The Couvent des Minimes de Grenoble ( en, Minim Monastery of Grenoble) is a former monastery constructed about 1644 by the Minim

friar A friar is a member of one of the mendicant orders founded in the twelfth or thirteenth century; the term distinguishes the mendicants' itinerant apostolic character, exercised broadly under the jurisdiction of a superior general, from the ol ...

s, a semi- contemplative mendicant order, which is located on the Rue du Vieux Temple in Grenoble, France. Occupied by several institutions since the expulsion of the friars during 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 ...

, it is currently used as a student dormitory and the former chapel serves as a concert hall, particularly as the base of the orchestral group, Les Musiciens du Louvre.Musiciens du Louvre Grenoble

Minim monastery

Founding

The Minim friars had founded their first monastery in the region, the Minim Monastery of the Plains, in 1494, in the village of Saint-Martin-d'Hères on the outskirts of Grenoble. It became established as the

motherhouse A motherhouse is the principal house or community for a religious institute. It would normally be where the residence and offices of the religious superior In a hierarchy or tree structure of any kind, a superior is an individual or position at ...

of the Order for France. Over time, many prominent figures of the region came to be interred in its chapel, people such as the

Chevalier de Bayard Pierre Terrail, seigneur de Bayard (c. 1476 – 30 April 1524) was a French knight and military leader at the transition between the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, generally known as the Chevalier de Bayard. Throughout the centuries since his ...

, a noted military commander of the early 16th century. During the 17th century, in the course of a major religious revival which swept France, the friars decided that they wanted to relocate to within the city walls of Grenoble, where they could be more accessible to the faithful. In 1642 they acquired some property in the city and wished to build on that. In November of the following year, they obtained the reluctant permission of the

Bishop of Grenoble The Roman Catholic Diocese of Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges (Latin: ''Diocesis Gratianopolitana–Viennensis Allobrogum''; French: ''Diocèse de Grenoble–Vienne-les-Allobroges'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church i ...

, Pierre Scarron, for the project. The bishop, however, demanded assurances from the Order that this new foundation would not interfere with the operation of the Monastery of the Plains. An inheritance which the monastery received from a local widow in 1644 permitted the work to commence. Scarron, however, withdrew his permission a year later, this despite the fact that construction was already underway. It took the issuance of

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 ...

by King

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Vers ...

in January 1646 for the construction to go forward to completion.

Later history

The Minim friars followed a fairly monastic routine of life, supplying their own needs through the labor of the friars, whether tailors or stonemasons. The presence of a stable attests to a certain level of traffic by the friars in their work. In 1671, the friars began to complain to the authorities that their solitude was being disrupted by hymn singing coming from the

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

church located near their monastery. By a royal decree, the Protestant congregation was forced to move out of the city. The grounds on which their church stood was then appropriated and a

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological seminary, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called ''seminarians'') in scripture, theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as clergy, ...

was built for the local diocese on the site. In 1707 construction was begun on a wall to enclose the monastery grounds, uniting the various buildings within its confines. Despite their assurances to Bishop Scarron (+1668), the friars eventually came to abandon the original monastery. As had been the case with that institution, the prominent of the city wished to be buried in chapel of the new monastery. The regional lawyers' association held their meetings and housed their library there from 1748 to 1776. When the monastery was founded, the Minims agreed to the use of the chapel as the meeting place of a fraternity of the Third Order of the Trinitarian Order, who had been founded in the 13th century for the rescue of Christians enslaved by Muslim forces. Possibly due to this connection, the monastery came to host a group of 48 slaves who arrived on 6 September 1785, requiring the friars to purchase sufficient straw mattresses and blankets for the comfort of their guests. The two days that the group stayed there was considered a notable event in the city history. At the time this event took place, the city authorities were drawing up a plan to take possession of the monastery, whose occupants had dwindled to five friars. The proposal was to convert the monastery buildings into barracks for military use. The outbreak of the

put a stop to the project.

