This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(April 2022) |
You can help expand this article with text translated from the corresponding article in French. (March 2022)Click [show] for important translation instructions.
|
Monastery information | |
---|---|
Order | Benedictine |
Established | 791 |
Disestablished | 1790 |
Dedicated to | Saint Paul |
Diocese | Tours |
Site | |
Location | Cormery, France |
Coordinates | 47°16′8.3994″N0°50′12.8394″E / 47.268999833°N 0.836899833°E |
Comercy Abbey or Saint-Paul de Cormery Abbey (French : Abbaye Saint-Paul de Cormery) is a former Benedictine abbey located on the territory of the commune of Cormery in the French department of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre-Val de Loire region.
A simple monastic foundation of Ithier of St. Martin in 791, it was raised in the year 800 to the rank of abbey by Alcuin, and adopted the rule of Saint Benedict. It was then attached to the abbey of Saint-Martin in Tours, and remained so until the dissolution of the monastic community during the Revolution. Despite the damage caused by the Vikings in the second half of the ninth century, which is difficult to quantify, the abbey developed rapidly, and around it the town of Cormery. In the middle of the Middle Ages, the abbey had many possessions in several French provinces and its boats could navigate freely on all the waterways of the kingdom; with fifty monks, it was one of the most powerful abbeys in Tours. During his tour of France in 1096, Pope Urban II affirmed the authority of the abbey of St Martin of Tour over the abbey of Comery and that each newly elected abbot had to be invested with his pastoral staff at the tomb of St Martin. [1] On July 19, 1103 Guillermus Ludovicus, bishop of Salpi and former monk of the monastery, presented abbot Guy (abbot between 1070 and 1111) with several relics such as the heads of St James the Persian and St Adrian and hairs of St Paul that Guillermus had collected while serving as chaplain in Nicomedia in the Byzantine Empire. [2]
The abbey was able to recover from damages it incurred in the Hundred Years' War but it never fully recovered from destructions by the Protestants it suffered in Wars of Religion when many of its relics were desecrated and scattered. [3] In spite of the intervention of the Maurists from 1662 onwards, it did not regain its lustre, its numbers diminished inexorably and it was an already weakened abbey that finally succumbed to the suppression of the congregations during the French Revolution, in 1790. The last monks were dispersed, the buildings sold as national property were destroyed or divided up and then redesigned.
In the 21st century, however, there are still important vestiges of the Saint-Paul de Cormery abbey, scattered in an urban landscape where their original unity is sometimes difficult to identify among the recent constructions: the Saint-Paul tower (the bell tower-porch of the abbey church), a Gothic chapel in the choir, the refectory, which has been largely preserved even though it has undergone a lot of remodeling, and a portion of the gallery of the cloister are still standing. On the periphery of the monastic enclosure, the dwellings of the abbot, the prior and the sacristan remain. In stages between 1908 and 1933, all of these remains, with the exception of the sacristan's dwelling, were classified or registered as historical monuments, while the capitals of the preserved parts are listed in the general inventory of cultural heritage.
The Château de Montsoreau is a Flamboyant Gothic castle in the Loire Valley, directly built in the Loire riverbed. It is located in the market town of Montsoreau, in the Maine-et-Loire département of France, close to Saumur, Chinon, Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, and Candes-Saint-Martin. The Château de Montsoreau is situated at the confluence of two rivers, the Loire and the Vienne, and the meeting point of three historical regions: Anjou, Poitou, and Touraine. It is the only château of the Loire Valley built directly in the Loire riverbed.
The arrondissement of Loches is an arrondissement of France in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has 112 communes. Its population is 118,282 (2016), and its area is 2,742.5 km2 (1,058.9 sq mi).
James Intercisus, commonly known as Mor Yaqoub M’Pasqo Sahada, also called James the Mutilated or James the Persian, was a Persian Christian saint born in Ancient Iran. His Latin epithet, Intercisus, is derived from the word for "cut into pieces," which refers to the manner of his martyrdom. His death, along with the persecution of other Christians in the Sasanid Empire, started the Roman-Sassanid War (421-422).
