Boneffe Abbey was, from the early 13th century until the end of the 18th century, a Cistercian monastery on the banks of the Mehaigne in what is now the municipality of Éghezée,

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

in Belgium. The abbot's residence, first built in the early 16th century and repaired in the 17th and 18th centuries, is now a listed building that is currently in use as a farmhouse.

History

The earliest attestation to the monastery's existence is a papal bull of 1222.Eug. del Marmol, "Chronique de l'Abbaye de Boneffe", ''Annales de la Société archéologique de Namur''
vol. 4 (1856)
95-135. The abbey church was consecrated in 1267. At this period it was a monastery for

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 ...

nuns. In 1413 the community of nuns was disbanded, and by 1461 the Cistercian Order had redesignated the property as a monastery for monks. The house was briefly evacuated in 1480-1483 due to an outbreak of plague. In November 1568, early in the

Dutch Revolt The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt ( nl, Nederlandse Opstand) (Historiography of the Eighty Years' War#Name and periodisation, c.1566/1568–1648) was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and t ...

, the abbey and its church were set on fire by rebel forces. The community fled and the abbot, Cornelis Lievens, died in

Leuven Leuven (, ) or Louvain (, , ; german: link=no, Löwen ) is the capital and largest city of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is located about east of Brussels. The municipality itself comprises the historic ...

in 1569. Rebuilding began in 1589, and the church was reconsecrated in 1617 by

Jean Dauvin Jean Dauvin or D'Auvin (1578–1651) was the sixth bishop of Namur (1615–1629). As bishop he faced the tasks of carrying through the reforms of the Council of Trent in his diocese in the wake of the destruction caused by the Dutch Revolt. Life ...

bishop of Namur The Diocese of Namur is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in Belgium. It is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Mechelen-Brussels. The diocese is a suffragan in the ecclesiastical province in the metropolit ...

. The monastery was on the front lines of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

, just a few miles from Ramillies, and suffered depredations and damage accordingly. Fresh rebuilding work was completed in 1711. After the French invasion of the Southern Netherlands, the revolutionaries suppressed Boneffe Abbey along with all other religious houses.

References

{{Reflist Christian monasteries in Namur (province) 1220s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1222 establishments in Europe 1794 disestablishments in the Habsburg monarchy 1794 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire Disestablishments in the Austrian Netherlands Ruined abbeys and monasteries Cistercian monasteries in Belgium Christian monasteries established in the 13th century