The Abbey of Saint Maurice, Agaunum ( or ''Saint-Maurice-en-Valais'') is a Swiss monastery of

canons regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

in Saint-Maurice,

Canton of Valais Valais ( , ; ), more formally, the Canton of Valais or Wallis, is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of thirteen districts and its capital and largest city is Sion, Switzer ...

, which dates from the 6th century. It is situated against a cliff in a section of the road between

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

and the

Simplon Pass The Simplon Pass (; ; ; ; ; ) is a high mountain pass between the Pennine Alps and the Lepontine Alps in Switzerland. It connects Brig, Switzerland, Brig in the canton of Valais with Domodossola in Piedmont (Italy). The pass itself and the villag ...

(to

northern Italy Northern Italy (, , ) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. The Italian National Institute of Statistics defines the region as encompassing the four Northwest Italy, northwestern Regions of Italy, regions of Piedmo ...

). The abbey itself is a territorial abbacy and not part of any

diocese In Ecclesiastical polity, church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided Roman province, prov ...

. It is best known for its connection to the martyrdom of the

Theban Legion The Theban Legion (also known as the Martyrs of Agaunum) figures in Christianity, Christian hagiography as a Roman legion from Roman Egypt, Egypt —"six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — consisting of Christian soldiers who were marty ...

, its original practice of perpetual

psalmody The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of B ...

, and a collection of art and antiquity. The abbey is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

History

The abbey of St. Maurice is built on the ruins of a Roman shrine of the 1st century B.C. dedicated to the god Mercury in the Roman staging-post of Agaunum. According to Eucherius, Bishop of Lyon, around 370, Theodorus, Bishop of Valais, constructed a small shrine to commemorate the martyrdom of St. Maurice and the Theban Legion, which was said to have occurred in the area where the abbey is located. Theodorus then gathered the local hermits in a common life, thus beginning the Community of Saint-Maurice. In 515, the

Basilica In Ancient Roman architecture, a basilica (Greek Basiliké) was a large public building with multiple functions that was typically built alongside the town's forum. The basilica was in the Latin West equivalent to a stoa in the Greek Eas ...

of St. Maurice of Agaunum became the church of a monastery under the patronage of King

Sigismund of Burgundy Sigismund (; died 524 AD) was List of kings of Burgundy, King of the Burgundians from 516 until his death. He was the son of king Gundobad and Caretene. He succeeded his father in 516. Sigismund and his brother Godomar were defeated in battle b ...

, the first ruler in his dynasty to convert from

Arian Arianism (, ) is a Christological doctrine which rejects the traditional notion of the Trinity and considers Jesus to be a creation of God, and therefore distinct from God. It is named after its major proponent, Arius (). It is considered he ...

Christianity to

Trinitarian The Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the Christian doctrine concerning the nature of God, which defines one God existing in three, , consubstantial divine persons: God the Father, God the Son (Jesus Christ) and God the Holy Spirit, three ...

Christianity. The abbey became known for a form of perpetual psalmody known as

laus perennis Perpetual prayer (Latin: ) is the Christian practice of continuous prayer carried out by a group. History The practice of perpetual prayer was inaugurated by the archimandrite Alexander (died about 430), the founder of the monastic Acoemetae or " ...

that was practised there beginning in 522 or 523. The chants were sung day and night, by several choirs in rotation without ceasing. The practice continued there until the 9th century, when the monks were replaced by a community of canons. Amatus of Grenoble joined the abbey around 581, later retiring to a hermitage. The abbey had some of the richest and best preserved treasures in Western Europe, such as the Ewer of Saint-Maurice d'Agaune. In the mid-9th century,

Hucbert Hucbert (also spelled Hubert or Hugbert; c. 820 – 864 or 866) was a Frankish nobleman and ecclesiastical official of the Bosonid dynasty. He served as Count of Valois, Duke of Transjurane Burgundy, and lay abbot of Saint Maurice's Abbey in Aga ...

