Savigny Abbey (''Abbaye de Savigny'') was a monastery near the village of

Savigny-le-Vieux Savigny-le-Vieux () is a commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. See also *Savigny Abbey *Communes of the Manche department The following is a list of the 446 Communes of France, communes of the Manche Departments ...

(

Manche Manche (, ) is a coastal French département in Normandy, on the English Channel, which is known as ''La Manche'', literally "the sleeve", in French. It had a population of 495,045 in 2019.Congregation of Savigny The monastic Congregation of Savigny (Savigniac Order) started in the abbey of Savigny, situated in northern France, on the confines of Normandy and Brittany, in the Diocese of Coutances. It originated in 1105 when Vitalis of Mortain established a ...

, who were Benedictines; by 1150 it was Cistercian. Abbaye de savigny 11

History

It was situated on the confines of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

. The founder was

Vitalis de Mortain Vitalis of Savigny (ca. 1060 – 16 September 1122) was the canonized founder of Savigny Abbey and the Congregation of Savigny (1112). Life He was born in Normandy at Tierceville near Bayeux about 1060–5. His parents were Rainfred le Vieux an ...

, Canon of the Collegiate Church of St. Evroul, who, resigning his prebend to embrace an eremitical life under

Robert of Arbrissel Robert of Arbrissel ( 1045 – 1116) was an itinerant preacher, and founder of Fontevraud Abbey. He was born at Arbrissel (near Retiers, Brittany) and died at Orsan Priory in the present department of Cher. Sources The first ''Vita'' was writt ...

in the forest of Craon (Anjou), and leaving the latter, retired to the forest of Savigny (1105), where he built a hermitage. Soon, however, the number of disciples who gathered around him necessitated the construction of adequate buildings, in which was instituted the monastic life, following the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...

, and interpreted in a manner similar to the Cistercians.Obrecht, Edmond. "Abbey of Savigny." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 31 Jan. 2015
/ref> Around 1115, Rudolph, lord of Fougeres, confirmed the grants he had formerly made to Vital, and monastery of Our Lady of Savigny was established.'' The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church'' 2nd ed., (E. A. Livingstone, ed.) OUP, 2006
The abbey was home to as many as 120 monks.

Aimo Aimo (commonly known as Saint Aimo, also Aymon or Hamon) was a mystic and monk. Born in the village of Landecob, Brittany near Rennes, Aimo entered the Benedictine monastery of Savigny, in Savigny, Normandy. Suspected of having leprosy, he ...

of Landecob was a noted member.Merton, Thomas. ''In the Valley of Wormwood: Cistercian Blessed and Saints of the Golden Age'', Liturgical Press, 2013, p. 153
It was the mother of the Benedictine reform in Normandy and within thirty years it had 33 subordinate houses, including

Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey (french: Abbaye des Vaux-de-Cernay) was a Cistercian monastery in northern France ( Ile-de-France), situated in Cernay-la-Ville, in the Diocese of Versailles, Yvelines. History The abbey was founded in 1118

. In 1119

Pope Celestine II Pope Celestine II ( la, Caelestinus II; died 8 March 1144), born Guido di Castello,Thomas, pg. 91 was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 26 September 1143 to his death in 1144. Early life Guido di Castello, possibly ...

, then in

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

, took it under his immediate protection, and strongly commended it to the neighbouring nobles.

Robert fitz Martin Robert fitz Martin ( 10?? – c. 1159) was a knight from Devon whose father, Martin de Turribus, was the first Norman Lord of Kemes, in what had previously been the Dyfed part of Deheubarth. Fitz Martin inherited the Lordship of Kemes from his fa ...

and his wife, Maud, granted to Savigny Abbey land at

Vengeons Vengeons () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the commune of Sourdeval.Henry I of England established and generously endowed 29 monasteries of this Congregation in his dominions.

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 ...

also held them in high esteem, and it was at his request that their monks, in the times of the antipope Anacletus, declared in favour of Pope Innocent II. Serlon, third successor of the Founder, found it difficult to retain his jurisdiction over the English monasteries, who wished to make themselves independent, and so determined to affiliate the entire Congregation to Citeaux, which was effected at the General Chapter of 1147. Église Notre-Dame de Savigny-le-Vieux

Little by little discipline became relaxed, and once

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 ...

were introduced (1501) it never regained its first greatness. In 1509 it was pillaged and partly burned by the Calvinists, and records of the following year mention but twenty-four monks remaining. It continued to exist until the Revolution reduced it to a heap of ruins. In 1791 it was purchased for a quarry and much of the stone sold off. In 1838, archaeologist

Arcisse de Caumont Arcisse de Caumont (20 August 1801, Bayeux – 16 April 1873) was a French historian and archaeologist. Biography Arcisse Caumont was born at Bayeux to François de Caumont and Marie-Louise de Mathan Hue. One of his mentors was Charles de Gervil ...

purchased the Romanesque gate in order to preserve it."Savigny-le-Vieux Abbey", Office de Tourisme, Mont Saint-Michel
/ref> The church, a model of Cistercian architecture, was restored in 1869. The abbey was listed as a '' Monument historique'' by the French Ministry of Culture in 1924, Ancienne abbaye and now serves for parish purposes.

Burials

Isabelle de Meulan Isabelle de Meulan, Dame de Mayenne, Dame de Craon (c. 1148 – 10 May 1220) was a French noblewoman, being the daughter of Waleran de Beaumont, 1st Earl of Worcester, Count of Meulan. Isabelle married twice; firstly to Geoffroy, Seigneur de Mayenn ...

(†1220) benefactress *

Robert Stitchill Robert Stitchill (sometimes Robert Stichel; died 1274) was a medieval Bishop of Durham in England. Life Stitchill probably came from the village of Stichill in Roxburghshire. His father was a priest, and may have been the William Scot who was ...

(†1274) (though his heart was buried at Durham Cathedral)Piper "Stichill, Robert of" ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography''

References

Sources

* Tissier, ''Bibliotheca patrum cisterciensum'' (Bonnefont, 1660–69); {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Manche Christian monasteries established in the 12th century Cistercian monasteries in France Ruins in Normandy Tourist attractions in Manche History of Manche 12th-century establishments in France