Fleury Abbey (Floriacum) in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire,

Loiret Loiret (; ) is a department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It takes its name from the river Loiret, which is contained wholly within the department. In 2019, Loiret had a population of 680,434.< ...

, France, founded in about 640, is one of the most celebrated

Benedictine , 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 ...

monasteries of Western Europe, and possesses the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia. Its site on the banks of the

Loire 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 ...

has always made it easily accessible from

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and Abbo of Fleury (died 1004) a monk and abbot of Fleury was a theologian of wide-ranging intellect; his life was written by the chronicler Aimoin, also a monk of Fleury.

Andrew of Fleury Andrew of Fleury was a Christian monk and contemporary historian of the Peace and Truce of God movements. A Benedictine at Fleury Abbey, Andrew's chief work was ''Miracula sancti Benedicti'' ("The Miracles of Saint Benedict"), written ''c''.1043. H ...

(writing ''c'' 1043) wrote ''Miracula sancti Benedicti''. Hugh of Fleury (died after 1118) was a monk of Fleury known for his chronicles and other writings.

Churches

Anscar Vonier, writing in the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' says that "from the very start the abbey boasted of two churches, one in honour of St. Peter and the other in honour of the Blessed Virgin."Vonier, Anscar. "Abbey of Fleury." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 6. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1909. 26 June 2019 The church of St Peter was demolished in the eighteenth century; the existing church dedicated to the Virgin pre-existed the founding of the monastery. After the ravages of the

Normans The Normans ( Norman: ''Normaunds''; french: Normands; la, Nortmanni/Normanni) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norse Viking settlers and indigenous West Franks and Gallo-Romans. ...

, who penetrated via the Loire and burned the monastery buildings, which suffered a catastrophic fire in 1026, this became the great late eleventh-century Romanesque basilica, which occasioned the erection of a great tower, that was intended as the west front of the abbey church, which was completed in 1218. It was here that the '' Fleury Playbook'' was compiled, perhaps in dedication to the new church. The tower of Abbot Gauzlin, resting on fifty columns, forms a unique porch. The Carolingian style church is about three hundred feet long, its

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 with ...

one hundred and forty feet. The choir of the church contains the tomb of a French monarch, Philip I of France, buried there in 1108. Of the mediaeval abbey's buildings, only this basilica survives in the modern monastery.

Medieval history

The seventeenth-century Benedictine scholar Jean Mabillon accepted the traditional founding of Fleury as by Leodebaldus, abbot of St-Aignan (Orléans) about 640, in the existing Gallo-Roman

villa A villa is a type of house that was originally an ancient Roman upper class country house. Since its origins in the Roman villa, the idea and function of a villa have evolved considerably. After the fall of the Roman Republic, villas became ...

of ''Floriacum'', in the ''Vallis Aurea'', the "Golden Valley". This was the spot selected by the Abbot of St-Aignan for his Benedictine foundation. Rigomarus was its first abbot. The most famous of the

Merovingian The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from the middle of the 5th century until 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the Franks and northern Gaul ...

abbots was St. Mommolus, who effected the translation of the relics there of Benedict of Nursia.

Pepin of Herstal Pepin II (c. 635 – 16 December 714), commonly known as Pepin of Herstal, was a Frankish statesman and military leader who de facto ruled Francia as the Mayor of the Palace from 680 until his death. He took the title Duke and Prince of the ...

, having considerably augmented the abbey, committed it to the direction of Saint Bain in 706. The monastery underwent a season of reform in its monastic life, about 930, along the lines first laid out at Cluny. The monastery enjoyed the patronage of the

Carolingian dynasty The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pi ...

for generations; it was also central to the political ambitions of the ''Robertian'' house descended from Robert I of France, several of whom had held the title Duke of the Franks. The monk of Fleury named

Helgaud Helgaud or Helgaldus (d. c. 1048), French historian and biographer, was a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Fleury. Little else is known about him save that he was chaplain to the French king, Robert II the Pious, whose life (''Vita'') he wrote. Alt ...

(died ca 1068), was chaplain to King Robert II and wrote a brief ''Epitoma vitae Roberti regis''. Fleury had particular significance in lending legitimacy to its patrons. Although royal and ducal patronage had material advantages, there was also a price to be paid in terms of monastic autonomy when the ducal candidate conflicted with the choice of the monastic community. Theodulphus, bishop of Orléans established at Fleury a school for young noblemen recommended there by

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 E ...

. By the mid-ninth century its library was one of the most comprehensive ever assembled in the West, and scholars such as Lupus of Ferrières (d. 862) traveled there to consult its texts. Later under St. Abbo of Fleury (abbot 988-1004), head of the reformed abbey school, Fleury enjoyed a second golden age; it kept up close relations with abbeys in England. Later, among the non-resident abbots ''in commendam'' were Cardinals Odet de Coligny and Antoine Sanguin in the reign of

François I Francis I (french: François Ier; frm, Francoys; 12 September 1494 – 31 March 1547) was King of France from 1515 until his death in 1547. He was the son of Charles, Count of Angoulême, and Louise of Savoy. He succeeded his first cousin once ...

and Cardinal Richelieu.

Modern history

Like all Benedictine monasteries in France, the community was scattered by 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

. Nevertheless, a Benedictine presence remained continually: the parish was held by a monk disguised as a secular priest, and there were numerous attempts to restore the monastery throughout the 19th century. Finally, in 1944, the community (which had been resident at Pierre-qui-Vire) was restored to the abbey, which was rebuilt as a member of the

Subiaco Congregation The Subiaco Cassinese Congregation is an international union of Benedictine houses (abbeys and priories) within the Benedictine Confederation. It developed from the Subiaco Congregation, which was formed in 1867 through the initiative of Dom Pietr ...

. The monastery is remembered each day at evensong in Winchester Cathedral with an additional short said prayer at the conclusion of the responses – the ''Fleury Prayer''.

Benedict of Nursia's relics

Fleury is reputed to contain the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia, the father of Western monasticism. Mommolus, the second Abbot of Fleury, is said to have effected their transfer when that abbey fell into decay after the ravages of the

Lombards The Lombards () or Langobards ( la, Langobardi) were a Germanic people who ruled most of the Italian Peninsula from 568 to 774. The medieval Lombard historian Paul the Deacon wrote in the ''History of the Lombards'' (written between 787 an ...

in the seventh century. Benedict's relics, and the ''Miracula S. Benedicti'' developed over three centuries by five monks of Fleury, including

Andreas of Fleury Andrew of Fleury was a Christian monk and contemporary historian of the Peace and Truce of God movements. A Benedictine at Fleury Abbey, Andrew's chief work was ''Miracula sancti Benedicti'' ("The Miracles of Saint Benedict"), written ''c''.1043. ...

(c.1043),Alexandre Vidier, ''L'Historiographie à Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire et les miracles de Saint Benoît'' (Paris: Picard) 1965. attracted pilgrims, bringing wealth and fame. Monks of the Italian monastery

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

, which was founded by Benedict himself, disputed this story. They claimed that Monte Cassino possesses the remains of the body of St. Benedict, but have never shown relics as proof.

Notes

References

Elizabeth Dachowski, "Edmund of East Anglia: Life of Abbo of Fleury"
an introduction to the political background.
(Dewey Library, University of Pennsylvania) Boethius, ''In Librum Aristotelis de Interpretatione'':
Manuscript probably produced at Fleury, mid-ninth century