, brother-in-law of the king

Lothair II Lothair II (835 – 8 August 869) was a Carolingian king and ruler of northern parts of Middle Francia, that came to be known as Lotharingia, reigning there from 855 until his death in 869. He also ruled over Burgundy, holding from 855 just th ...

, seized the abbey. In 864 he was killed in a battle at the

Orbe Orbe (; ; older , ; ) is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It was the seat of the former district of Orbe and is now part of the district of Jura-Nord Vaudois. History Orbe is first mentioned about 280 as ''Urba''. In 1179, it wa ...

river and was replaced by the victor, count Conrad of Auxerre, who became the

commendatory abbot A commendatory abbot () is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is an ecclesiastic, however, ...

of the abbey, and Lord of the

Transjuran Burgundy Upper Burgundy (; ) was a historical region in the early medieval Burgundy, and a distinctive realm known as the ''Kingdom of Upper Burgundy'', that existed from 888 to 933, when it was incorporated into the reunited Kingdom of Burgundy, that l ...

. Boso, later

King of Provence The land of Provence has a history quite separate from that of any of the larger nations of Europe. Its independent existence has its origins in the frontier nature of the dukedom in Merovingian Gaul. In this position, influenced and affected by ...

, (850-887) received the abbey around 870 from his brother-in-law,

Charles the Bald Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...

. Conrad's son,

Rudolph I of Burgundy Rudolph I ( – 25 October 912) was King of Upper Burgundy from his election in 888 until his death. A member of the elder Welf family, Rudolph was the son of Conrad, Count of Auxerre and Waldrada of Worms. From his father he inherited the l ...

, who had inherited the commendatory abbacy from him, became king of

Upper Burgundy Upper Burgundy (; ) was a historical region in the early medieval Burgundy, and a distinctive realm known as the ''Kingdom of Upper Burgundy'', that existed from 888 to 933, when it was incorporated into the reunited Kingdom of Burgundy, that ...

in 888, and was crowned in a ceremony at the abbey itself, which he then made the royal residence. His descendants continued to rule as

Kings of Burgundy The following is a list of the kings of the two kingdoms of Burgundy, and a number of related political entities devolving from Carolingian machinations over family relations. Kings of the Burgundians * Gebicca (late 4th century – c. 40 ...

, in a line running from Rudolf I to Rudolf III. They directed the abbey until around the year 1000. The monastery remained the property of the

Kingdom of Burgundy Kingdom of Burgundy was a name given to various successive Monarchy, kingdoms centered in the historical region of Burgundy during the Middle Ages. The heartland of historical Burgundy correlates with the border area between France and Switze ...

until 1033, when, through the defeat in battle of Eudes, a nephew of Rudolf III, it passed to the control of the

House of Savoy The House of Savoy (, ) is a royal house (formally a dynasty) of Franco-Italian origin that was established in 1003 in the historical region of Savoy, which was originally part of the Kingdom of Burgundy and now lies mostly within southeastern F ...

Amadeus III, Count of Savoy Amadeus III of Savoy (1095 – April 1148) was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as a crusader. Biography He was born in Carignano, Piedmont, the son of Humbert II of Savoy and Gisela of Burgundy, the dau ...

, became the commendatory abbot of the monastery in 1103 and worked to revive religious observance at the abbey by installing there, in 1128, the community of canons regular, who still live there under the Rule of St. Augustine, in place of the secular canons. Throughout the history of the abbey, its strategic mountain pass location and independent patronage has subjected it to the whims of war. The abbey was often forced to pay ransom or house troops. In 1840,

Pope Gregory XVI Pope Gregory XVI (; ; born Bartolomeo Alberto Cappellari; 18 September 1765 – 1 June 1846) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 2 February 1831 to his death in June 1846. He had adopted the name Mauro upon enteri ...

conferred the title of the See of Bethlehem in perpetuity on the abbey. Today the abbey consists of some 40 canons, with 2

lay brother Lay brother is a largely extinct term referring to religious brothers, particularly in the Catholic Church, who focused upon manual service and secular matters, and were distinguished from choir monks or friars in that they did not pray in choi ...

s. The Most Rev.