Jean-Jacques Bourassé was a French Roman Catholic priest, archaeologist and historian. He made his preparatory studies for the priesthood in Paris. In 1835, he taught the natural sciences at the preparatory seminary of Tours, where he began a course of archaeology that soon attracted attention. The results achieved by him in a comparatively new field of research were such as to entitle him to be considered a veritable pioneer in France of the science of Christian archaeology. In 1884 he became professor at the grand séminaire and held the chair of dogmatic theology there for six years. He then discontinued teaching in order to devote himself entirely to the preparation of his various archæological works. Among the productions published by him the best known are: Archéologie Chrétienne (1841); Les Cathédrales de France (1843); Les plus belles églises du monde (1857); Recherches historiques et archéologiques sur les églises romaines en Touraine (1869).
Chambourg-sur-Indre is a commune in the department of Indre-et-Loire in the region of Centre-Val de Loire, France.
Cormery is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire. Its inhabitants are called Cormeriens, Cormeriennes.
The Abbey of Saint-Mathieu de Fine-Terre is a former Breton monastery, whose ruins are found in the territory of what is now the commune of Plougonvelin on Pointe Saint-Mathieu, in the département of Finistère. The Abbey gives the cape its name. It was dedicated to Saint Matthew the Evangelist, whose skull it housed. It was a Benedictine abbey, and was revived and reformed by the Maurists in the mid-17th century.
The Château des Réaux is a French medieval castle located in the commune Chouzé-sur-Loire in the Indre-et-Loire department in the Centre-Val de Loire region. It has been listed as a historic monument since 1930.
The Diocese of Salpi or Diocese of Salapia was a Roman Catholic diocese located in the Italian town of Salpi in Daunia near Cerignola and Manfredonia. In 1547, the diocese was suppressed and its territory assigned to the Archdiocese of Trani. It was restored as a titular see in 1966.
The Communauté de communes Loches Sud Touraine is a communauté de communes, an intercommunal structure, in the Indre-et-Loire department, in the Centre-Val de Loire region, central France. It was created on 1 January 2017 by the merger of the former communautés de communes of Loches Développement, Montrésor, Grand Ligueillois and Touraine du Sud. Its area is 1809.5 km2, and its population was 51,376 in 2018. Its seat is in Loches.
Cadouin Abbey was a Cistercian monastery founded as a hermitage in 1115 by Gerald of Salles, in the name of Robert of Arbrissel, in what is now the commune of Le Buisson-de-Cadouin in the Dordogne, south-west France.
Charles de Grandmaison was a French archivist and historian.
Michel Laurencin was a French academic and historian who specialized in the history of Touraine.
La Corroirie is a fortified feudal stronghold belonging to the neighboring Chartreuse du Liget, located in the commune of Chemillé-sur-Indrois, in the Indre-et-Loire department, Centre-Val de Loire region.
The Louroux Priory, also known as Château du Louroux, is located in the commune of Louroux in the French department of Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire region. It was founded in the 12th century by the Marmoutier Abbey. At the time, the Benedictine monastery was one of nine priories belonging to the Touraine abbacy and located in the Tours diocese.
The Arcis enclosure is an urban enclosure in the French commune of Tours in the Indre-et-Loire department.
The Abbey of Saint-Sauveur de Villeloin is a former Benedictine abbey located in Villeloin-Coulangé, in the French department of Indre-et-Loire. It was founded during the ninth century by two knights, Mainard and Mainerius. The abbey was destroyed by English troops in 1360 and again in 1412.
The Chapelle Sainte-Radegonde or Sainte-Radegonde Chapel is a underground structure, a former oratory converted into a chapel, on the slope of the Sainte-Radegonde hill, east of the historic town center of Chinon, in the French department of Indre-et-Loire in the Centre-Val de Loire region.
Beaugerais Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey, located in what is now the commune of Loché-sur-Indrois, in the Indre-et-Loire département of France.
The chapel of Saint-Jean du Liget, or chapelle Saint-Jean-du-Liget or chapelle du Liget, is an ancient chapel located in the commune of Sennevières, in the Indre-et-Loire department of France.