Marmoutier Abbey, otherwise Maursmünster Abbey, was 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 ...

monastery in the '' commune'' of

Marmoutier :''See Marmoutier Abbey (Tours) for the former abbey in Tours.'' Marmoutier (; ) is a commune in the Bas-Rhin département in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The origin of the place is the former Marmoutier Abbey, of which the abbey church ...

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. The former abbey church now serves as the village's parish church.

History

The first foundation by Saint Leobard around 590, was a community of Irish monks under the

Rule of St. Columbanus Saint Columbanus (; 543 – 23 November 615) was an Irish missionary notable for founding a number of monasteries after 590 in the Frankish and Lombard kingdoms, most notably Luxeuil Abbey in present-day France and Bobbio Abbey in present-da ...

. Then known as

Aquileia Aquileia is an ancient Roman city in Italy, at the head of the Adriatic at the edge of the lagoons, about from the sea, on the river Natiso (modern Natisone), the course of which has changed somewhat since Roman times. Today, the city is small ( ...

, after the town in Italy, it was one of the

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 ...

abbeys and a ''

Reichsabtei Princely abbeys (, ''Fürststift'') and Imperial abbeys (, ''Reichskloster'', ''Reichsstift'', ''Reichsgotthaus'') were religious establishments within the Holy Roman Empire which enjoyed the status of imperial immediacy (''Reichsunmittelbarkei ...

''. About 724

Saint Pirmin Saint Pirmin (latinized ''Pirminius'', born before 700 ( according to many sources), died November 3, 753 in Hornbach), was a Merovingian-era monk and missionary. He founded or restored numerous monasteries in Alemannia (Swabia), especially in ...

reformed the Columban monasteries in Alsace, including this one, introducing the

Rule of St. Benedict The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' () is a book of precepts written in Latin by Benedict of Nursia, St. Benedict of Nursia (c. AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot. The spirit of Saint Benedict's Rule is summed up ...

. The first abbot under the new rule was Maurus,Great Britain. Naval Intelligence Division. ''A Manual of Alsace-Lorraine'', Volume 2, H.M. Stationery Office, 1919, p. 176
/ref> from whom the place took the name of Maursmünster in

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, of which Marmoutier is the

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

version. Marmoutier abbey was rebuilt in the ninth century by

Drogo of Metz Drogo (17 June 801 – 8 December 855), also known as Dreux or Drogon, was an illegitimate son of Frankish emperor Charlemagne by the concubine Regina. Early life and family Drogo was born on 17 June 801 at Aachen, Gaul (Aix-La-Chappelle). The ...

. Under Abbot Meinhard and his successors in the 12th century, the abbey enjoyed a long period of growth and prosperity, including the consolidation of the large territory. In the 12th century the abbey church of St. Stephen's was built, which still stands today as an imposing Romanesque church. The west end, with its three massive towers, is especially striking. In the 13th and 14th centuries the abbey began to decline, becoming involved in long wrangles over its properties, mostly with the family of Geroldseck, lords of the town of Maursmünster, now Marmoutier, that had grown up round the abbey. The abbey was also badly damaged during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

in 1525, when a mob ransacked the building and destroyed the library, and again in 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 ...

, when it was plundered by

Ernst von Mansfeld Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (; 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander; despite being a Catholic, he fought for the Protestants during the early years of the Thirty Years' War. He was one of the l ...

's soldiers in 1621. Under the

Peace of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...

at the end of the war (1648), Alsace was transferred to France. The latter part of the 17th century saw a revival of the abbey's fortunes, and in the 18th century, particularly under abbots Anselm Moser and Placid Schweighäuser, re-building was undertaken, including the quire of the church in the 1760s. However, the French Revolution saw the dissolution of the monastery and the demolition or sale of all its buildings. The church survives as the parish church, and other monastic buildings now serve as the presbytery and the ''

mairie In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

''. The church is located on the ''

Route Romane d'Alsace The Route Romane d'Alsace (Romanesque Road of Alsace) is a tourist itinerary designed by the Association Voix et Route Romane to link both the well-known and the more secret examples of Romanesque architecture of Alsace, in an itinerary of 19 st ...

''. With a total length of , it is one of the most imposing Christian sanctuaries in that part of Alsace.

References

Sources

* Will, R. (intro by H. Haug), 1966. ''Das romanische Elsass'', pp. 143–211. Zodiaque (German edition). * Goldinger, Walter, 1938. ''Die Verfassung des Klosters Maursmünster im Elsaß,'' in: ''Zeitschrift für die Geschichte des Oberrheins'', 90, 1938.

External links

Alsace-Passion.com: St. Etienne's church, Marmoutier
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marmoutier Christian monasteries in Bas-Rhin Benedictine monasteries in France Imperial abbeys Christian monasteries established in the 7th century Irish monastic foundations in continental Europe Monuments historiques of Bas-Rhin