Dalon Abbey ( la, Dalona; french: Abbaye de Dalon; oc, Abadiá de Dalon) is a former

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 ...

monastery in Sainte-Trie,

Dordogne Dordogne ( , or ; ; oc, Dordonha ) is a large rural department in Southwestern France, with its prefecture in Périgueux. Located in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region roughly half-way between the Loire Valley and the Pyrenees, it is named af ...

, southwestern France. It is listed as a

Historic Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, hist ...

History

Dalon Abbey was founded in 1114 by Gerald of Salles (or Salis) under the

Rule of Saint Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

thanks to donations by Gerald of Lastours and his brother

Gouffier Gouffier, the name of a great France, French family, which owned the estate of Bonnivet in Poitou from the 14th century. *Guillaume Gouffier, chamberlain to Charles VII of France, Charles VII, was an inveterate enemy of Jacques Coeur, obtaining his ...

, who attended the abbey's foundation day alongside Eustorge, the Bishop of Limoges, and several local lords. The successor of Gerald of Salles, the hermit Roger, developed the abbey and established several monasteries and priories ( Aubignac, Bœuil, Loc-Dieu, the Palais Notre-Dame, Prébenoît), thereby forming the Order of Dalon. In 1142, Dalon was not a Cistercian community, but several other abbeys had already adopted the Cistercian Rule. On that year,

Stephen of Obazine Stephen of Obazine also known as Stephen of Vielzot (french: Étienne de Vielzot, Étienne d'Obazine; (1085 1159), was a French priest and hermit, famed for his pious nature, even from a young age. He is commemorated on March 8. Religious life S ...

, abbot of Obazine, followed the advice of Aymeric, bishop of Clermont, and requested Roger to send monks to introduce the Rule in Dalon. Upon Roger's death in 1159, the monks of Dalon requested the general chapter of

Pontigny Pontigny () is a commune in the Yonne department in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in north-central France. Sight Its principal distinction is as the home of Pontigny Abbey. See also *Communes of the Yonne department The following is a list of t ...

to send other instructors, since both orders were following the same Benedictine rule. In 1162, just after the election of the third abbot, Dalon joined the Order of Cistercians alongside its daughter houses Bœuil, Bonlieu, Loc-Dieu, le Palais and Prébenoît. Dalon became the third daughter house of Pontigny and received protection from Henry Plantagenet,

Eleanor of Aquitaine Eleanor ( – 1 April 1204; french: Aliénor d'Aquitaine, ) was Queen of France from 1137 to 1152 as the wife of King Louis VII, Queen of England from 1154 to 1189 as the wife of King Henry II, and Duchess of Aquitaine in her own right from ...

and

Richard the Lionheart Richard I (8 September 1157 – 6 April 1199) was King of England from 1189 until his death in 1199. He also ruled as Duke of Normandy, Aquitaine and Gascony, Lord of Cyprus, and Count of Poitiers, Anjou, Maine, and Nantes, and was overl ...

. The well-known troubadour and lord of Hautefort

Bertran de Born Bertran de Born (; 1140s – by 1215) was a baron from the Limousin in France, and one of the major Occitan troubadours of the 12th-13th century. He composed love songs (cansos) but was better known for his political songs (sirventes). He wa ...

withdrew as a monk into Dalon and died there in 1215. Dalon Abbey owned several granges in

Périgord Périgord ( , ; ; oc, Peiregòrd / ) is a natural region and former province of France, which corresponds roughly to the current Dordogne department, now forming the northern part of the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It is div ...

, as well as the Priory of Saint-Blaise in the parish of Milhac. Moreover, the order founded the

bastide Bastides are fortified new towns built in medieval Languedoc, Gascony, Aquitaine, England and Wales during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, although some authorities count Mont-de-Marsan and Montauban, which was founded in 1144, as the f ...

Puybrun Puybrun (; oc, Puègbrun) is a commune in the Lot department in south-western France. See also *Communes of the Lot department The following is a list of the 313 communes of the Lot department of France France (), officially ...

in the

Quercy Quercy (; oc, Carcin , locally ) is a former province of France located in the country's southwest, bounded on the north by Limousin, on the west by Périgord and Agenais, on the south by Gascony and Languedoc, and on the east by Rouergue and Au ...

region. In the 17th century, the remains of the abbey (the monks' building, the

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole communi ...

and the two chapels of the right-hand side of the transept) were integrated into the northern side of the newly-established dwellings. In 1784, the Bishop of Castres, Jean-Marc de Royère, was appointed as

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ...

of Dalon. Since the late 18th century, Dalon Abbey has been located in the department of

in the commune of Sainte-Trie. It is now private property. According to Janauschek, Dalon Abbey had the Order number CCCLXXV (375). On 27 September 1948, the dwellings, the chapter house and the

dovecote A dovecote or dovecot , doocot ( Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or barn. They generally contain pige ...

were listed as a

Gallery

Sainte-Trie Dalon ruines abbaye (3).jpg, Sainte-Trie Dalon ruines abbaye (5).jpg, Sainte-Trie Dalon ruines abbaye (6).jpg, Sainte-Trie Dalon logis.jpg, Sainte-Trie Dalon pigeonnier (1).jpg,

History

Gallery

See also

References

Further reading