The Abbey of Arrouaise in northern France was the centre of a form of the canonical life known as the Arrouaisian Order, which was popular among the founders of

canonries Canon ( el, κανονικός, translit=kanonikós) is a Christian title usually used to refer to a member of certain bodies in subject to an ecclesiastical rule. Originally, a canon was a cleric living with others in a clergy house or, later, ...

during the decade of the 1130s. The community began to develop when Heldemar joined the

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

Ruggerius in 1090 and approved by the local bishop in 1097. The priory was raised to the status of an

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 ...

in 1121, electing as its first

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

, Gervaise. He impressed people who had the wealth and secular power, sufficient to found an abbey, which they did.

Origins

The

had originated as a hermitage. That had developed into a community which adopted the task of providing a service to travellers through the then, great

Forest A forest is an area of land dominated by trees. Hundreds of definitions of forest are used throughout the world, incorporating factors such as tree density, tree height, land use, legal standing, and ecological function. The United Nations' ...

of Arrouaise in Artois. The Order of Arrouaise was differentiated from others by being basically that of St. Augustine with the more restrained approach of the

Cistercians 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 ...

as a guide to its more austere regimen than that of other

Canons Regular Canons regular are priests who live in community under a rule ( and canon in greek) and are generally organised into religious orders, differing from both secular canons and other forms of religious life, such as clerics regular, designated by a ...

. In general, as time passed, the distinction between the Arrouaisians and other groups of canons regular was less likely to be made, so that in their later history, Arrouaisian houses were often referred to simply as being houses of canons regular. The forest where the community was established was in the form of a belt extending westwards from the Forest of The

Ardennes The Ardennes (french: Ardenne ; nl, Ardennen ; german: Ardennen; wa, Årdene ; lb, Ardennen ), also known as the Ardennes Forest or Forest of Ardennes, is a region of extensive forests, rough terrain, rolling hills and ridges primarily in Be ...

, to the north of the town of Saint-Quentin and towards the town of Bapaume. It is now largely felled. Traffic passed through the forest, in many cases along the remaining lines of

Roman road Roman roads ( la, viae Romanae ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, and were built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Re ...

s. The routes were important commercially and diplomatically for traffic between

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

and

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, ...

, also between England and

Burgundy Burgundy (; french: link=no, Bourgogne ) is a historical territory and former administrative region and province of east-central France. The province was once home to the Dukes of Burgundy from the early 11th until the late 15th century. The c ...

. It will have been mainly by this route that the English and Western Flemings went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

pilgrim A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) who is on Pilgrimage, a journey to a holy place. Typically, this is a physical journey (often on foot) to some place of special significance to the a ...

ages and

diplomatic Diplomatics (in American English, and in most anglophone countries), or diplomatic (in British English), is a scholarly discipline centred on the critical analysis of documents: especially, historical documents. It focuses on the conventions, p ...

journeys. The abbey elected its first abbot, Gervaise in 1121 and was suppressed in 1790, during the course 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 ...

Geography

On the whole, scholars seem vague about where the abbey itself was. It is possible that 'arrouaise' is an adjective indicating a connection with

Arras Arras ( , ; pcd, Aro; historical nl, Atrecht ) is the prefecture of the Pas-de-Calais Departments of France, department, which forms part of the regions of France, region of Hauts-de-France; before the regions of France#Reform and mergers of ...

or, by extension, with Artois, but in the 20th century, at least, these adjectives were respectively 'arrageois' and 'artesian'. However, within the appropriate area and in the higher land between the sources of rivers such as the

Somme __NOTOC__ Somme or The Somme may refer to: Places *Somme (department), a department of France *Somme, Queensland, Australia *Canal de la Somme, a canal in France *Somme (river), a river in France Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Somme'' (book), a ...

Sambre The Sambre (; nl, Samber, ) is a river in northern France and in Wallonia, Belgium. It is a left-bank tributary of the Meuse, which it joins in the Wallonian capital Namur. The source of the Sambre is near Le Nouvion-en-Thiérache, in the Aisne ...

and Escaut, there is a hamlet called l’Arrouaise. It lies at the end of a turning off a back road, the D272 (''

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

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.Le Cateau. The out-of-the-way position of l'Arrouaise would have been appropriate to the hermitage origins but would not be convenient in developing the tradition of service to travellers. More plausibly there was a small abbey, founded in the 11th century, "in the middle of the Forest of Arrouaise", at

Aubencheul-aux-Bois Aubencheul-aux-Bois is a commune in the department of Aisne in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. Geography Aubencheul-aux-Bois is located some 20 km south of Cambrai and 30 km east of Combles. The northwest border of t ...

near the N44 and about halfway between Cambrai and St. Quentin. It lies between

Mesnil-en-Arrouaise Mesnil-en-Arrouaise () is a commune in the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The commune is situated on the D172 road, southwest of Cambrai, in the ancient region of the Arrouaise, which, to the Romans Roman ...

