Trois-Fontaines Abbey (french: Abbaye de Sainte-Marie des Trois-Fontaines)literally "three fountains"; cf the

Trappist The Trappists, officially known as the Order of Cistercians of the Strict Observance ( la, Ordo Cisterciensis Strictioris Observantiae, abbreviated as OCSO) and originally named the Order of Reformed Cistercians of Our Lady of La Trappe, are a ...

abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius, near Rome, which is also called the "Abbey of Three Fountains" (''Abbazia delle Tre Fontane'' or ''Trium Fontium ad Aquas Salvias''): se
''Catholic Encyclopedia'': "Abbey of Saints Vincent and Anastasius"
/ref> was a

Cistercian The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint ...

abbey in the present commune of

Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye Trois-Fontaines-l'Abbaye () is a commune in the northeastern French department of Marne. See also *Communes of the Marne department The following is a list of the 613 communes in the French department of Marne. The communes cooperate in the f ...

in the French department of

Marne Marne can refer to: Places France *Marne (river), a tributary of the Seine *Marne (department), a département in northeastern France named after the river * La Marne, a commune in western France *Marne, a legislative constituency (France) Nethe ...

, in the historic province 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, spe ...

History

It was the first daughter-house founded by

Clairvaux Abbey Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a ...

, one of the four Cistercian primary abbeys, and was established north of the head of navigation of the

Saint-Dizier Saint-Dizier () is a subprefecture Of the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. It has a population of 23,382 (2018 figure) and is a subprefecture of the department. Although Saint-Dizier is marginally the most populous commune in Haute ...

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 through ...

in 1118, on isolated woodland given by Hugh de Vitry, which the monks drained. It was a large community, comprising at its height some 130 monks. The abbey was very active in its first century or so in the settlement of daughter houses: * Lachalade Abbey (1127) *

Orval Abbey Orval Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame d'Orval) is a Cistercian monastery founded in 1132 in the Gaume region of Belgium and is located in Villers-devant-Orval, part of Florenville, Wallonia in the province of Luxembourg. The abbey is well known for its ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

(1132) * Haute-Fontaine Abbey (1136) * Cheminon Abbey (1138) * Châtillon Abbey (1142) * Monthiers-en-Argonne Abbey (1144) * Szentgotthárd Abbey in

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia a ...

(1183) * Belin Studenac Abbey, Belafons, in Vojvodina, Serbia (1234)

James of Pecorara James of Pecorara or Giacomo da Pecorara (1170s – June 1244) was an Italian monk, Catholic cardinal, cardinal and diplomat. James was a cleric in the Archdiocese of Ravenna, church of Ravenna before he joined the Cistercians in 1215, becoming a ...

, later a cardinal, was elected abbot in 1215. The chronicler

Alberic of Trois-Fontaines Alberic of Trois-Fontaines (french: Aubri or ''Aubry de Trois-Fontaines''; la, Albericus Trium Fontium) (died 1252) was a medieval Cistercian chronicler who wrote in Latin. He was a monk of Trois-Fontaines Abbey in the diocese of Châlons-sur-M ...

, who covered the years 1227 to 1241, was a monk here. The abbey's isolated site protected it from armed attack. It fell however into the hands of

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 ...

s in 1536. Between 1716 and 1741, the abbot ''

in commendam In canon law, commendam (or ''in commendam'') was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice ''in trust'' to the ''custody'' of a patron. The phrase ''in commendam'' was originally applied to the provisional occupation of an ecclesiastical ...

'' was

Pierre Guérin de Tencin Pierre-Paul Guérin de Tencin (Grenoble, 22 August 1679 – 2 March 1758), French ecclesiastic, was archbishop of Embrun and Lyon, and a cardinal. His sister was Claudine Guérin de Tencin. Biography After studying with the Oratorians in h ...

, French ambassador in Rome, who was made a cardinal in 1739. He rebuilt it, making good the damage caused by a fire in 1703. In 1790 it was sold off, and the premises largely demolished for the sake of the building materials.

Buildings

The monumental gateway dates from the 18th century rebuild. It has a concave façade with four very large pilasters with

Corinthian capital The Corinthian order (Greek: Κορινθιακός ρυθμός, Latin: ''Ordo Corinthius'') is the last developed of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order w ...

s and supports a terrace surrounded by a balustrade. Beyond a courtyard stands a further gateway with a coat of arms and building in the style of

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (french: le Bien-Aimé), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reache ...

. Imposing ruins are all that remain of the abbey church, constructed between 1160 and 1190, originally about 70 metres long and 40 metres broad across the

transept A transept (with two semitransepts) is a transverse part of any building, which lies across the main body of the building. In cruciform churches, a transept is an area set crosswise to the nave in a cruciform ("cross-shaped") building withi ...

, on a cruciform ground plan. The portal is dominated by three large round-arched windows. The lower portion of the surround of the large

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' w ...

is extant, which fills almost the entire width of the west front. The first three bays of the nave are noticeably wider than the rest. The vault of the first is gone, but that of the next three remains, supported on massive

corbel In architecture, a corbel is a structural piece of stone, wood or metal jutting from a wall to carry a superincumbent weight, a type of bracket. A corbel is a solid piece of material in the wall, whereas a console is a piece applied to the s ...

s. The vaults of the next three bays collapsed in the 19th century. The side aisles have pointed

barrel vault A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...

ing and are separated from the nave by pointed arches. Between 1785 and 1789 the rectangular

choir A choir ( ; also known as a chorale or chorus) is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform. Choirs may perform music from the classical music repertoire, which ...

and the transept with three chapels on either arm had become dilapidated almost to the point of collapse, and were replaced by a semi-circular termination on the east side of the transept. Today the Romanesque and

Early Gothic Early Gothic is the style of architecture that appeared in northern France, Normandy and then England between about 1130 and the mid-13th century. It combined and developed several key elements from earlier styles, particularly from Romanesque ar ...

abbey church has been stabilised as a picturesque ruin. The outbuildings accommodate a bicycle museum.

Notes

References

(Columbia University) Ambrose's Exposition on Luke from the scriptorium of Trois-Fontaines
second half of the 12th century. {{Authority control Trois-Fontaines 1121 establishments in Europe 1120s establishments in France Religious organizations established in the 1120s Christian monasteries in Marne (department) Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Ruins in Grand Est Tourist attractions in Marne (department)