Signy Abbey (french: Abbaye de Signy, Abbaye Notre-Dame de Signy; la, Signiacum) was a Cistercian

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 ...

located in Signy-l'Abbaye, Ardennes,

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 ...

. It is located about northeast of Reims and about west of

Charleville-Mézières or ''Carolomacérienne'' , image flag=Flag of Charleville Mezieres.svg Charleville-Mézières () is a commune of northern France, capital of the Ardennes department, Grand Est. Charleville-Mézières is located on the banks of the river Meuse. ...

on the edge of the Froidmont forest. It was founded on 25 March 1135, the feast day of the Annunciation. It was sold as national property in 1793 and completely demolished. Its library was burned.

History

The form of the Latin name Signiacum suggests that the site may have been that of a

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 ...

villa. The abbey was founded in 1131 and was settled in 1135 by twelve monks under the leadership of

Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order throug ...

himself from Igny Abbey, its mother house; it was thus of the filiation of Clairvaux (Saint Bernard's biographer, William of Saint-Thierry (d. 1148), entered it as a simple monk.) The founding company arrived on 20 March 1135; the foundation took place on 25 March 1135, the feast of the Annunciation. As there was no nearby religious community the monks lived in the village of Draize during the first stage of construction. The monastery quickly acquired estates, and established granges, for crops, vineyards and livestock, in numerous places, including Maimby, Draize, Bray, Rousselois, Chaudion, Chappes, Mésancelle, Lavergny and Écaillère. It was also active in metallurgy and the extraction of slate. It owned town-houses in, among other places, Mézières, Reims and

Huy Huy ( or ; nl, Hoei, ; wa, Hu) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Liège, Belgium. Huy lies along the river Meuse, at the mouth of the small river Hoyoux. It is in the ''sillon industriel'', the former industrial ...

near Liège, not far from its second daughter house, Val-Saint-Lambert Abbey, founded in 1187; the first, Bonnefontaine Abbey, was founded in 1152. The construction of the abbey church took from 1226 to 1514. In 1550 the abbey passed into the control of

commendatory abbots 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 a ...

. It was besieged and plundered by the

Calvinist Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Ca ...

s in 1568 and several times during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

, but was eventually rebuilt. It was 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 ...

in 1790/91 and sold off in 1793, after which the premises were mostly demolished for building materials.

Remains

The cross of the

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choir, ...

s survives, a monolith 7 metres high, as do the 18th-century buildings of the abbey farm and the guest wing. Various agricultural buildings also survive in the vicinity. Of the almost 4,000 volumes once in the library, most were burned on the spot in the Revolution, but about 300 survive in

Charleville Charleville can refer to: Australia * Charleville, Queensland, a town in Australia **Charleville railway station, Queensland France * Charleville, Marne, a commune in Marne, France *Charleville-Mézières, a commune in Ardennes, France ** ...

and the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of materials, books or media that are accessible for use and not just for display purposes. A library provides physical (hard copies) or digital access (soft copies) materials, and may be a physical location or a vi ...

References

;External links
Amis de l'Abbaye de Signy

Certosa di Firenze website: map and modern site photos
;Bibliography *de Barthélemy, E., 1879: ''Cartulaires de l’abbaye royale de Notre-Dame de Signy et du prieuré de Saint-Oricle de Senuc.'' Reims *Mathy, abbé J., 1970: ''Histoire de l’abbaye de Signy.'' Reims: Imprimerie Coulon *Pacaut, M., 1993: ''Les Moines blancs. Histoire de l’ordre de Cîteaux.'' Paris: Fayard * Peugniez, Bernard, 2001: ''Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse'' (new expanded edition), pp. 117–118. Moisenay: Éditions Gaud. * Pressouyre, Léon, 1990: ''Le Rêve cistercien'', collection '' Découvertes Gallimard'' (n° 95), Gallimard et CNMHS, Paris {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Ardennes (department) Cistercian monasteries in France 1135 establishments in Europe 1130s establishments in France