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

Joseph Roduit, C.R.A., who was elected in 1999, resigned with the permission of

Pope Francis Pope Francis (born Jorge Mario Bergoglio; 17 December 1936 – 21 April 2025) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 13 March 2013 until Death and funeral of Pope Francis, his death in 2025. He was the fi ...

on Wednesday, 18 March 2015, replaced by

Jean Scarcella on 1 August 2015 . The canonical community serves both the spiritual needs of the territory of the Territorial abbey as well as five

parish A parish is a territorial entity in many Christianity, Christian denominations, constituting a division within a diocese. A parish is under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of a priest#Christianity, priest, often termed a parish pries ...

es in the Diocese of Sion. The canons also operate a highly ranked

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

Architecture

The abbey has been built and rebuilt over a period of at least 15 centuries. Excavations on the site have revealed a

baptistry In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; -4; we might wonder whether there's a point at which it's appropriate to talk of the beginnings of French, that is, when it wa ... ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptist ...

dating to the 4th and 5th centuries, a series of four main

Carolingian era The Carolingian Empire (800–887) was a Frankish-dominated empire in Western and Central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the Lombard ...

churches built over one another dating from the 5th to the 11th century, and

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

s built between the 4th and 8th century. The current church was first built in the 17th century while the tower dates to the 11th century. Preceding

Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral Clermont-Ferrand Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Assumption of Clermont-Ferrand (), is a Gothic architecture, Gothic cathedral and France, French Monument historique, national monument located in the city of Clermont-Ferrand ...

in 946,

Chartres Cathedral Chartres Cathedral (, lit. Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres) is a Catholic cathedral in Chartres, France, about southwest of Paris, and is the seat of the List of bishops of Chartres, Bishop of Chartres. Dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary ( ...

ca. 1020 and

Rouen Cathedral Rouen Cathedral () is a Catholic church architecture, church in Rouen, Normandy, France. It is the Episcopal see, see of the Archbishop of Rouen, Primate of Normandy. It is famous for its three towers, each in a different style. The cathedral, b ...

ca. 1030, the abbey was an early example of an ambulatory plan with radiating chapels. The Romanesque tower was reconstructed in 1945 to repair damage caused by a massive falling rock. The newly installed

carillon A carillon ( , ) is a pitched percussion instrument that is played with a musical keyboard, keyboard and consists of at least 23 bells. The bells are Bellfounding, cast in Bell metal, bronze, hung in fixed suspension, and Musical tuning, tu ...

is the largest built to date in Switzerland.

School

The Lycée-collège de l'Abbaye de Saint-Maurice is a ''maturité gymnasiale'', a '' gymnasium'' which offers the ''

matura or its translated terms (''mature'', ''matur'', , , , , ', ) is a Latin name for the secondary school exit exam or "maturity diploma" in various European countries, including Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech ...

'' as the school-leaving qualification. The canons have educated students at the abbey since its foundation but the school in its modern form was opened in 1806. Notable alumni include controversial former FIFA president

Sepp Blatter Joseph Sepp Blatter (born Josef Blatter; 10 March 1936) is a Swiss former association football, football administrator who served as the list of Presidents of FIFA, eighth president of FIFA from 1998 to 2015. He has been banned from participatin ...

, former Presidents of Switzerland

Alphons Egli Alphons Blasius Egli colloquially Alphons Egli (8 October 1924 – 5 August 2016) was a Swiss attorney and politician who most notably served on the Federal Council (Switzerland) between 1983 and 1987 and as President of the Swiss Confederation i ...

and

Pascal Couchepin Pascal Couchepin (born 5 April 1942) is a Swiss politician who served as a Member of the Swiss Federal Council from 1998 to 2009. A member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP/PRD), he was President of the Swiss Confederation twice, in 2003 and 2008 ...

and former chairman of the

Swiss National Bank The Swiss National Bank (SNB; ; ; ; ) is the central bank of Switzerland, responsible for the nation's monetary policy and the sole issuer of Swiss franc banknotes. The primary goal of its mandate is to ensure price stability, while taking econ ...

Jean-Pierre Roth.

References

Sources

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External links