The Abbey of Montier-en-Der in

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

, was formerly 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 ...

, later

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 wi ...

, abbey, dissolved 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 coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

, the grounds and premises of which, since 1806, have been used as the French National

Stud Farm A stud farm or stud in animal husbandry is an establishment for selective breeding of livestock. The word " stud" comes from the Old English ''stod'' meaning "herd of horses, place where horses are kept for breeding". Historically, documentation ...

Monastery

The monastery was founded in about 670, in deep oak forest on the banks of the river Voire, at a place that at first still carried its

Gallo-Roman Gallo-Roman culture was a consequence of the Romanization of Gauls under the rule of the Roman Empire. It was characterized by the Gaulish adoption or adaptation of Roman culture, language, morals and way of life in a uniquely Gaulish context ...

name of ''Puteolus'' ("little well") in the

diocese of Châlons-sur-Marne In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. The site, which must have been an aristocratic Gallo-Roman villa, to judge from the quality of the ivory

diptych A diptych (; from the Greek δίπτυχον, ''di'' "two" + '' ptychē'' "fold") is any object with two flat plates which form a pair, often attached by hinge. For example, the standard notebook and school exercise book of the ancient world w ...

found at the site in modern times (''illustration, below right''), was at that time in the borderlands of

Champagne Champagne (, ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, that demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, ...

just north of Burgundy and west of

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

. The founder was the monk Bercharius, later canonized; The extensive site, which was part of Bercharius' inheritance, was in the forest of Der; ''Puteolus'', the ''monasterium in Dervo'' became

Montier-en-Der Montier-en-Der () is a former commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune La Porte du Der.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 con ...

. The eighth century was a time of eclipse for this monastic community, and when the monastery reemerges in the ninth it was Carolingian property, given by

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

to the bishop of Reims, and the house was served by canons rather than monks. A monastic refounding was effected by abbot Hauto (827). In the early tenth century, the monks were forced to flee

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

attacks. They were re-established by the 930s, when Montier-en-Der accepted the Gorze Reform driven by St. Evre's Abbey, Toul; some years after, Montier-en-Der accepted the

Cluniac Reforms 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 wi ...

. By the end of the century, the primitive buildings had been replaced; the abbot Adso (960-92) set about rebuilding the ruined church in stone; it was reconsecrated in 998. The severe Carolingian— Romanesque nave contrasts with a

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

choir illuminated by sixteenth-century stained glass windows. The abbey church retains its sixteenth-century wooden roof, reminding the visitor that not all churches were provided with stone

vaulting In architecture, a vault (French ''voûte'', from Italian ''volta'') is a self-supporting arched form, usually of stone or brick, serving to cover a space with a ceiling or roof. As in building an arch, a temporary support is needed while rin ...

. The Early Gothic choir is of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. The

cartulary A cartulary or chartulary (; Latin: ''cartularium'' or ''chartularium''), also called ''pancarta'' or ''codex diplomaticus'', is a medieval manuscript volume or roll (''rotulus'') containing transcriptions of original documents relating to the fo ...

of Montier-en-Der, assembled in the 1120s at the height of the monastery's prestige and wealth, is a crucial source of information for the history of west

Francia Francia, also called the Kingdom of the Franks ( la, Regnum Francorum), Frankish Kingdom, Frankland or Frankish Empire ( la, Imperium Francorum), was the largest post-Roman barbarian kingdom in Western Europe. It was ruled by the Franks dur ...

; among the genuine charters are a number of forgeries that are equally interesting for the claims that they were intended to support. The charters bear information on popes, kings, and counts, on manorial structures and the obligations of peasant tenants, and on monastic reform. At the time of the

Wars of Religion A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...

, Montier-en-Der supervised twelve priories, and the abbey was one of the core benefices in the strategy of

Charles, Cardinal of Lorraine Charles de Lorraine (c. 1525 – 26 December 1574), Duke of Chevreuse, was a French Cardinal, a member of the powerful House of Guise. He was known at first as the Cardinal of Guise, and then as the second Cardinal of Lorraine, after the death o ...

, who exercised seigneurial powers over twenty-one villages in the surrounding countryside.Mark W. Konnert, ''Local Politics in the French Wars of Religion: the Towns of Champagne, the Duc de Guise and the Catholic League, 1560-95'' (Ashgate) 2006, p. 78 and ''passim''.

National Stud Farm

The abbey was secularized at the

(1790); in 1806 Napoleon established the National Stud Farm (''Le Haras National'') in the grounds of the former monastery, to breed improved horses for the use of the cavalry. The stud farm structures were rebuilt for more modern functionality during the

Second Empire Second Empire may refer to: * Second British Empire, used by some historians to describe the British Empire after 1783 * Second Bulgarian Empire (1185–1396) * Second French Empire (1852–1870) ** Second Empire architecture, an architectural styl ...

Notes

External links

Lac du Der: villes d'entrée

* L'Abbe Charles Lalore
Le Polyptique de L'Abbaye de Montierender
(Latin text, French Commentary), Paris 1878.

Monastery

National Stud Farm

Notes

See also

External links

Further reading