Brogne Abbey, also known as Saint-Gerard Abbey, 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 ...

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 ...

founded in the early 10th century by

Gerard of Brogne Gerard is a masculine forename of Proto-Germanic origin, variations of which exist in many Germanic and Romance languages. Like many other early Germanic names, it is dithematic, consisting of two meaningful constituents put together. In this ca ...

in the village of Brogne (now the Saint-Gérard subdivision of

Mettet Mettet (; wa, Metet) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. On 1 January 2006 Mettet had 11,977 inhabitants. The total area is 116.78 km², giving a population density of 103 inhabitants per km². The mun ...

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 ...

). Gerard founded the abbey on his own land, with the blessing of

Stephen of Liège Stephen of Liège (also Étienne de Liège; ( – 16 May 920) was a Frankish churchman who was the bishop of Liège from 901 until his death in 920. He was a hagiographer and composer of church music. His surviving compositions include three Prope ...

(died 920), and obtained a relic of St Eugenius from the

abbot of Saint-Denis This is a list of abbots and grand priors of the Basilica of Saint-Denis. This list is drawn mostly from Félicie d'Ayzac, ''Histoire de Saint-Denys'' (Paris, 1861), Vol. 1, pp. cxxiii–cxxxi. Abbots For the first part of this list, dates may i ...

. A charter of 923 granted land in Hesbaye to the monastery. In 992

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

visited the abbey together with Notker of Liège and confirmed its independence and privileges. In 1183 Pope Lucius III confirmed the abbey in all its possessions. In 1566 the revenues of the abbacy were assigned to the recently founded Diocese of Namur by a bull of

Pope Pius IV Pope Pius IV ( it, Pio IV; 31 March 1499 – 9 December 1565), born Giovanni Angelo Medici, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 December 1559 to his death in December 1565. Born in Milan, his family considered ...

. Thereafter the monastery was governed by a prior on behalf of the

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 ...

. In 1656 the monastery was incorporated into the

Bursfelde Congregation The Bursfelde Congregation, also called Bursfelde Union, was a union of predominantly west and central German Benedictine monasteries, of both men and women, working for the reform of Benedictine practice. It was named after Bursfelde Abbey. Backg ...

. Just which revenues were due to the bishop remained subject to dispute, petitions and sometimes litigation until the abbey was suppressed in 1796. The buildings of the former monastery were acquired by the municipality of Mettet in 1974, and were listed as built heritage in 1995. At least for some years, the early 80's, the abbey was used as a youth hostel by the Belgian Youth hostels association. Since 2013 they have housed a

microbrewery Craft beer is a beer that has been made by craft breweries. They produce smaller amounts of beer, typically less than large breweries, and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as having an emphasis o ...

, and since 2015 a centre for

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

Abbots

(died 959) *Heribert *Guinebald *Reiner *Gonther *Boso (died 1085) *Guerimond *Thomas *Arnold (died 1106) *Stephen (died 1114) *Ebroin (died 1140) *Gerard (died 1156) *Godfrey (died 1161) *Libuin (died 1185) *Lambert (died 1234) *Arnold (died 1192) *Robert (died 1221/22) *Thomas (died 1268) *Gerard (died 1291) *Lambert (died 1293) *Baldwin of Riwenchies (died 1301) *Thomas de Hanèche (died 1310) *Gerard (died 1313) *Alard (died 1353) *Henri de Falize (died 1380) *Jean Buffetial (died 1400) *Walter de Falize *Jean de Liernu (died 1433) *Nicolas de Lesves (died 1448) *Nicolas Cardin (died 1452) *Guillaume de Graux (died 1483) *Jacques Le Tourier (died 1503) *Guillaume de Beez (died 1507) *Thomas Badry (resigned 1512; died 1516) *Guillaume Caulier (died 1550) *Benoît de Mailly (died 1564) Thereafter the bishops of Namur held the abbacy ''

in commendam In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

''.

References

{{Authority control Christian monasteries in Namur (province) 10th-century establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 1796 disestablishments in Europe 18th-century disestablishments in the Southern Netherlands Ruined abbeys and monasteries Benedictine monasteries in Belgium Christian monasteries established in the 10th century