Bec Abbey, formally the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec (french: Abbaye Notre-Dame du Bec), 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')
, found ...
monastic foundation in the
Eure
Eure () is a department in Normandy in Northwestern France, named after the river Eure. Its prefecture is Évreux. In 2019, Eure had a population of 599,507.département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. Ninety- ...
'', in the Bec valley midway between the cities of
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the region of Normandy and the department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of the largest and most prosperous cities of medieval Europe, the population ...
Normandy
Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...
, and was the most influential
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 ...
of the 12th-century Anglo- Norman kingdom.
Like all abbeys, Bec maintained annals of the house but uniquely its first abbots also received individual biographies, brought together by the monk of Bec, Milo Crispin. Because of the abbey's cross-Channel influence, these hagiographic lives sometimes disclose historical information of more than local importance.
Name
The name of the abbey derives from the bec, or stream, that runs nearby. The word derives from the Scandinavian root, ''bekkr''.
First foundation
The abbey was founded in 1034 by Saint Herluin, whose
life
Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...
Abbot of Westminster
The Abbot of Westminster was the head ( abbot) of Westminster Abbey.
List
Notes
ReferencesTudorplace.com.ar{Unreliable source?, certain=y, reason=self published website; and Jorge H. Castelli is not an expert, date=January 2015
*
Westminst ...
, formerly of Bec, and collated with three other lives by Milo Crispin. Abbey construction began in 1034 and continued through 1035. Further lands were added through 1040. Saint Herluin was a Norman knight who in about 1031 left the court of Gilbert, Count of Brionne, to devote himself to a life of religion: the '' commune'' of Le Bec Hellouin preserves his name. One hundred and thirty-six monks made their profession while Herluin was in charge.
With the arrival of Lanfranc of Pavia, Bec became a focus of 11th century intellectual life. Lanfranc, who was already famous for his lectures at
Avranches
Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''.
History
By the end of the Roman period ...
, came to teach as prior and master of the monastic school, but left in 1062, to become abbot of St. Stephen's Abbey,
Caen
Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Archbishop of Canterbury. He was followed as abbot by Anselm, also later an Archbishop of Canterbury, as was the fifth abbot,
Theobald of Bec
Theobald of Bec ( c. 1090 – 18 April 1161) was a Norman archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. His exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, risin ...
. Many distinguished ecclesiastics, probably including the future
Pope Alexander II
Pope Alexander II (1010/1015 – 21 April 1073), born Anselm of Baggio, was the head of the Roman Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1061 to his death in 1073. Born in Milan, Anselm was deeply involved in the Pataria reform ...
and Saint
Ivo of Chartres
Ivo of Chartres (also Ives, Yves, or Yvo; la, Ivo Carnutensis; 1040 – 23 December 1115), also known as Saint Ivo in the Roman Catholic Church, was the Bishop of Chartres, France from 1090 until his death, and an important canonist during the ...
, were educated in the school at Bec.
The life of the founder (''Vita Herluini'') was written by Gilbert Crispin. Archbishop Lanfranc also wrote a ''Chronicon Beccense'' of the life of Herlui. Milo Crispin's biography of the first four abbots was published at Paris in 1648.
The followers of
William the Conqueror
William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England
The monarchy of the United Kingdom, ...
supported the abbey, enriching it with extensive properties in
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 ...
. Bec also owned and managed St Neots Priory as well as a number of other British foundations, including
Goldcliff Priory
Goldcliff Priory was a Benedictine monastery in Goldcliff, Newport, South Wales, founded in 1113 by Robert de Chandos and subject to the Abbey of Bec in Normandy.Williams, D. H., (1970) "Goldcliff Priory", The Monmouthshire Antiquary, 3:1 (1 ...
in Monmouthshire founded in 1113 by Robert de Chandos. The village of Tooting Bec, now a London suburb, is so named because the abbey owned the land.
Bec Abbey was the original burial place of the
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
, whose bones were later transferred to Rouen Cathedral.
Bec Abbey was damaged during the Wars of Religion and left a ruin in 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 conside ...
but the 15th-century St. Nicholas Tower (') from the medieval monastery is still standing.
Second foundation
In 1948 the site was re-settled as the ''Abbaye de Notre-Dame du Bec'' by Olivetan monks led by Dom Grammont, who effected some restorations. The abbey is known for its links with Anglicanism and has been visited by successive archbishops of Canterbury. The abbey library contains the John Graham Bishop deposit of 5,000 works concerning Anglicanism.
Today the Abbey is probably best known for the pottery the monks produce.
Image:Abbaye du Bec église abbatiale.jpg, Abbey church
Image:Aussenansicht der Abtei Le Bec.jpg, Residential building
File:Abbaye_Notre-Dame_du_Bec_R04.jpg, Tour Saint-Nicolas
Image:Abbaye du Bec tour S Nicolas closer2.jpg, Close-up of the Tour Saint-Nicolas
Image:Abbaye du Bec-Hellouin - Le cloître.jpg, Cloister
File:Sarcophages.jpg, Sarcophagi in the park of the abbey
File:Moine de l'abbaye du Bec-Hellouni.jpg , Morning in the abbey grounds
List of abbots
The following is a list of the abbots:
* 1034–1078: Herluin (or Hellouin)
* 1078–1093: Anselm (afterwards archbishop of Canterbury)
* 1093–1124: Guillaume de Montfort-sur-Risle
* 1124–1136: Boson
* 1136–1138:
Theobald Theobald is a Germanic name, Germanic dithematic name, composed from the elements ''theodiscus, theod-'' "people" and ''bald'' "bold". The name arrived in England with the Norman Conquest, Normans.
