Fontenelle Abbey (french: Abbaye de Fontenelle) was a

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 ...

nunnery A convent is a community of monks, nuns, religious brothers or, sisters or priests. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The word is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican C ...

Maing Maing () is a commune in the Nord department, northern France. Fontenelle Abbey was located here. Heraldry See also *Communes of the Nord department The following is a list of the 648 communes of the Nord department of the French Repub ...

, Nord, France, extant from 1212 to 1793.

History

The abbey was founded in 1212 to the south of

Valenciennes Valenciennes (, also , , ; nl, label=also Dutch, Valencijn; pcd, Valincyinnes or ; la, Valentianae) is a commune in the Nord department, Hauts-de-France, France. It lies on the Scheldt () river. Although the city and region experienced a s ...

on the banks of the

Scheldt The Scheldt (french: Escaut ; nl, Schelde ) is a river that flows through northern France, western Belgium, and the southwestern part of Netherlands, the Netherlands, with its mouth at the North Sea. Its name is derived from an adjective corr ...

as a small oratory by two sisters Agnes and Jeanne, daughters of Hélin, seigneur d'Aulnoy. It became a Cistercian abbey in 1218. The convent was under the protection of the

Counts of Hainaut The Count of Hainaut (; ; ) was the ruler of the county of Hainaut, a historical region in the Low Countries (including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany). In English-la ...

and were endowed with considerable riches and land. Many noble ladies joined or chose to retire at Fontenelle. It grew famous in the 14th century after

Joan of Valois, Countess of Hainaut Joan of Valois (c. 1294 – 7 March 1352) was a Countess consort of Hainaut, Holland, and Zeeland, by marriage to William I, Count of Hainaut. She acted as regent of Hainaut and Holland several times during the absence of her spouse, and she als ...

(1294–1352; daughter of

Charles of Valois Charles of Valois (12 March 1270 – 16 December 1325), the fourth son of King Philip III of France and Isabella of Aragon, was a member of the House of Capet and founder of the House of Valois, whose rule over France would start in 1328 ...

, sister of King

Philip VI of France Philip VI (french: Philippe; 1293 – 22 August 1350), called the Fortunate (french: le Fortuné, link=no) or the Catholic (french: le Catholique, link=no) and of Valois, was the first king of France from the House of Valois, reigning from 1328 ...

, widow of

William I, Count of Hainaut William the Good ( nl, Willem, french: Guillaume; – 7 June 1337) was count of Hainaut (as William I), Avesnes, Holland (as William III), and Zeeland (as William II) from 1304 to his death. Career William, born , was the son of John II, Count ...

, and mother-in-law of

Emperor Louis IV Louis IV (german: Ludwig; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328. Louis' election as king of Germany in ...

), entered the community in 1337"Fontenelle", Charte Européenne des Abbayes et Sites Cisterciens 2012, p. 66
/ref> At Fontenelle she maintained her own chancellery and personal staff, received guests from court and was kept up to day in political affairs. Joan of Valois died at Fontenelle and was buried there. Her sister-in-law, Joan, also became a nun at Fontenelle.Detlev Schwennicke, ''Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln zur Geschichte der Europäischen Staaten'', Neue Folge, Band II (Marburg, Germany: Verlag von J. A. Stargardt, 1984), Tafel 22 After several destructions and reconstructions during the course of the centuries, the nunnery was dissolved in 1793 in 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 ...

and demolished. It was then sold to a building contractor who made it a stone quarry. It lay forgotten until 1977, when during building works on the Scheldt canal, remains came to light. These were archaeologically investigated and in part put on display in the museum in Valenciennes. The site itself was made into a park and is accessible to visitors.

References

Sources

*''Cistercian Sites in Europe''. Charte Européenne des Abbayes et Sites Cisterciens 2012, p. 66 * Bernard Peugniez, 2001: ''Routier cistercien'', Editions Gaud, Moisenay, p. 235

External links

Cistopedia: FontenelleCister.net: FontenelleArchaeological park at Fontenelle
Cistercian nunneries in France Buildings and structures in Nord (French department) 1212 establishments 1793 disestablishments Burial sites of the House of Valois Archaeological parks {{France-Christian-monastery-stub