Cormery () is a

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

in the

Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.department, Centre-Val de Loire. Its inhabitants are called Cormeriens, Cormeriennes.

Geography

Cormery is located 21 kilometres from Tours and 18 kilometres from

Joué-lès-Tours Joué-lès-Tours (, literally ''Joué near Tours'') is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. It is the largest suburb of the city of Tours, and is adjacent to it on the southwest. Population Toponymy The name of Jou� ...

. The area of the town is watered by the Indre river.

History

Cormery Abbey

In 791, a religious institution was founded by Ithier of St. Martin, abbot of Basilica of St. Martin in Tours and prochancelier of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

. This edifice was to create a more friendly place for meditation and prayer, plus respect for the rule of Saint Benedict of Nursia. Ithier come here to retreat from the world and its agitations. The modest priory was first called Celle Saint-Paul.

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...

who succeeded Ithier Cormery led a tremendous spiritual growth and materially transformed the priory into an important abbey by donating important areas. This allowed his successor,

Fridugisus Fridugisus, also known as Fredegisus or Fredegis of Tours (born in England towards the end of the 8th century; died in Tours around 834), was a monk, teacher, and writer. An Anglo-Saxon, he was a pupil of Alcuin, first at York and afterwards at th ...

, to perform great works. A protective shadow of the abbey caused many residents to gather and a town was formed which became an important commercial center: since 845 a market is held every Thursday. During the raids of the

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

up the

Loire river The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhôn ...

, the monks of Saint-Martin first put the holy relics in their safe in Cormery before forced to flee to the east. The abbey was in ruins in the early eleventh century and was rededicated in 1054. In 1268 to 1271, the abbot was

Jean de Brosse Jean de Brosse (1375–1433), Lord of Boussac, Sainte-Sévère and Huriel, was a councillor and chamberlain to Charles VII of France; he was made a Marshal of France in 1426. Early life Jean de Brosse was born in 1375 in his father’s castle at ...

, parent of Pierre de Brosse, and close to

Philip II of France Philip II (21 August 1165 – 14 July 1223), byname Philip Augustus (french: Philippe Auguste), was King of France from 1180 to 1223. His predecessors had been known as kings of the Franks, but from 1190 onward, Philip became the first French m ...

according to Le Hardi. In 1562, Cormery was sacked by

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

s during the Huguenot rebellions. In 1662, the congregation of St Maur recreated a monastic community that would last until 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 ...

when the monastery was resolved. Only impressive remains are left of the abbey which is objects of study by historians of the region and a cookie recipe "macaroons Abbey".

List of mayors

Heraldry

Drinking water management

The town of Cormery is part of the SIPTEC (Syndicat Intercommunal de Truyes-Esvres-Cormery).

Demographics

Places and monuments

* A lantern of the dead from the twelfth century. Declared a historical monument on December 1, 1920 as a lantern of the dead. (It seems that this is actually a hosanna cross). *

Benedictine abbey , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

: founded in 791 by Ithier, abbot of Saint Martin of Tours * The Chapel of the Virgin: Built at the end of the 15th century. * The rectory: Built in the 15th century.

Personalities linked to the town

* Ithier of Saint Martin *

Paul Boyer (slavist) Paul Boyer (1864 – 1 October 1949) was a French slavist. He inaugurated the chair of Russian language at the Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales of Paris in 1891. Administrator of the school from 1908 to 1936, in 1921 he f ...

(1864–1949), was born in Cormery