The name occurs in many spelling variations, incl ...
(afterwards archbishop of Canterbury)
* 1139–1149: Létard
* 1149–1179: Roger de Bailleul (elected archbishop of Canterbury, but declined the position)
* 1179–1187: Osbern
* 1187–1194: Roger II
* 1195–1197: Gauthier
* 1197–1198: Hugues de Cauquainvilliers
* 1198–1211: Guillaume Le Petit
* 1211–1223: Richard de Saint-Léger ''alias'' de Bellevue (afterwards
bishop of Évreux
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
)
* 1223–1247: Henri de Saint-Léger
* 1247–1265: Robert de Clairbec
* 1265–1272: Jean de Guineville
* 1272–1281: Pierre de la Cambe
* 1281–1304: Ymer de Saint-Ymer
* 1304–1327: Gilbert de Saint-Étienne
* 1327–1335: Geoffroy Faé (afterwards Bishop of Évreux)
* 1335–1351: Jean des Granges
* 1351–1361: Robert de Rotes ''alias'' Couraye
* 1361–1388: Guillaume de Beuzeville ''alias'' Popeline
* 1388–1391: Estout d’Estouteville
* 1391–1399: Geoffroy Harenc
* 1399–1418: Guillaume d’Auvillars
* 1418–1430: Robert Vallée
* 1430–1446: Thomas Frique
* 1446–1452: Jean de La Motte
* 1452–1476: Geoffroy d’Épaignes
* 1476–1484: Jean Boucard
* 1484–1491: Robert d’Évreux
* 1491–1515: Guillaume Guérin
* 1515–1515: Jean Ribault
* 1515–1520: Adrien Gouffier de Boissy (created cardinal in 1515, also
bishop of Coutances
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Coutances (–Avranches) ( Latin: ''Dioecesis Constantiensis (–Abrincensis)''; French: ''Diocèse de Coutances (–Avranches)'') is a diocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. Its mother church is the Cat ...
and the administrator of the see of Albi)
* 1520–1533:
Jean d'Orléans-Longueville Jean d'Orléans-Longueville (1484, in Parthenay, Château de Parthenay — 24 September 1533, in Tarascon), Cardinal de Longueville was a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church for six months in 1533.He was made a cardinal 3 ...
(also
archbishop of Toulouse
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...
and
bishop of Orléans
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or offic ...
archbishop of Sens
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Sens and Auxerre (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Senonensis et Antissiodorensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Sens et Auxerre'') is a Latin Rite Archdiocese of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The Archdiocese compri ...
and
bishop of Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est r ...
)
* 1572–1591: Claude de Lorraine
* 1591–1597: Emeric de Vic
* 1597–1661: Dominique de Vic (also archbishop of Auch)
* 1661–1664: ''vacant''
* 1664–1707: Jacques-Nicolas Colbert (also
archbishop of Rouen
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen ( Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the ...
bishop of Autun
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Augustodunensis (–Cabillonensis–Matisconensis–Cluniacensis)''; French: ''Diocèse d'Autun (–Chalon-sur-Saône–Mâcon–Cluny)''), more simply ...
, later archbishop of Lyon)
* 1790–1948: ''vacant''
* 1948–1986:
* 1988–1990: Philippe Aubin
* 1990–1996: Philibert Zobel
* 1996–2020: Paul-Emmanuel Clénet
* Anonymous. ''Chronique du Bec et Chronique de François Carré'' (ed. A.-A. Porée). Rouen: Meétŕie, 1883.
* Anonymous. ''De libertate Beccensis monasterii''. In Giles Constable (ed.) and Bernard S. Smith (trans.), ''Three Treatises from Bec on the Nature of Monastic Life''. Toronto: Univ. of Toronto Press, 2008.
* Anselm. ''Sancti Anselmi Cantuariensis archiepiscopi Opera Omnia'' (ed. F.S. Schmitt). Stuttgart: Frommann, 1968.
* Chibnall, Marjorie. ''The English Lands of the Abbey of Bec''. Oxford: OUP, 1968 946
* Crouch, David. ''The Beaumont Twins: The Roots and Branches of Power in the Twelfth Century''. Cambridge: CUP, 1986.
* Gazeau, Véronique. “From Bec to Canterbury: Between Cloister and World, the Legacy of Anselm, a ''personne d’autorité''.” In Giles E.M. Gasper and Ian Logan (edd.), ''Saint Anselm of Canterbury and His Legacy''. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 2012.
* Milo Crispin, "Vita venerabilis Willelmi abbatis Beccensis tertii." In ''
Patrologia Latina
The ''Patrologia Latina'' ( Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...
'', vol. 150, coll. 713-724.
*
Orderic Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern histor ...
, ''The Ecclesiastical History'' (ed. M. Chibnall). Oxford: OUP, 1969 (vols. 1-2) and 1975 (vols. 3-4).
* Pohl, Benjamin and Laura Gathagan (edd.). ''A Companion to the Abbey of Le Bec in the Middle Ages''. Leiden: Brill, forthcoming.
* Porée, Adolphe-André. ''Histoire de l’abbaye du Bec''. Évreux: Hérissey, 1901.
* Vaughn, Salley. ''Anselm of Bec and
Robert of Meulan
Robert de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Leicester, Count of Meulan ( – 5 June 1118), also known as Robert of Meulan, was a powerful Norman nobleman, one of the very few proven Companions of William the Conqueror during the Norman Conquest of Englan ...
: The Innocence of the Dove and the Wisdom of the Serpent''. Berkeley: Univ. Calif. Press, 1987.
* .