Prémontré Abbey was the mother house of the

Premonstratensian Order The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

and was located at

Prémontré Prémontré () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Sights The remains of Prémontré Abbey, the mother house of the Premonstratensian Order, are located in Prémontré. See also * Communes ...

about twelve miles west of

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The holy district of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held strategic importance. In ...

, ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...

'' of

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; pcd, Ainne) is a French department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne. In 2019, it had a population of 531,345.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 ...

History

It was founded by

Saint Norbert of Xanten Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem (c. 1075 – 6 June 1134) (Xanten-Magdeburg), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a bishop of the Catholic Church, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is venerated as a saint. Norbert was c ...

in 1120 on waste land that had previously belonged to the Abbey of St. Vincent, Laon, to which it had been given by a former

Bishop of Laon The diocese of Laon in the present-day département of Aisne, was a Catholic diocese for around 1300 years, up to the French Revolution. Its seat was in Laon, France, with the Laon Cathedral. From early in the 13th century, the bishop of Laon wa ...

; the monks of St. Vincent's had tried in vain to cultivate it. As shown in the charter of donation the place was called ''"Præmonstratus"'', or "pratum monstratum" ("Pré-montré" or Prémontré), probably from a clearing (''pré'' or meadow) made in the forest. The name, however, easily lent itself to the adapted meaning of ''"locus praemonstratus"'', "a place foreshown", as for example in the life of Godfrey of Cappenberg, one of Norbert's first disciples (1127): :"Venit ad locum vere juxta nomen suum, a Domino premonstratum, electum et prædestinatum" ("He came to a place truly according to its

ery Yeru or Eru (Ы ы; italics: ''Ы'' ''ы''), usually called Y in modern Russian language, Russian or Yery or Ery historically and in modern Church Slavonic, is a letter in the Cyrillic script. It represents the close central unrounded ...

name foreshown, elect and predestined of the Lord"). The founding tradition says that the Bishop of

and Norbert visited Prémontré about the middle of January and that the bishop gave the white habit to Norbert on 25 January, the feast of the

Conversion of Saint Paul The conversion of Paul the Apostle (also the Pauline conversion, Damascene conversion, Damascus Christophany and the "road to Damascus" event) was, according to the New Testament, an event in the life of Saul/Paul the Apostle that led him to ce ...

. At the conclusion of the Council of

Liège Liège ( , , ; wa, Lîdje ; nl, Luik ; german: Lüttich ) is a major city and municipality of Wallonia and the capital of the Belgian province of Liège. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east of Belgium, not far from b ...

(1131),

Pope Innocent II Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...

and Norbert came to Laon and stayed with Bishop Bartholomew. They also visited Prémontré Abbey and were delighted to see some five hundred religious – priests, clerics, and lay-brothers – all united in the observance of their duties under Abbot Hugh of Fosse. It was the original Premonstratensian custom to establish

double monasteries A double monastery (also dual monastery or double house) is a monastery combining separate communities of monks and of nuns, joined in one institution to share one church and other facilities. The practice is believed to have started in the East a ...

, but in the general chapter of 1141 it was decided to remove the convents of nuns to at least one league's distance from the abbeys of men. Hugh died on 10 February 1161, and was succeeded by Philip, then Abbot of Belval in the

Forest of Argonne The Forest of Argonne () is a long strip of mountainous and wild woodland in northeastern France, approximately east of Paris. The forest measures roughly long and wide filled with many small hills and deep valleys formed by water run-off fro ...

. Abbot John II founded in 1252 a college or house of studies for Norbertine clerics at the

University of Paris , image_name = Coat of arms of the University of Paris.svg , image_size = 150px , caption = Coat of Arms , latin_name = Universitas magistrorum et scholarium Parisiensis , motto = ''Hic et ubique terrarum'' (Latin) , mottoeng = Here and a ...

. At the death of Virgilius, forty-third Abbot General of Prémontré, Cardinal Francis of

Pisa Pisa ( , or ) is a city and ''comune'' in Tuscany, central Italy, straddling the Arno just before it empties into the Ligurian Sea. It is the capital city of the Province of Pisa. Although Pisa is known worldwide for its leaning tower, the cit ...

had intrigued so much at the

Court of Rome The papal household or pontifical household (usually not capitalized in the media and other nonofficial use, ), called until 1968 the Papal Court (''Aula Pontificia''), consists of dignitaries who assist the pope in carrying out particular ceremoni ...

that he succeeded in being named

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 Prémontré, and in 1535 took possession of the abbey and all its revenues. Cardinal Francis was succeeded by Cardinal Ippolito d'Este, the

papal legate 300px, A woodcut showing Henry II of England greeting the pope's legate. A papal legate or apostolic legate (from the ancient Roman title ''legatus'') is a personal representative of the pope to foreign nations, or to some part of the Catholic ...

in France, who also held the abbey ''in commendam'' until he died in 1572. The historian of the abbey Charles Taiée calls these two cardinals "les fléaux de Prémontré" ("the scourges of Prémontré"). After the death of Cardinal d'Este a free election was held and Jean Des Pruets, Doctor of the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

, an earnest and zealous priest, was elected, and his election confirmed by

Pope Gregory XIII Pope Gregory XIII ( la, Gregorius XIII; it, Gregorio XIII; 7 January 1502 – 10 April 1585), born Ugo Boncompagni, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 May 1572 to his death in April 1585. He is best known for ...

, 14 December 1572. With great ability Des Pruets undertook the difficult task of repairing the financial losses and of promoting conventual discipline at Prémontré and other houses of the order. He died on 15 May 1596, and was succeeded by two further zealous abbots, Longpré and Gosset; but the latter was succeeded by

Cardinal Richelieu Armand Jean du Plessis, Duke of Richelieu (; 9 September 1585 – 4 December 1642), known as Cardinal Richelieu, was a French clergyman and statesman. He was also known as ''l'Éminence rouge'', or "the Red Eminence", a term derived from the ...

, as commendatory abbot. The last abbot general, L'Ecuy, was elected in 1781. At 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 ...

the abbey was suppressed and confiscated, and the site sold to a certain Cagnon, who demolished several buildings and sold the material. It was converted into a potassium and saltpetre factory by a wealthy glass manufacturer in the early 1790s.Peter McPhee, Liberty or Death, 2016, pg 259 Having passed through several hands, the property was bought by Paul-Armand de Cardon de Garsignies,

Bishop of Soissons The Roman Catholic Diocese of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin (Latin: ''Dioecesis Suessionensis, Laudunensis et Sanquintinensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Soissons, Laon et Saint-Quentin'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Ch ...

, whose successor sold it to the ''Département'' of Aisne, by whom the buildings were converted into an asylum or

psychiatric hospital Psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental health hospitals, behavioral health hospitals, are hospitals or wards specializing in the treatment of severe mental disorders, such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, eating disorders, dissociative ...

Buildings

Of the old abbey as it was from the 12th to the 16th centuries hardly anything remains, but three large buildings of the 17th and 18th centuries are still standing, part of one of which is used as a church, dedicated to Saint Norbert. Most of the site is still in use as the

founded in 186

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Premontre Abbey Premonstratensian monasteries in France 1120 establishments in Europe 1120s establishments in France Religious organizations established in the 1120s Monasteries in Aisne Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Churches in Aisne