( SE of Bapaume) and

Montigny-en-Arrouaise Montigny-en-Arrouaise is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aisne department The following is a list of the 799 communes in the French department of Aisne. ...

( ENE of St. Quentin). Auboncheul lies on the border between Picardy and Hainaut as represented by the départements of Aisne and Nord. This site, on the St Quentin to Cambrai road, is much better suited to serving travellers, being on both the Paris to Mechelen and the London to Dijon roads. That means the France to Flanders and England to Burgundy diplomatic routes, as well as that from England and western Flanders to Rome. Besides these, the commercial traffic between Italy and Flanders grew in importance during the medieval period. Both Cambrai and St Quentin were part of it. Four kilometres to the south of Aubencheul is Gouy, which used to be called Gouy en Arrouaise. The foundation charters of

Bourne Abbey Bourne Abbey and the Parish Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is a scheduled Grade I church in Bourne, Lincolnshire, England. The building remains in parochial use, despite the 16th-century Dissolution, as the nave was used by the parish, probably ...

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire ...

and

Missenden Abbey Missenden Abbey (also referred to as Great Missenden Abbey) is a former Arrouasian (Augustinian) monastery, founded in 1133 in Great Missenden, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom. The abbey was dissolved in 1538, and the abbey church demolished. I ...

Buckinghamshire Buckinghamshire (), abbreviated Bucks, is a ceremonial county in South East England that borders Greater London to the south-east, Berkshire to the south, Oxfordshire to the west, Northamptonshire to the north, Bedfordshire to the north-ea ...

both describe the dedication of Arrouaise as being to St Nicholas. There is an

aerial photograph Aerial photography (or airborne imagery) is the taking of photographs from an aircraft or other airborne platforms. When taking motion pictures, it is also known as aerial videography. Platforms for aerial photography include fixed-wing ai ...

of the site as a crop mark.

Arrouaisian houses

In England

(SS Peter and Paul) *Beaulieu * Carlisle Cathedral *

Dorchester Abbey The Abbey Church of St Peter and St Paul, more usually called Dorchester Abbey, is a Church of England parish church in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire, about southeast of Oxford. It was formerly a Norman abbey church and was built on the s ...

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

(St. Peter) * Lesnes Abbey *

Lilleshall Abbey Lilleshall Abbey was an Augustinian abbey in Shropshire, England, today located north of Telford. It was founded between 1145 and 1148 and followed the austere customs and observance of the Abbey of Arrouaise in northern France. It suffered f ...

Notley Abbey Notley Abbey was an Augustinian abbey founded in the 12th century near Long Crendon, Buckinghamshire, England. A team from Oxford excavated Notley Abbey in 1937, establishing a layout and timeline of the building's construction. The building ...

(SS Mary and John the Baptist) *Warter

In France

*Arrouaise Abbey (St. Nicholas) *Autrey *Beaulieu Abbey (Saint Graal)6km east of Marquise, between

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

Hist Opale site
quotes Dom Gosse, ''Histoire d'Arrouaise'' (p. 353)

In Ireland

* Annaghdown * Bangor * Ballinskelligs *Clonard *Dublin *Duleek *Durrow *Kells *Knock *Knock Abbey, County Louth. *Louth *Navan *Saul *Termonfeckin *Trim

Scotland

* Cambuskenneth Abbey (St. Mary)

Notes

External links

Canons Regular of Arrouaise
and scroll to ''Blesseds of the Canons Regular'' then click ''Heldemar''

in

Luton Luton () is a town and unitary authority with borough status, in Bedfordshire, England. At the 2011 census, the Luton built-up area subdivision had a population of 211,228 and its built-up area, including the adjacent towns of Dunstable an ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

an Arrouaisian house
in

, England
more on Bourne AbbeyArrouaisian houses
in

, England
an Arrouaisian house
in

Shropshire Shropshire (; alternatively Salop; abbreviated in print only as Shrops; demonym Salopian ) is a landlocked historic county in the West Midlands region of England. It is bordered by Wales to the west and the English counties of Cheshire to th ...

an Arrouaisian house in Ireland
See Reform and Change.

Arrouaisian influence was still alive in the late eighteenth century.
The Abbé Bédu's History of Bapaume: published 1865, in French.
See particularly Chapter III.
BourneCarlisleDorchester, OxonHarroldLesnesLilleshallMissendenNutley (Notley)Warter
{{Authority control Christian monasteries established in the 11th century Augustinian monasteries in France Arrouaisians Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution 1790 disestablishments in France