Charlieu Abbey

Last updated
Charlieu Abbey Abbaye de Charlieu - Avant-Nef.jpg
Charlieu Abbey

Charlieu Abbey or St. Fortunatus' Abbey, Charlieu (French : Abbaye de Charlieu) was a Benedictine abbey located at Charlieu, Loire, Burgundy, France. It was later a Cluniac priory.

History

The monastery, dedicated to Saint Fortunatus, was founded in 872, in this region of southern Burgundy known as the Forez. [1] Its patrons were Ratbertus, bishop of Valence, and his brother Edward, in a place they called Carus Locus ("dear place"), [2] and dedicated to Saint Stephen and Saint Fortunatus, patron of Valence, with his co-martyrs Felix and Achilles. [3] The abbey was placed under the direct control of the Holy See.

The tradition that the abbey church and other structures at the site were erected by Gausmar, the first abbot, and his monks with their own hands is belied by the fine and professional character of the masonry uncovered when remains of the foundations of the Carolingian abbey were uncovered at the site in 1927. [4] Its roof was wooden, for no foundations for interior supporting piers were found. Pencil towers no more than two meters in diameter encircled the corners of its façade and its apsidal east end, which had a semi-subterranean ambulatory; semi-circular buttresses strengthened the walls at intervals. [5]

Late Romanesque tympanum: Christ in a mandorla, surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists, twelfth century. Charlieu 2k.jpg
Late Romanesque tympanum: Christ in a mandorla, surrounded by the symbols of the Four Evangelists, twelfth century.

An early benefactor was Boso, Duke of Burgundy, who placed a priory in Charlieu's gift when he was crowned King of Provence (879); the abbey long claimed that Boso was buried at Charlieu. By 926 the abbey was important enough to be the seat of a synod, at which it was decided that certain alienated church properties were to be returned to the church by their lay proprietors.

The Benedictine community at Charlieu was annexed by the Cluniac movement in 932, [6] one of Cluny's earliest acquisitions and always among the first mentioned in any list of Cluniac houses. In the eleventh century the abbot was reduced to a prior. The church was rebuilt on a somewhat expanded plan under the rule of Odilo, abbot of Cluny, in the first half of the eleventh century, in a campaign that lasted fifty years, continuing under Odilo's successor Hugh: the abbey church was consecrated in 1094. A narthex was added in the twelfth century.

The community of Charlieu refused the Cluniac reforms of the seventeenth century, and on 19 March 1787, letters patent suppressed the abbey. On 9 September 1792 a Revolutionary mob broke into the abbey's muniments room and made a bonfire of all its records. In 1795 the abbey church was sold for the value of its building materials, in two lots, of which one, comprising the narthex and westernmost bay, still stand today as a ruin; the eastern end was razed.

The Gothic cloister at Charlieu Abbaye de Charlieu - Cloitre.jpg
The Gothic cloister at Charlieu

Notes

  1. Elizabeth Read Sunderland, "The History and Architecture of the Church of St. Fortunatus at Charlieu in Burgundy", The Art Bulletin (1939:61-88).
  2. The irony in the name for a place chosen for its lack of amenities was noted in canons of the council that recognized it (876), unless the reading of the place quod minus gratum is a misreading of nimis, "exceedingly", which would reverse the sense (Sunderland 1939:63.
  3. Sunderland 1939:63.
  4. Elizabeth R. Sunderland, "A Late Carolingian Church at Charlieu in Burgundy" The Journal of the Society of Architectural Historians9.4 (December 1950:3-9).
  5. Sunderland (1950) compared her conjectural restoration of the Carolingian church, based on the site archaeology, to a small group of churches, not in Burgundy, but in Touraine: Autrèche, St.-Ouen-les-Vignes, and Villeporcher.
  6. Jean Mabillon, Acta sanctorum ordinis S. Benedicti (Venice 1733:vol V:134, noted by Sunderland 1939:64.

