Last updated Façade and steeple of the former abbey church. The lower red part is from the 12th century Romanesque building, the upper white parts, in Gothic style, from the 17th century
Andlau Abbey (Abbaye d'Andlau) was a women's collegiate foundation for secular canonesses located at Andlau in Alsace, eastern France.
Andlau is a French commune in the Bas-Rhin department in the Alsace region of northeastern France.
Alsace is a cultural and historical region in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland.
France, officially the French Republic, is a country whose territory consists of metropolitan France in Western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The metropolitan area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is bordered by Belgium, Luxembourg and Germany to the northeast, Switzerland and Italy to the east, and Andorra and Spain to the south. The overseas territories include French Guiana in South America and several islands in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. The country's 18 integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 square kilometres (248,573 sq mi) and a total population of 67.3 million. France, a sovereign state, is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre. Other major urban areas include Lyon, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lille and Nice.
Andlau Abbey was founded in or about 880 by Richardis, later Saint Richardis, empress of Charles the Fat, on her ancestral lands. The foundation legend states that the abbey was sited where Richardis saw a she-bear scratching at the soil; a bear is one of her emblems in reference to this. In 887 Richardis was put to the ordeal by fire by her husband on the pretext of adultery with the chancellor Liutward. She survived the ordeal successfully and withdrew to Andlau, where at the time her niece Rotrod was abbess. She died here in about 895 and was buried in the abbey church.
Saint Richardis, also known as Richgard, Richardis of Swabia and Richarde de Souabe in French, was the Holy Roman Empress as the wife of Charles the Fat. She was renowned for her piety, and was the first abbess of Andlau. Repudiated by her husband, Richardis later became a Christian model of devotion and just rule. She was canonised in 1049.
Charles III, also known as Charles the Fat, was the Carolingian Emperor from 881 to 888. The youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, Charles was a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was the second-to-last emperor of the Carolingian dynasty and the last to rule, briefly, over a re-united Frankish empire.
Liutward was the archchancellor of the Carolingian Empire from 878 and the bishop of Vercelli from 880 by appointment of Charles the Fat. Never liked by the nobility, he was trusted by Charles as a confidante and go-between with the papacy.
The abbey survived the Reformation, thanks to the efforts of the Abbess Rebstock, who is commemorated in the present church, but not the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was a period of far-reaching social and political upheaval in France and its colonies beginning in 1789. The Revolution overthrew the monarchy, established a republic, catalyzed violent periods of political turmoil, and finally culminated in a dictatorship under Napoleon who brought many of its principles to areas he conquered in Western Europe and beyond. Inspired by liberal and radical ideas, the Revolution profoundly altered the course of modern history, triggering the global decline of absolute monarchies while replacing them with republics and liberal democracies. Through the Revolutionary Wars, it unleashed a wave of global conflicts that extended from the Caribbean to the Middle East. Historians widely regard the Revolution as one of the most important events in human history.
Buildings
Romanesque portal of the church.
A number of the monastic buildings are still extant. In particular, the former abbey church survives as the parish church of Saints Peter and Paul. The original buildings were from around 880. The abbey was entirely rebuilt in the first half of the 11th century. When Pope Leo XI passed through Andlau in November of that year he was able to translate the remains of the canonised Richardis from the old church to the new Romanesque one. Nothing remains of the first buildings (except for a hole in the floor of the crypt said to have been made by the she-bear). The crypt itself dates from the 11th century. Another major re-construction took place in the 12th century after a serious fire, and another in the 15th century. The nave was completely rebuilt in the late 17th century. The present tomb of Saint Richardis dates from 1350, and is sited in a Baroque chapel of 1707.
Pope Leo XI, born Alessandro Ottaviano de' Medici, was Pope from 1 to 27 April 1605. His pontificate is one of the briefest in history having lasted under a month. He was from the prominent House of Medici originating from Florence. Medici's mother opposed his entering the priesthood and sought to prevent it by having him given secular honours, but after her death he eventually was ordained a priest in 1567. In his career he served as Florence's ambassador to the pope, Bishop of Pistoia, Archbishop of Florence, papal legate to France, and as the cardinal Prefect for the Congregation of the Bishops and Religious. He was elected to the papacy in the March 1605 papal conclave and served as pope for 27 days.
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this later date being the most commonly held. In the 12th century it developed into the Gothic style, marked by pointed arches. Examples of Romanesque architecture can be found across the continent, making it the first pan-European architectural style since Imperial Roman architecture. The Romanesque style in England is traditionally referred to as Norman architecture.
