Saint-Gabriel-Brécy Priory was a Benedictine priory 10 km from the coast between

Caen Caen (, ; nrf, Kaem) is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the department of Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inhabitants (), while its functional urban area has 470,000,Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

. It is sited in the town of

Saint-Gabriel-Brécy Saint-Gabriel-Brécy () is a former commune in the Calvados department in the Normandy region in northwestern France. On 1 January 2017, it was merged into the new commune Creully sur Seulles.Calvados, France. A 13th century gate-tower survives, with ogive vaulting on sculpted capitals. It was adjoined by a now-lost guesthouse. The cornice is sculpted with small three-point arches. The vaulted refectory dates to the late 13th century. A keep was built to serve as a prison in the 15th century, whilst the Renaissance-style courtroom was built towards the end of the 16th century. A dovecote is now lost.

History

It was founded by three monks sent there in 1058 by John of Fécamp, abbot of the Benedictine

Fécamp Abbey The Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Fécamp, commonly known as Fécamp Abbey (french: Abbaye de la Trinité de Fécamp), is a Benedictine abbey in Fécamp, Seine-Maritime, Upper Normandy, France. The abbey is known as the first producer of bénédict ...

. He sent them to found a priory there at the request of Richard, lord of Creully, whose brother Vitalis was a Benedictine monk at Fécamp and later became abbot of

Bernay Abbey Bernay Abbey (''abbaye Notre-Dame de Bernay'') was a Benedictine abbey in Bernay, Eure, France. The designers of its abbey church were ahead of their time, making it one of the first examples of Romanesque architecture in Normandy. "Bernay" in Luc ...

and Westminster Abbey. That year forty people signed a charter founding the priory, including John himself,

William, Duke of Normandy William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England, reigning from 1066 until his death in 1087 ...

and his wife

Matilda of Flanders Matilda of Flanders (french: link=no, Mathilde; nl, Machteld) ( 1031 – 2 November 1083) was Queen of England and Duchess of Normandy by marriage to William the Conqueror, and regent of Normandy during his absences from the duchy. She was t ...

. It cost 312 livres 2 sols, two horses and 24 sheep. The priory was granted lands in over 24 parishes from

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

to Port-en-Bessin, several mills (including two in Saint-Gabriel itself) and two fisheries (including one in Saint-Gabriel).Actes du Colloque historique du 20 septembre 2008 publiés en 2011. William and Matilda also signed the complementary charter of 1069 and with their son Robert the charter of confirmation in 1080. Raoul de Grosparmi, apostolic legate and guardian of the seals to

Louis IX of France Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), commonly known as Saint Louis or Louis the Saint, was King of France from 1226 to 1270, and the most illustrious of the Direct Capetians. He was crowned in Reims at the age of 12, following the ...

, signed a charter at the priory, whilst

Louis XI of France Louis XI (3 July 1423 – 30 August 1483), called "Louis the Prudent" (french: le Prudent), was King of France from 1461 to 1483. He succeeded his father, Charles VII. Louis entered into open rebellion against his father in a short-lived revo ...

gave it 16 écus on the road between Douvres-la-Delivrande and Mont-Saint-Michel, where he was going on pilgrimage. Chapelle_du_Prieur%C3%A9_Saint_Gabriel_association_culturelle_du_Prieur%C3%A9_Saint_Gabriel

Chapelle_du_Prieur%C3%A9_Saint_Gabriel_association_culturelle_du_Prieur%C3%A9_Saint_Gabriel

The Romanesque priory church was built around 1140, at the same time as the village church. They were both consecrated in June 1228 by the bishop of Sion. The high altar at the priory church was dedicated to the

Holy Trinity The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...

and Michael the Archangel, whilst that in the village church was dedicated to Thomas Becket, canonised less than a century earlier. The priory church's apse has a ceiling painting of the Annunciation, probably dating to the 14th century. The prior oversaw the distribution of one pound of bread to the poor each Thursday from the feast of St Luke (18 October) to that of St Clare (18 July), as well as presiding over the fair on the feast of Saint Gabriel (16 October). A court began sitting on 16 October to try capital and other cases, presided over by the prior. The priory lands also included the town gibbet. Its buildings were damaged in the

Hundred Years' War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French Crown, ...

but rebuilt.

