Marmoutier Abbey, Tours
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Marmoutier Abbey — also known as the Abbey of Marmoutier or Marmoutiers — was an early
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 ...
outside
Tours Tours ( ; ) is the largest city in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Indre-et-Loire. The Communes of France, commune of Tours had 136,463 inhabita ...
,
Indre-et-Loire Indre-et-Loire () is a department in west-central France named after the Indre River and Loire River. In 2019, it had a population of 610,079.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 ...
. In its later days it followed the
Benedictine order The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly Christian mysticism, contemplative Christian monasticism, monastic Religious order (Catholic), order of the Catholic Church for men and f ...
as an influential monastery with many dependencies.


History

The abbey was founded by Saint
Martin of Tours Martin of Tours (; 316/3368 November 397) was the third bishop of Tours. He is the patron saint of many communities and organizations across Europe, including France's Third French Republic, Third Republic. A native of Pannonia (present-day Hung ...
(316-397), in 372, after he had been made
Bishop of Tours The Archdiocese of Tours (; ) is a Latin Church archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The archdiocese has roots that go back to the 3rd century, while the formal erection of the diocese dates from the 5th century. The ecclesiastical p ...
in 371. Martin's biographer,
Sulpicius Severus Sulpicius Severus (; c. 363 – c. 425) was a Christian writer and native of Aquitania in modern-day France. He is known for his chronicle of sacred history, as well as his biography of Saint Martin of Tours. Life Almost all that we know of Se ...
(''c.'' 363–''c.'' 425), affirms that Martin withdrew from the press of attention in the city to live in Marmoutier (Majus Monasterium), the monastery he founded several miles from Tours on the opposite shore of the river
Loire The Loire ( , , ; ; ; ; ) 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 Rhône. It rises in the so ...
. Sulpicius described the severe restrictions of the life of Martin among the cave-dwelling cenobites who gathered around him, a rare view of a monastic community that preceded the Benedictine rule: According to the French chronicler St. Denis, the Muslims in 732 had made the decision to attack and destroy the monastery. In 853 the abbey was pillaged and destroyed by
Normans The Normans (Norman language, Norman: ''Normaunds''; ; ) were a population arising in the medieval Duchy of Normandy from the intermingling between Norsemen, Norse Viking settlers and locals of West Francia. The Norse settlements in West Franc ...
, who killed over 100 monks. In 982 the abbey, which had fallen into some disorders, was restored by Majolus of Cluny, Abbot of Cluny, at the instance of Eudes I, Count of Blois and of Tours, who died a monk at Marmoutier. During the years shortly after 1000 AD, the abbey grew considerably, becoming one of the richest in Europe.Goyau, Georges. "Archdiocese of Tours." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 15. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 24 June 2019
In the wake of the
Norman Conquest 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 ...
of 1066, the abbey acquired patronage of churches in England. In 1096
Pope Urban II Pope Urban II (; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening the Council of Clermon ...
consecrated its new chapel, and preached the
First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...
. Pope Calixtus II preached crusade again in 1119, convincing Count Foulques V d'Anjou to take part and leading to his subsequent role as
King of Jerusalem The king or queen of Jerusalem was the supreme ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem, a Crusader state founded in Jerusalem by the Latin Church, Latin Catholic leaders of the First Crusade, when the city was Siege of Jerusalem (1099), conquered in ...
. In 1162
Pope Alexander III Pope Alexander III (c. 1100/1105 – 30 August 1181), born Roland (), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 7 September 1159 until his death in 1181. A native of Siena, Alexander became pope after a Papal election, ...
, who came to reside in Tours after being chased from
Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...
by
Frederick Barbarossa Frederick Barbarossa (December 1122 – 10 June 1190), also known as Frederick I (; ), was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1155 until his death in 1190. He was elected King of Germany in Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March 115 ...
, consecrated the monastery's new Chapel Saint Benoit. The abbey eventually grew too small for its inhabitants, and was completely rebuilt at the start of the thirteenth century under the leadership of Abbot Hugues des Roches. Work was periodically interrupted by violent attacks made by the counts of Blois on the monks of Marmoutier. In 1253
Louis IX Louis IX (25 April 1214 – 25 August 1270), also known as Saint Louis, was King of France from 1226 until his death in 1270. He is widely recognized as the most distinguished of the Direct Capetians. Following the death of his father, Louis ...
took the abbey under his protection. In the following century its abbot Gérard du Puy became
cardinal-nephew A cardinal-nephew (; ; ; ; )Signorotto and Visceglia, 2002, p. 114. Modern French scholarly literature uses the term "cardinal-neveu'". was a Cardinal (Catholicism), cardinal elevated by a pope who was that cardinal's relative. The practice of c ...
to the last of the Avignon popes, Gregory XI. In 1562 the abbey was again pillaged, this time by Huguenot Protestants at the start of the Wars of Religion. Again however it recovered. English diarist
John Evelyn John Evelyn (31 October 162027 February 1706) was an English writer, landowner, gardener, courtier and minor government official, who is now best known as a diary, diarist. He was a founding Fellow of the Royal Society. John Evelyn's Diary, ...
visited the abbey, and recorded this entry for June 6, 1644: The abbey was disestablished in 1799 during the French Revolution, and within a few decades the bulk of its buildings had been demolished. American writer
Henry James Henry James ( – ) was an American-British author. He is regarded as a key transitional figure between literary realism and literary modernism, and is considered by many to be among the greatest novelists in the English language. He was the ...
visited the abbey in 1883, being guided through the various buildings by "a chatty nun", as described in his book '' A Little Tour in France''. The former abbey grounds are now the location of a Catholic private school, the Institution Marmoutier.


References


Sources

* Sulpitius Severus ''On the Life of St. Martin''. Translation and Notes by Alexander Roberts. In ''A Select Library of Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church'', New York, 1894
available online
* John Evelyn, '' Diary and Correspondence'': Volume 1, ed. William Bray, London: George Bell and Sons, 1882. Chapter 5. *
France Balade online article
* *


See also

List of possessions of the abbey of Marmoutier de Tours {{Authority control 370s establishments 4th-century establishments in Roman Gaul Benedictine monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Indre-et-Loire Christian monasteries established in the 4th century Monasteries destroyed during the French Revolution 1799 disestablishments in France