A crypt is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, sarcophagi, or religious relics.
The Master of Andlau is the notname given to an Alsatian Romanesque sculptor and his workshop, active in the middle of the 12th century.
The Route Romane d'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 stages, linking churches, abbeys and fortresses, that range from the first Romanesque structures of Alsace at the abbey church of Saint Trophime, Eschau, into the 13th century, and the beginning of Gothic architecture in Alsace. From north to south, the Route Romane d'Alsace traverses the Bas-Rhin and the Haut-Rhin, passing through:
A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are often chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position and two or three of the numbers represent a horizontal position; alternatively, a geographic position may be expressed in a combined three-dimensional Cartesian vector. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation. To specify a location on a plane requires a map projection.
Nivelles is a Walloon city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. The Nivelles municipality includes the old communes of Baulers, Bornival, Thines, and Monstreux.
The Fraumünster Church in Zürich is built on the remains of a former abbey for aristocratic women which was founded in 853 by Louis the German for his daughter Hildegard. He endowed the Benedictine convent with the lands of Zürich, Uri, and the Albis forest, and granted the convent immunity, placing it under his direct authority. Today, it belongs to the Evangelical Reformed Church of the Canton of Zürich and is one of the four main churches of Zürich, the others being the Grossmünster, Prediger and St. Peter's churches.
Lichtenthal Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery in Lichtenthal in the town of Baden-Baden, Germany.
Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey, also known as Hohenburg Abbey, is a nunnery, situated on Mont Sainte-Odile, one of the most famous peaks of the Vosges mountain range in the French region of Alsace.
The Church of Saint Peter of Montmartre is one of the oldest surviving churches in Paris but the lesser known of the two main churches in Montmartre, the other being the more famous 19th-century Sacré-Cœur Basilica. Saint-Pierre de Montmartre, built in 1147, was the church of the prestigious Montmartre Abbey.
Schuttern Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Schuttern, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.
Selz Abbey or Seltz Abbey is a former monastery and Imperial abbey in Seltz, formerly Selz, in Alsace, France.
Quedlinburg Abbey was a house of secular canonesses (Frauenstift) in Quedlinburg in what is now Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It was founded in 936 on the initiative of Saint Mathilda, the widow of King Henry the Fowler, as his memorial. For many centuries it and its abbesses enjoyed great prestige and influence.
Kintzheim is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.
St. George's Basilica is the oldest surviving church building within Prague Castle, Prague, Czech Republic. The basilica was founded by Vratislaus I of Bohemia in 920. It is dedicated to Saint George.
Honcourt Abbey or Hugshofen Abbey was a Benedictine abbey located near the village of Saint-Martin, Bas-Rhin, founded in the year 1000 and dissolved in or very shortly after 1525.
Essen Minster, since 1958 also Essen Cathedral is the seat of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Essen, the "Diocese of the Ruhr", founded in 1958. The church, dedicated to Saints Cosmas and Damian and the Blessed Virgin Mary, stands on the Burgplatz in the centre of the city of Essen, Germany.
Repton Abbey was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine abbey in Derbyshire, England. Founded in the 7th century, the abbey was a double monastery, a community of both monks and nuns. The abbey is noted for its connections to various saints and Mercian royalty; two of the thirty-seven Mercian Kings were buried within the abbey's crypt. The abbey was abandoned in 873, when Repton was overrun by the invading Great Heathen Army.
Niedermunster Abbey, situated at the foot of Mount Saint Odile at an altitude of 511 meters, was founded around 700 A.D. to cater for the overflow of pilgrims to the Saint Odile Abbey, formerly known as the Hohenbourg.
Saint Stephen’s Church in Strasbourg is located inside the catholic ‘Saint-Étienne’ college in Strasbourg, for which it serves as a chapel.
Notre-Dame de la Couture is a church in Le Mans. Formerly the abbey church of Saint-Pierre de la Couture Abbey, it is in the centre of the present-day town. It mainly dates to the 12th century - it shows many similarities to Le Mans Cathedral and Angers Cathedral, both built at about the same time. Its large westwork is framed by two differently-designed towers and other former abbey buildings abut the church, with the prefecture for Sarthe now occupying those on the south side. It was classed as a historic monument in 1840.
Saint Trophimus' Church is a Romanesque church in Eschau, a small town in the suburbs of Strasbourg, the historical capital of Alsace. The church is dedicated to Trophimus of Arles.
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