1515 its governance passed into the hands of

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

s, which produced still more decline. By the time of 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 ...

, in 1791, when the abbey was dissolved, the dispersed community consisted of only three monks. The abbey's goods were sold off, but the buildings were too far from transport connections to be worth the effort of demolishing for the materials, and therefore were left standing.

Trappists

In 1815 the monastery was refounded by

Trappists The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

led by Pierre-François de Paul Malmy (Père Étienne) coming from

La Valsainte La Valsainte Charterhouse or La Valsainte (Latin: ''Vallis sanctorum omnium'', later ''Vallis Sancta'') situated in La Valsainte in the district of Gruyère, Canton of Fribourg, is the only remaining extant Carthusian monastery in Switzerland ...

, an abbey in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

under the leadership of

Augustin de Lestrange Augustin de Lestrange (secular name Louis-Henri de Lestrange) (born in 1754, in the Château de Colombier-le-Vieux, Ardèche, France; died at Lyon, 16 July 1827) was a French Trappist abbot, an exile from France after the French Revolution. Lif ...

and under pursuit by revolutionary forces at the time. The new foundation flourished, and by 1850 had 233 monks. The thriving Trappist community was able to found several other monasteries. In 1843 a Trappist community was established at Staoueli in

Algeria ) , image_map = Algeria (centered orthographic projection).svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Algiers , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , relig ...

, later Abbey of Our Lady of Atlas, which in turn gave rise to two communities, Notre-Dame de Tibhirine, at Tibhirine in Algeria, and Notre-Dame de l'Atlas au Maroc, at

Midelt Midelt (Berber language: ⵎⵉⴷⴻⵍⵜ, Arabic: ميدلت) is a town in Morocco, in the high plains between the Middle Atlas and High Atlas mountain ranges. With a population of 55,304 recorded in the 2014 Moroccan census, Midelt serves as t ...

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

. Aiguebelle also founded a community at

Koutaba Koutaba is a town and commune in Cameroon. Gallery File:Montagne Koutaba1.jpg, View of Koutaba Mountain File:Montagne de cratère à Koutaba.jpg, View of Koutaba Mountain File:Montagne Koutaba26.jpg, Waterfall on Koutaba Mountain File:Montagne Ko ...

Cameroon Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...

. In France Aiguebelle undertook the foundation of

Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is a municipality in Quebec, Canada. It encircles the city of Trois-Pistoles and includes the offshore Île aux Basques. Geography Notre-Dame-des-Neiges is located on the southern slope of the St. Lawrence River, 250 ...

, in

Ardèche Ardèche (; oc, Ardecha; frp, Ardecha) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Abbey of Sainte-Marie-du-Désert at Bellegarde-Sainte-Marie (

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; oc, Nauta Garona, ; en, Upper Garonne) is a department in the Occitanie region of Southwestern France. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's ...

); Acey Abbey at

Vitreux Vitreux () is a commune in the Jura department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté region in eastern France. Population See also * Acey Abbey * Communes of the Jura department The following is a list of the 494 communes of the Jura depar ...

( Jura); the

Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes The Abbey of Notre-Dame des Dombes (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame-des-Dombes) is a former Trappist monastery located in Le Plantay in the Dombes region, in the Ain department of eastern France. It is now occupied by members of the Chemin Neuf movemen ...

at Le Plantay (

Ain Ain (, ; frp, En) is a department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in Eastern France. Named after the Ain river, it is bordered by the Saône and Rhône rivers. Ain is located on the country's eastern edge, on the Swiss border, where it ...

); and Bonnecombe Abbey at Comps-la-Grand-Ville (

Aveyron Aveyron (; oc, Avairon; ) is a department in the region of Occitania, Southern France. It was named after the river Aveyron. Its inhabitants are known as ''Aveyronnais'' (masculine) or ''Aveyronnaises'' (feminine) in French. The inhabitants o ...

). Aiguebelle also oversees the nuns of Notre-Dame de Bon-Secours at

Blauvac Blauvac () is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. Notable people * Georges Hugon (23 July 1904 – 19 June 1980), French composer, died in Blauvac See also *Communes of the Vaucl ...

in the

Vaucluse Vaucluse (; oc, Vauclusa, label= Provençal or ) is a department in the southeastern French region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. It had a population of 561,469 as of 2019.Fontfroide Abbey Fontfroide Abbey (french: Abbaye Sainte-Marie de Fontfroide; la, Fons frigidus) is a former Cistercian monastery in France, situated 15 kilometers south-west of Narbonne near to the Spanish border. It was founded in 1093 by Aimery I, Visc ...

- still to have the original passage of the lay-brothers, by which they were enabled to move round the abbey between their quarters, their places of work and their part of the church without disturbing the monks. The abbey church was created a

minor basilica In the Catholic Church, a basilica is a designation given by the Pope to a church building. Basilicas are distinguished for ceremonial purposes from other churches. The building need not be a basilica in the architectural sense (a rectangular ...

in 1937.

1891 Murder

In 1891 a notorious crime occurred at the abbey. On 28 October Father Ildefonse, the procurator, was found murdered and valuables in his care stolen. The perpetrator proved to be a novice, Brother Eugène, whose secular name was Matthias Hadelt. A native of

Saarlouis Saarlouis (; french: link=no, Sarrelouis, ; formerly Sarre-Libre and Saarlautern) is a town in Saarland, Germany, capital of the district of Saarlouis. In 2020, the town had a population of 34,409. Saarlouis, as the name implies, is located on t ...

, Hadelt murdered Father Ildefonse upon being discovered in the act of stealing. Hadelt had committed many similar thefts from monasteries. He was sentenced to death on 4 May 1892, and died by

guillotine A guillotine is an apparatus designed for efficiently carrying out executions by beheading. The device consists of a tall, upright frame with a weighted and angled blade suspended at the top. The condemned person is secured with stocks at th ...

at Valence on 5 July.Australian newspaper report of Hadelt's trial
/ref>

Notes

Sources and external links

Website of the present abbey

{{Authority control Cistercian monasteries in France Trappist monasteries in France 1137 establishments in Europe 1130s establishments in France Religious organizations established in the 1130s Buildings and structures in Drôme Basilica churches in France Christian monasteries established in the 12th century