The Abbey of Saint-Cyran-en-Brenne, also known since 1975 as the Abbey of Saint-Michel-en-Brenne, and originally as Saint-Pierre de Longoret, is an abbey in the town of Saint-Michel-en-Brenne in

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 ...

, previously in the province of

Berry A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone or pit, although many pips or seeds may be present. Common examples are strawberries, raspb ...

and now in the department of

Indre Indre (; oc, Endre) is a landlocked department in central France named after the river Indre. The inhabitants of the department are known as the ''Indriens'' (masculine; ) and ''Indriennes'' (feminine; ). Indre is part of the current administ ...

History

Sigiran(d) or Sigiramnus, later known as

Saint Cyran In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

, founded a monastery at Longoret around 632 CE on land offered to him by

Dagobert I Dagobert I ( la, Dagobertus; 605/603 – 19 January 639 AD) was the king of Austrasia (623–634), king of all the Franks (629–634), and king of Neustria and Burgundy (629–639). He has been described as the last king of the Merovingian dy ...

for that purpose. Dagobert frequently visited the monastery to hunt. The monastery, originally named Saint-Pierre de Longoret, later became an abbey and a royal foundation named after Saint Cyran. It kept Saint Cyran's relics, as well as those of saints Génitour, Sylvain and Fructueux, all of which were later re-housed in 1860 in a bronze reliquary. In 1620

Jean Duvergier de Hauranne Jean du Vergier de Hauranne, the Abbé (Abbot) of Saint-Cyran, (1581 – 6 October 1643) was a French Catholic priest who introduced Jansenism into France. Life Born in the city of Bayonne to a noble family, Vergier studied theology at the Catho ...

, who introduced

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by t ...

into France, became the abbey's commendatory abbot. Opposed to the

Jesuits The Society of Jesus ( la, Societas Iesu; abbreviation: SJ), also known as the Jesuits (; la, Iesuitæ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

, he fell into disgrace under Cardinal

Richelieu Richelieu (, ; ) may refer to: People * Cardinal Richelieu (Armand-Jean du Plessis, 1585–1642), Louis XIII's chief minister * Alphonse-Louis du Plessis de Richelieu (1582–1653), French Carthusian bishop and Cardinal * Louis François Armand ...

and was imprisoned. The abbey suffered from its association with his fall. It was officially suppressed in 1712 and destroyed on the orders of the

archbishop of Bourges In Christian denominations, an archbishop is a bishop of higher rank or office. In most cases, such as the Catholic Church, there are many archbishops who either have jurisdiction over an ecclesiastical province in addition to their own archdioc ...

. The abbey's monks scattered and its goods were sold in 1739. The buildings were sold as state property in 1790, and all that remains of the main abbey buildings is the 15th-century ''chambre des hôtes''. Some of its granges, stables and mills also survive. A few decades after 1790 Moulins de Paris bought it and later turned it into holiday homes for its employees. The abbey was converted to have a more varied frontage. In June 1975 it was bought by

Marcel Lefebvre Marcel François Marie Joseph Lefebvre (; 29 November 1905 – 25 March 1991) was a French Catholic archbishop who greatly influenced modern traditional Catholicism. In 1970, he founded the Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), a community to train ...

's sister, who renamed it Saint-Michel Abbey and used it to house the sisters of the

Society of St. Pius X The Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX) ( la, Fraternitas Sacerdotalis Sancti Pii X; FSSPX) is an international fraternity of traditionalist Catholic priests founded in 1970 by Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, a leading traditionalist voice at the Secon ...

. It protected

Paul Touvier Paul Claude Marie Touvier (3 April 1915 – 17 July 1996) was a French Nazi collaborator during World War II in Occupied France. In 1994, he became the first Frenchman ever convicted of crimes against humanity, for his participation in the Holo ...

, fleeing from charges of

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the ...

, until the police seized his baggage there on May 21, 1989.Renaud Thomazo: ''Les grands scandales de l'histoire de France'', éditions Larousse, 2013, p. 104.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Cyran en Brenne Buildings and structures of the Society of Saint Pius X Benedictine monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Indre Churches completed in 632 7th-century churches in France