:''not to be confused with the

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 ...

L'Étanche Abbey in the Vosges department'' L'Étanche Abbey is a former

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

monastery founded in the 12th century, the ruins of which are near the modern village of Deuxnouds-aux-Bois, in the commune of Lamorville,

Meuse The Meuse or Maas is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a total length of . History From 1301, the upper ...

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 ...

History

The abbey of Notre-Dame de l'Étanche was founded in about 1144 by Philippe, abbot of Belval, in a secluded valley then known as Faverolles, near Deuxnouds-aux-Bois. The first patrons of the foundation were Albéron de Chiny, bishop of Verdun, and Bertrand le Loup and his nephew Albert, seigneurs of Faverolles, in whose lands the community was settled. The abbey church was consecrated in 1147. The earliest existing charter dates from 1157. Nearby there was at first a Premonstratensian convent, which was dissolved in time. The modest abbey possessed a

priory A priory is a monastery of men or women under religious vows that is headed by a prior or prioress. They were created by the Catholic Church. Priories may be monastic houses of monks or nuns (such as the Benedictines, the Cistercians, or t ...

at Benoîte-Vaux, a famed place of pilgrimage in Lorraine. The structures were utterly destroyed by the Swedes in 1632, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, and were not rebuilt until 1743, with nine monastic cells in a range. The chapel was completed in 1770. Three ''

abbé ''Abbé'' (from Latin , in turn from Greek , , from Aramaic ''abba'', a title of honour, literally meaning "the father, my father", emphatic state of ''abh'', "father") is the French word for an abbot. It is also the title used for lower-ranki ...

s'' of L'Étanche were of note: Dom Dominique Callot, a student of chemistry and heraldry; Dom Edmont Maclot, author of pious works; and Dom Jean François Joseph Boucart, who assembled a collection of medals and a prestigious library, since dispersed.

Site

The chapel and the monastic buildings, all in ruins, have been classified ''

Monuments historiques () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...

'' since 1984. A subscription is launched in 2017 by the Fondation du Patrimoine to fund emergency repairs.

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:LEtanche Abbey, Lorraine 1144 establishments in Europe 1140s establishments in France Premonstratensian monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Meuse (department) Ruins in Grand Est Tourist attractions in Meuse (department)