46°9′28″N4°10′7″E / 46.15778°N 4.16861°E / 46.15778; 4.16861

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey</span> Monastery under an abbot or an abbess

An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Priory</span> Religious houses that are presided over by a prior or prioress

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. Houses of canons & canonesses regular also use this term, the alternative being "canonry". Mendicant houses, of friars, nuns, or tertiary sisters also exclusively use this term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odo of Cluny</span> Benedictine monk, second abbot of Cluny

Odo of Cluny was the second abbot of Cluny.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hugh of Cluny</span>

Hugh, sometimes called Hugh the Great or Hugh of Semur, was the Abbot of Cluny from 1049 until his death. He was one of the most influential leaders of the monastic orders from the Middle Ages.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tironensian Order</span> Medieval monastic order

The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a medieval monastic order named after the location of the mother abbey in the woods of Thiron-Gardais in Perche, some 35 miles west of Chartres in France). They were popularly called "Grey Monks" because of their grey robes, which their spiritual cousins, the monks of Savigny, also wore.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cluny Abbey</span> Abbey in Saône-et-Loire, France

Cluny Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul.

The Cluniac Reforms were a series of changes within medieval monasticism in the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began within the Benedictine order at Cluny Abbey, founded in 910 by William I, Duke of Aquitaine (875–918). The reforms were largely carried out by Saint Odo and spread throughout France, into England, and through much of Italy, northern Portugal and Spain.

Payerne Priory was a Cluniac monastery at Payerne, in Vaud, Switzerland. The monastery is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

Prior is an ecclesiastical title for a superior in some religious orders. The word is derived from the Latin for "earlier" or "first". Its earlier generic usage referred to any monastic superior. In abbeys, a prior would be lower in rank than the abbey's abbot or abbess.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Odilo of Cluny</span> 5th Benedictine Abbot of Cluny

Odilo of Cluny was the 5th Benedictine Abbot of Cluny, succeeding Mayeul and holding the post for around 54 years. During his tenure Cluny became the most important monastery in western Europe. Odilo actively worked to reform the monastic practices not only at Cluny, but at other Benedictine houses. He also promoted the Truce of God whereby military hostilities were temporarily suspended at certain times for ostensibly religious reasons. Odilo encouraged the formal practice of personal consecration to Mary. He established All Souls' Day in Cluny and its monasteries as the annual commemoration to pray for all the faithful departed. The practice was soon adopted throughout the whole Western church. He was lifelong friends with William of Dijon, another Cluniac abbot and reformer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gorze Abbey</span> Monastery in Gorze, France

Gorze Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Gorze in the present arrondissement of Metz, near Metz in Lorraine. It was prominent as the source of a monastic reform movement in the 930s.

Majolus of Cluny was the fourth abbot of Cluny. Majolus was very active in reforming individual communities of monks and canons; first, as a personal commission, requested and authorized by the Emperor or other nobility. Later, he found it more effective to affiliate some of the foundations to the motherhouse at Cluny to lessen the likelihood of later relapse.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dijon Cathedral</span> Cathedral located in Dijon, Burgundy, France

Dijon Cathedral, or the Cathedral of Saint Benignus of Dijon, is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Dijon, Burgundy, France, and dedicated to Saint Benignus of Dijon. The Gothic cathedral building, constructed between 1280 and 1325, and dedicated on 9 April 1393, is a listed national monument.

Saint Berno of Cluny or Berno of Baume was the first abbot of Cluny from its foundation in 909 until he died in 927. He began the tradition of the Cluniac reforms which his successors spread across Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cluniac priories in Great Britain</span> List of cluniac order religious houses

In the Middle Ages, from the 11th century, the Cluniac order established a number of religious houses in England, Wales, and Scotland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre</span>

The Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre is a former Benedictine monastery in central France, dedicated to its founder Saint Germain of Auxerre, the bishop of Auxerre, who died in 448. It was founded on the site of an oratory built by Germanus in honor of Saint Maurice.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Montier-en-Der Abbey</span> Abbey in Haute-Marne, France

The Abbey of Montier-en-Der in Haute-Marne, France, was formerly a Benedictine, later Cluniac, abbey, dissolved during the French Revolution, the grounds and premises of which, since 1806, have been used as the French National Stud Farm.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Romainmôtier Priory</span>

Romainmôtier Priory is a former Cluniac priory in the municipality of Romainmôtier-Envy in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland. The monastery was founded by Romanus of Condat, after whom it was named. It is entered on the Swiss inventory of cultural property of national and regional significance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St. James Priory, Derby</span>

St. James Priory, also known as Derby Cluniac Priory, was a Benedictine monastery, formerly located in what is now Derby City Centre. It existed until the Dissolution of the Monasteries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Souvigny Priory</span>

Souvigny Priory, in the commune of Souvigny, Allier, France, in the centre of the old province of the Bourbonnais, was formerly a Cluniac priory, of which the church remains in operation.