L’Aumône Abbey (, ; also known as , ) is a former
Cistercian
The Cistercians (), officially the Order of Cistercians (, 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 Benedict, as well as the contri ...
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
in the commune of
La Colombe
(''The Dove'') is an ''opéra comique'' in two acts by Charles Gounod with a libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré based on the poem by Jean de La Fontaine, itself after a tale (V,9) in The Decameron of Giovanni Boccaccio.
It premiered i ...
,
Loir-et-Cher
Loir-et-Cher (, ) is a Departments of France, department in the Centre-Val de Loire Regions of France, region of France. It is named after two rivers which run through it, the Loir in its northern part and the Cher (river), Cher in its southern p ...
,
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 ...
, 34 kilometres north of
Blois
Blois ( ; ) is a commune and the capital city of Loir-et-Cher Departments of France, department, in Centre-Val de Loire, France, on the banks of the lower Loire river between Orléans and Tours.
With 45,898 inhabitants by 2019, Blois is the mos ...
in the Forêt de Cîteaux, part of the Forêt de
Marchenoir.
History
The abbey was founded in 1121, thanks to a gift from Count
Theobald IV of Blois, as the seventh daughter house of
Cîteaux Abbey
Cîteaux Abbey ( ) is a Catholic abbey located in Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, south of Dijon, France. It is notable for being the original house of the Order of Cistercians. Today, it belongs to the Trappists (also called the Cistercians of th ...
.
It became the mother house of 29 abbeys, including
Waverley Abbey
Waverley Abbey was the first Cistercian abbey in England, founded in 1128 by William Giffard, the Bishop of Winchester.
Located about southeast of Farnham, Surrey, it is situated on a flood-plain; surrounded by current and previous channels ...
in England (the first Cistercian foundation in the
British Isles
The British Isles are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner Hebrides, Inner and Outer Hebr ...
),
Bégard Abbey,
Tintern Abbey
Tintern Abbey ( ) is a ruined medieval abbey situated adjacent to the village of Tintern in Monmouthshire, on the Welsh bank of the River Wye, which at this location forms the border between Monmouthshire in Wales and Gloucestershire in England. ...
,
Langonnet Abbey and
Le Landais Abbey.
The abbey suffered greatly during the
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a conflict between the kingdoms of Kingdom of England, England and Kingdom of France, France and a civil war in France during the Late Middle Ages. It emerged from feudal disputes over the Duchy ...
and by 1396 lay mostly in ruins. The subsequent reconstruction and the introduction of
commendatory abbots proved a serious burden.
The abbey was suppressed in 1791 during the
French Revolution. The land was sold in 1818 and the debris from the ruins was used as building material.
[
]
Buildings
Of the mediaeval structures there survive a 13th-century dovecote
A dovecote or dovecot , doocot (Scots Language, Scots) or columbarium is a structure intended to house Domestic pigeon, pigeons or doves. Dovecotes may be free-standing structures in a variety of shapes, or built into the end of a house or b ...
, two 15th-century buildings and a piece of the church wall. Some fragments of the cloister
A cloister (from Latin , "enclosure") is a covered walk, open gallery, or open Arcade (architecture), arcade running along the walls of buildings and forming a quadrangle (architecture), quadrangle or garth. The attachment of a cloister to a cat ...
are in the museum in Blois.
References
See also
* Abbey La Joie Notre-Dame
Sources
* Bernard Peugniez, 2001: ''Routier cistercien. Abbayes et sites. France, Belgique, Luxembourg, Suisse'' (new enlarged edition), p. 108 . Moisenay: Éditions Gaud.
External links
Abbaye Notre-Dame de l'Aumône
Certosa di Firenze website
Cister.net
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aumone Abbey
Cistercian monasteries in France
Buildings and structures in Loir-et-Cher
1121 establishments in Europe
1120s establishments in France
Christian monasteries established in the 1120s