Henry V of England Henry V (16 September 1386 – 31 August 1422), also called Henry of Monmouth, was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 1413 until his death in 1422. Despite his relatively short reign, Henry's outstanding military successes in the ...

confirmed the priory's temporal rights but towards the end of the Middle Ages the monks abandoned communal life and began living in separate lodges, although they still came together for worship and prayer. From 1575 Louis de Lorraine, cardinal de Guise, was prior commendatory to the priory. The French Wars of Religion and the commendatory regime meant that from 1674 the priory was organised differently - the monks returned to Fécamp and the priory's lands were entrusted to a fermier général. The priory church was still used for mass on Sundays, celebrated by monks from the abbaye de Saint-Vigor in

Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

. At the French Revolution the priory was confiscated, sold and turned into a farm, whilst the town council bought the tower. The priory church's nave was demolished in 1750 and only its choir remains. The sieur de Gribeauval, inventor of the light cannon, stayed at the priory at the same time as the régiment d'Aquitaine and the régiment de Saintonge in 1778. The church passed into state ownership in 1844 after being listed as a historic monument in 1840. In March 1914 it was bought by monsieur Emmanuel Fauchier Delavigne and his wife and after major rebuilding works they used it to house the first ever private horticulture school in France from 1929 onwards, now the École du paysage et de l'horticulture. The town and priory were liberated on

D-Day The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on Tuesday, 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during World War II. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as D ...

(6 June 1944) by soldiers of the Tyne-Tees Regiment and it took in refugees from Caen during the battle of Caen soon afterwards. A cultural association was set up in 2003 to revive the site and on 1 January 2008 the state passed ownership of the priory to the Calvados department.

List of priors

* 1058–1069 : Turquetil * c. 1106 : Nicolas * 1188–1219 : Roger * 1188–1219 : Julien (subordinate to the abbot of Fécamp), Raoul (prior) * c. 1231 : Geoffroy de Caen * c. 1255 : Gervais de Norrey * 1286–1288 : Richard de Plumetot * c. 1317 : Guillaume Champion * 1331–1346 : Geoffroy de La Palue * c. 1362 : Henri Goribout (sub prior) * c. 1370 : Pierre de Joinville * c. 1374 : Guillaume de Blangy * c. 1392 : Raoul Flament * 1423–1424 : Thomas Langlois (prior) and Robert de Franqueville (sub prior) * 1425–1430 : Philippe de Plumetot * c. 1430 : Robert de Franqueville (sub prior) * 1438–1459 : Guillaume Étienne * c. 1462 : Radulphe Coreul * 1468–1480 : Robert Desmarets * 1483–1489 : Pierre Duchâtelet

References

Bibliography (in French)

* ''Statistique monumentale du Calvados'' tome 1, Arcisse de Caumont, L. Jouan, 1898 * ''Trois mois avec les Anglais, 6 juin – 27 août 1944 (A Saint-Gabriel, Calvados) '', Marcelle Fauchier Delavigne * Lucien Musset, ''Normandie romane 1'', éd. Zodiaque, La Pierre qui vire, 1975 Fauchier Delavigne, réédition SAEP, 1984. * ''Le prieuré de Saint-Gabriel'', dom Jacques Dubois, OSB, SAEP, 1985. * ''Le Prieuré Saint-Gabriel, Association culturelle du Prieuré Saint-Gabriel'', MOSAÏQUE, édité en Normandie., 2009. * ''Prieuré Saint-Gabriel, un élan monastique normand au XI siecle'', Pierre Bouet, Véronique Gazeau, Isabelle Havard, Manon Six, Claudie Fauchier Delavigne, Actes du colloque tenus le 20 septembre 2008, éd. Cahiers du temps, 2011.

External links (in French)

Site de l'Association du prieuré Saint-Gabriel

Sites des Abbayes normandes

Site de l'École du paysage de Saint-Gabriel-Brécy

Blog des élèves en formation bac pro à l'École du paysage et de l'horticulture
{{coord, 49.2794, -0.5653, type:landmark_region:FR, display=title Benedictine monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Calvados (department)