The Abbey of the Holy Trinity at Fécamp, commonly known as Fécamp Abbey (), is a
Benedictine
The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
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 Christians, Christian monks and nun ...
in
Fécamp,
Seine-Maritime
Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inf� ...
,
Upper Normandy,
France
France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...
.
The abbey is known as the first producer of
bénédictine, a
herbal
liqueur
A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...
based on
brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...
.
First foundation
Around 658,
Waningus, a
Merovingian
The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...
count, founded a nunnery here, which was destroyed by the Vikings in 841. Another convent he founded in 660, near the site of the Precious Relic, was destroyed by the
Viking
Vikings were 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 settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
s in 842. Around the ducal palace, the foundations of two chapels have been found.
Second foundation
In the 990s
Richard I of Normandy, who was born in Fécamp, began the rebuilding of the church. It was
Richard II who invited the zealous
Saint William of Volpiano in 1001 to rekindle the life of the abbey under the
Cluniac
Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Order of Saint Benedict, Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter, Saints Peter and Saint Paul, Paul.
The abbey was constructed ...
Benedictine rules. These two Norman rulers, who were originally buried outside, were later interred in 1162 by
Henry II of England within the southern
transept of the
Gothic abbey church.
The remains of the two kings were moved several times and reburied in several places, finally being placed in lead boxes and reburied again in the southern transept in 1956. In February 2016, French, Danish and Norwegian researchers opened the lead boxes in order to conduct DNA analysis of the remains. Radiocarbon dating of the remains showed that neither skeleton could be that of Richard I or Richard II. One skeleton dated from the third century BCE, the other from the eighth century CE, both long before the lifetimes of Richard I and Richard II.
Saint William is buried in one of the northern chapels.
Mid-eleventh century
The abbey at Fécamp was critical in the
Norman conquest of England
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...
.
Edward the Confessor
Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex.
Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...
granted the royal minster church in
Steyning to the abbey, in gratitude to his Norman protectors during his exile. With its large, wealthy manor lands and thriving port, this grant was to take effect after the death of
Aelfwine, Bishop of Winchester, who had charge of Steyning. The bishop died in 1047 and ecclesiastical jurisdiction then passed directly to
Pope Clement II. In the same way, Fécamp Abbey itself answered to no Norman bishop, only to the Pope. The gift was later confirmed by
William the Conqueror
William the Conqueror (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), sometimes called William the Bastard, was the first Norman king of England (as William I), reigning from 1066 until his death. A descendant of Rollo, he was D ...
.
A nearby port with land around
Rye,
Winchelsea and
Hastings
Hastings ( ) is a seaside town and Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in East Sussex on the south coast of England,
east of Lewes and south east of London. The town gives its name to the Battle of Hastings, which took place to th ...
had already been given to the same abbey by
King Cnut, to honour a promise made by his wife
Emma of Normandy's first husband
King Aethelred. The monks had hardly had time to settle in when in 1052
Godwin, Earl of Wessex, expelled them from Steyning and seized it for himself. His son
Harold decided to keep it upon his accession, rather than restore it to them. This made commercial and strategic sense (Harold did not want a Norman toehold at a potential invasion port), but William responded by swearing on a knife before setting out for England to recover it for the monks.
This gained him a ship from the abbey and, upon his victory at Hastings, he made good his promise and returned Steyning to the abbey, with whom it remained until the 15th century.
The charter acquitted the grantees of all earthly service and subjection to barons, princes, and others, and gave them all royal liberties, custom, and justice over all matters arising in their land; and threatened any who should infringe these liberties with an
amercement of £100 in gold.
They moved the remains of the local saint,
Cuthman of Steyning, to the mother abbey at Fécamp. The abbey also provided William with
Remigius de Fécamp, the first
Bishop of Lincoln.
Church architecture
The abbey church dedicated to the
Holy Trinity was built between 1175 and 1220 using the cream-coloured stone of
Caen
Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...
. Under the Plantagenets, the ''
scriptorium'' at Fécamp produced numerous illuminated
manuscript
A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...
s.
See also
*
Carolingian architecture
*
Carolingian art
*
List of Carolingian monasteries
Notes
*
* High-resolution 360° Panoramas and Images o
Fécamp Abbey , Art Atlas
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fecamp Abbey
Benedictine monasteries in France
Carolingian architecture