The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preacher Robert of Arbrissel. The foundation flourished and became the center of a new monastic Order, the Order of Fontevraud. This order was composed of double monasteries, in which the community consisted of both men and women — in separate quarters of the abbey — all of whom were subject to the authority of the Abbess of Fontevraud. The Abbey of Fontevraud itself consisted of four separate communities, all managed by the same abbess.
Venantius Honorius Clementianus Fortunatus was a Latin poet and hymnographer in the Merovingian Court, and a Bishop of the Early Church. He has been venerated as Saint Venantius Fortunatus since the Middle Ages.
Radegund was a Thuringian princess and Frankish queen, who founded the Abbey of the Holy Cross at Poitiers. She is the patron saint of several churches in France and England and of Jesus College, Cambridge.
Basina, was a Frankish princess, the daughter and youngest child of Chilperic I, King of Soissons, and his first wife, Audovera. After surviving the assassination of her immediate family, she became a nun. She later helped to lead a rebellion by a group of the nuns, which became a scandal throughout the region. This event was chronicled by the bishop and saint, Gregory of Tours, who was one of the bishops chosen to settle the matter.
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.
Ligugé Abbey, formally called the Abbey of St. Martin of Ligugé, is a French Benedictine monastery in the Commune of Ligugé, located in the Department of Vienne. Dating to the 4th century, it is the site of one of the earliest monastic foundations in France. The original abbey having been destroyed during the French Revolution, the current monastic community dates from 1853, and belongs to the Solesmes Congregation.
Eufronius or Euphronius was the eighth Bishop of Tours; he served from 555 to 573, and was a near relative of Gregory of Tours.
The Abbey of Sainte-Trinité, also known as Abbaye aux Dames, is a former convent in Caen, Normandy, now home to the Regional Council of Normandy. The complex includes the Abbey Church of Sainte-Trinité.
Opportuna of Montreuil was a Frankish Benedictine nun and abbess. A Vita et miracula Sanctae Opportunae was written within a century of her death by Adalhelm, bishop of Séez, who believed he owed his life and his see to Opportuna.
St. Cecilia's Abbey, Solesmes is a Benedictine monastery of nuns, founded in 1866 by Dom Prosper Guéranger, the restorer of Benedictine life in France after the destruction of the revolution. It is located in Solesmes, Sarthe, and is the women's counterpart of Solesmes Abbey.
The Church of Sainte-Radegonde is a medieval Roman Catholic church in Poitiers, France, dating from the 6th century. It takes its name from the Frankish queen and nun, Radegund, who was buried in the church. Considered a saint, the church became a place of pilgrimage by those devoted to her heavenly intercession. The current church, constructed from the 11th to 12th centuries, was built in a combination of Romanesque and Angevin Gothic architectural styles.
Saint Junian was a 6th-century Christian hermit and abbot. He was the founder of Mairé, or Mariacum, Abbey at Mairé-Levescault in Poitou, France and is the patron saint of Poitou ploughmen.
Baudonivia was a nun and hagiographer at the convent of Holy Cross of Poitiers. Very little is known about her.
Anne d'Orléans was a French abbess. She was the youngest child of Charles, Duke of Orléans and Maria of Cleves. Her only brother became king Louis XII of France in 1498.
Niedermunster Abbey, situated at the foot of Mount Saint Odile at an altitude of 511 metres, was founded around 700 A.D. to cater for the overflow of pilgrims to the Saint Odile Abbey, formerly known as the Hohenbourg.
The Abbey of Nivelles, is a former Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire founded in 640. It is located in the town of Nivelles in Province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.
The Abbey of Notre Dame aux Nonnains, also called the Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Troyes, was a convent founded before the 7th century in Troyes, France. The non-cloistered canonesses became wealthy and powerful in the Middle Ages. In 1266–68 they defied the pope and used force to delay construction of the collegiate Church of St Urbain. They were excommunicated as a result. Later the abbey adopted a strictly cloistered rule and the nuns became impoverished. Work started on building a new convent in 1778 but was only partially completed before the French Revolution (1789–99). The abbey was closed in 1792 and the church was demolished. The convent became the seat of the prefecture of Aube.
St. Agnes of Poitiers is a French saint and abbess, who was "recognized for her holiness and intelligence" and called "model of the conventual life". She served as abbess of Holy Cross convent in Poitiers, France until her death in 586.
Saint-Pierre-les-Dames was a convent of Benedictine nuns established in the city of Reims for over a thousand years, from the early Middle Ages to the time of the French Revolution. The monastery was certainly in existence by the reign of Charlemagne, and according to some sources dated from as early as the 6th century, although it has been argued that the earlier date could be due to confusion with a different and shorter-lived monastery in the city, also dedicated to St Peter.