Later use

Under the policies of Revolutionary France, in 1790 all religious orders were suppressed. The monastery was declared state property and confiscated and the friars were expelled. The monastery buildings were soon converted into workshops where tradesmen such as blacksmiths and carpenters could conduct their craft. When a concordat was signed between the Emperor

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

and

Pope Pius VII Pope Pius VII ( it, Pio VII; born Barnaba Niccolò Maria Luigi Chiaramonti; 14 August 1742 – 20 August 1823), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 March 1800 to his death in August 1823. Chiaramonti was also a m ...

in 1801, the Catholic Church was again allowed to function publicly. The next year, the local bishop was able to retrieve possession of this monastery, which by then was badly damaged. The city authorities of Grenoble had tried to block this return of the complex to the Church but were unsuccessful. They soon arranged to purchase it from the local bishop, which was accomplished on 10 August 1803.

Seminary

Shortly thereafter, however, the new Bishop of Grenoble, Claude Simon, began to seek a site for the establishment of a new seminary, as the previous one had been destroyed. With the help of the city's mayor, he was able to obtain the use of the former monastery for this purpose, and permission for this was granted by the emperor in 1806. The necessary renovations were made and the new facility opened its doors on 3 November of that year. The chapel was solemnly re-consecrated on the following 23 March. The seminary chapel was to become the site of

ordination Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorization, authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominational ...

of two men later acclaimed as saints by the Catholic Church. The first was that of the famed priest John Vianney, although he was not a student of the school, in 1815. The other was that in 1834 of

Peter Julian Eymard Peter Julian Eymard ( ; 4 February 1811 – 1 August 1868) was a French Catholic priest and founder of two religious institutes: the Congregation of the Blessed Sacrament for men and the Servants of the Blessed Sacrament for women. Eymard ente ...

, who went on to found a

religious congregation A religious congregation is a type of religious institute in the Catholic Church. They are legally distinguished from religious orders – the other major type of religious institute – in that members take simple vows, whereas members of religio ...

dedicated to evangelization focused on the

Blessed Sacrament The Blessed Sacrament, also Most Blessed Sacrament, is a devotional name to refer to the body and blood of Christ in the form of consecrated sacramental bread and wine at a celebration of the Eucharist. The term is used in the Latin Church of the ...

. Enrollment at the seminary reached its peak in 1875, with 150 seminarians attending it. Although the seminary was operating in the facilities, the buildings remained government property, the city having sold it in 1811 to the Prefecture of Grenoble.

University and conservatory

Cour intérieure couvent des Minimes -- Grenoble

The French government passed a series of measures on 9 December 1905 which were intended to enact a strict separation of the Church from the State. This resulted in the expulsion of the seminary in Grenoble from its location, and the seizure of all its possessions. The prefecture sold the property to the

University of Grenoble The Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA, French: meaning "''Grenoble Alps University''") is a public research university in Grenoble, France. Founded in 1339, it is the third largest university in France with about 60,000 students and over 3,000 resea ...

in 1913. When

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

broke out on 4 August 1914, however, the buildings were occupied by the French army. It was five years before the university was able to retake possession of the property, by then badly damaged. Repairs were made and the buildings became a student dormitory. During the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, part of the facilities were made available to the Conservatory of Grenoble, which had lost its own location. This organization remained there until 1970, at which time badly needed repairs were made to the buildings. In November 1979, title to the building was transferred to the National Ministry of Education. The former chapel has been converted into a concert hall and was renamed

Olivier Messiaen Olivier Eugène Prosper Charles Messiaen (, ; ; 10 December 1908 – 27 April 1992) was a French composer, organist, and ornithologist who was one of the major composers of the 20th century. His music is rhythmically complex; harmonically ...

Hall on 1 October 1981.

References

External links

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Student-Foyer de l'étudiante
Minims (religious order) Christian monasteries established in the 17th century Roman Catholic churches in Grenoble Franciscan monasteries in France Religious buildings and structures completed in 1644 Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution 1644 establishments in France {{France-struct-stub