Charlieu Abbey or St. Fortunatus' Abbey, Charlieu (french: Abbaye de Charlieu) 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 ...

located at

Charlieu Charlieu (; frp, Charluè) is a Communes of France, commune in the Loire (department), Loire Departments of France, department at the northern end of the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of France. It is home to Charlieu Abbey. Population Twin tow ...

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

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 ...

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 ...

. It was later a

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wit ...

priory.

History

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Fortunatus, was founded in 872, in this region of southern Burgundy known as the

Forez Forez is a former province of France, corresponding approximately to the central part of the modern Loire ''département'' and a part of the Haute-Loire and Puy-de-Dôme ''départements''. The final "z" in Forez () is not pronounced in the Loire ...

. Its patrons were Ratbertus,

bishop of Valence The Roman Catholic Diocese of Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux) (Latin: ''Dioecesis Valentinensis (–Diensis–Sancti Pauli Tricastinorum)''; French: ''Diocèse de Valence (–Die–Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux'') is a diocese of the L ...

, and his brother Edward, in a place they called ''Carus Locus'' ("dear place"), and dedicated to

Saint Stephen Stephen ( grc-gre, Στέφανος ''Stéphanos'', meaning "wreath, crown" and by extension "reward, honor, renown, fame", often given as a title rather than as a name; c. 5 – c. 34 AD) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first ...

and Saint Fortunatus, patron of Valence, with his co-martyrs Felix and Achilles. The abbey was placed under the direct control of the

Holy See The Holy See ( lat, Sancta Sedes, ; it, Santa Sede ), also called the See of Rome, Petrine See or Apostolic See, is the jurisdiction of the Pope in his role as the bishop of Rome. It includes the apostolic episcopal see of the Diocese of Rome ...

. The tradition that the abbey church and other structures at the site were erected by Gausmar, the first abbot, and his monks with their own hands is belied by the fine and professional character of the masonry uncovered when remains of the foundations of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

abbey were uncovered at the site in 1927. Its roof was wooden, for no foundations for interior supporting piers were found. Pencil towers no more than two meters in diameter encircled the corners of its façade and its

apsidal In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...

east end, which had a semi-subterranean

ambulatory The ambulatory ( la, ambulatorium, ‘walking place’) is the covered passage around a cloister or the processional way around the east end of a cathedral or large church and behind the high altar. The first ambulatory was in France in the 11th ...

; semi-circular

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient buildings, as a means of providing support to act against the lateral (s ...

es strengthened the walls at intervals. An early benefactor was Boso, Duke of Burgundy, who placed a priory in Charlieu's gift when he was crowned

King of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

(879); the abbey long claimed that Boso was buried at Charlieu. By 926 the abbey was important enough to be the seat of a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

, at which it was decided that certain alienated church properties were to be returned to the church by their lay proprietors. The Benedictine community at Charlieu was annexed by the Cluniac movement in 932,Jean Mabillon, ''Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti'' (Venice 1733:vol V:134, noted by Sunderland 1939:64. one of Cluny's earliest acquisitions and always among the first mentioned in any list of Cluniac houses. In the eleventh century the abbot was reduced to a

prior Prior (or prioress) is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be l ...

. The church was rebuilt on a somewhat expanded plan under the rule of

Odilo, abbot of Cluny Odilo of Cluny (c. 962 – 1 January 1049) was the fifth Benedictine Abbot of Cluny, holding the post for around 54 years. During his tenure Cluny became the most important monastery in western Europe. Odilo actively worked to reform the monastic p ...

, in the first half of the eleventh century, in a campaign that lasted fifty years, continuing under Odilo's successor

Hugh Hugh may refer to: *Hugh (given name) Noblemen and clergy French * Hugh the Great (died 956), Duke of the Franks * Hugh Magnus of France (1007–1025), co-King of France under his father, Robert II * Hugh, Duke of Alsace (died 895), modern-day ...

: the abbey church was consecrated in 1094. A

narthex The narthex is an architectural element typical of early Christian and Byzantine basilicas and churches consisting of the entrance or lobby area, located at the west end of the nave, opposite the church's main altar. Traditionally the narthex ...

was added in the twelfth century. The community of Charlieu refused the Cluniac reforms of the seventeenth century, and on 19 March 1787,

letters patent Letters patent ( la, litterae patentes) ( always in the plural) are a type of legal instrument in the form of a published written order issued by a monarch, president or other head of state, generally granting an office, right, monopoly, titl ...

suppressed the abbey. On 9 September 1792 a Revolutionary mob broke into the abbey's muniments room and made a bonfire of all its records. In 1795 the abbey church was sold for the value of its building materials, in two lots, of which one, comprising the narthex and westernmost bay, still stand today as a ruin; the eastern end was razed.

Notes

{{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in France Cluniac monasteries in France Carolingian architecture Monuments historiques of Loire (department) Ruins in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes