This is a list of Augustinian monasteries, extant and non-extant, in the present territory of France. It includes both canons and canonesses following the Rule of Saint Augustine, excluding the Premonstratensians, the Canons Regular of the Order of the Holy Cross (Crosiers), the Canons Regular of Saint Anthony (Hospital Brothers of Saint Anthony, or Antonines) and the Teutonic Order.
At different times these religious houses have formed various orders, congregations or groups, of which the main ones, as far as French monasteries are concerned, are the following::
The present congregations are united in the Confederation of Canons Regular of St Augustine, established in 1959. [1]
All religious houses in France were suppressed during the French Revolution, mostly in 1790–91. Some communities were revived, and many more new ones established, during the 19th century, but were forced to leave France by anti-clerical legislation during the 1880s (principally the Ferry Laws), and again in the first decades of the 20th century under the Association Act, 1901 (the Waldeck-Rousseau Law).
Dependent priories are not generally noted in this list, except for a few unusually significant ones.
Ouche Abbey or the Abbey of Saint-Evroul is a former Benedictine abbey in Normandy, located in the present commune of Saint-Évroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois, Orne, Normandy. It has been classified as a Monument historique since 1967 and is designated "classé".
Gerald of Sales was a French monastic reformer from Salles, Lot-et-Garonne near Bergerac, Dordogne in the south-west of France. His feast day is on April 20.
Maubuisson Abbey is a Cistercian nunnery at Saint-Ouen-l'Aumône, in the Val-d'Oise department of France. It was founded in A.D. 1236 by Blanche of Castile, Queen of France, who may have been buried there in 1252. The site is now within the north-western suburbs of Paris. The surviving buildings are listed as a monument historique.
Saint-Yved is a church in Braine, Aisne in which the Counts of Dreux are buried. It was dedicated to Saint Yved, whose relics were brought to Braine (Braisne) in the ninth century. Originally a chapter of secular canons, the Braine Abbey was given to the Premonstratensian order by the Bishop of Soissons in 1130.
Bassac Abbey is a former Benedictine monastery in Bassac, Charente, France, in the former diocese of Saintes.
Canon or abbot Antoine Sabarthès, full name Antoine Auguste Sabarthès, was a French ecclesiastic, writer and historian, a specialist of the Aude department.
The Abbey of the Holy Trinity is an 11th century Romanesque Benedictine Abbey church located in Lessay, Manche, France, then in Normandy. The abbey is one of the most important Norman Romanesque churches, and, along with Durham Cathedral, one of the first examples use of the rib vault to cover the choir in about 1098. This element became a key feature of Gothic architecture. The abbey was nearly destroyed in 1357. It was destroyed in 1944 and subsequently rebuilt.
The Abbey of Notre Dame de Morienval or the Church of St. Denis is a former Benedictine church located in Morienval, Oise Department, northern France. Since the abolition of the nunnery in 1745, the abbey has functioned as the parish church for Morienval. The few convent buildings not demolished after the French Revolution are privately owned and are not open to the public.
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.
Valsery Abbey is a former Premonstratensian abbey located in Cœuvres-et-Valsery, Aisne, France. It was founded in 1124 near the Forest of Retz, which the Premonstratensian canons doubtless helped to clear.
Fontenelles Abbey or Les Fontenelles Abbey was an Augustinian monastery in the former commune of Saint-André-d'Ornay, in the Vendée, France.
The Abbey of St. Sergius, more fully the Abbey of Saints Sergius and Bacchus, in Angers was a Benedictine monastery in France.
Solignac Abbey, or the Abbey of Saint-Peter and Saint Paul of Solignac, is an abbey in Solignac, near Limoges, in Haute-Vienne. It was founded around 631 AD by Saint Eligius (Éloi). The present buildings date to the 12th century, but have been modified many times since then. The abbey was dissolved during the French Revolution and the buildings were put to new uses, including a prison, boarding school, porcelain factory and seminary. As of 2021 there were plans to restore it back to its original function as a monastery.
Notre Dame du Val des Écoliers was a monastery of Augustinian canons regular in the city of Mons, Belgium, founded as a priory in 1252 at the invitation of Margaret, Countess of Hainaut. It became an abbey in 1617 and was suppressed in 1796, during the French period. The buildings were later used as an arsenal, a meeting hall, a warehouse, a factory, and a hospital, but were allowed to decay into considerable disrepair. Most of the old buildings were demolished in 1876, but one tower remained and was restored in 1892. It was classified as a monument in 1955 and is now a landmark. The monastic ruins were investigated by archaeologists in 2021 prior to being cleared to make way for an underground carpark and office space. Initially expected to last a month, the dig would ultimately run from March to July, and exhumed about sixty sets of human remains dating from the 14th and 15th centuries.
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 Abbey of Notre-Dame de La Couronne is a monastery of canons located at La Couronne in the Charente department of France. The abbey church, now in ruins, is a testament to the introduction of the Gothic style in western France.