Imperial Abbey of Remiremont | |||||||||
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| 1290–1790 | |||||||||
 Coat of arms | |||||||||
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| Status | Imperial Abbey | ||||||||
| Capital | Remiremont Abbey | ||||||||
| Government | Principality | ||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | ||||||||
• Abbey founded | 620 | ||||||||
• Became Reichsfrei | 1290 | ||||||||
1566 | |||||||||
• Disestablished | 1790 | ||||||||
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Remiremont Abbey was an abbey that was founded as a house of nuns near Remiremont, Vosges, France. It later became a community of secular canonesses.
It was founded about 620 by Romaric (580–653), a lord at the court of Chlothar II, who, having been converted by Ame (570–625), a monk of Luxeuil, took the habit at Luxeuil. Together they established a double monastery on Saint-Mont (Mount Haberd), overlooking the Moselle valley. They followed the Rule of St. Columbanus and practiced the Laus perennis, the continuous chanting of the Office by alternating choirs. Among the abbots were Ame, Romaric, and Adelphus (d. 670). Among the abbess es were Mactefelda (d. c. 622), Claire (d. c. 652) and Gébétrude (d. c. 673). Around 640, Bishop Arnulf of Metz, progenitor of the Arnulfing and Carolingian dynasty, died near Habendum, and was buried in the monastery until his remains were later translated to Metz Cathedral. [1]
The men's monastery disappeared perhaps during the 9th century. Around 818, the nuns adopted the more flexible Rule of St. Benedict and settled in the Moselle valley below. They kept the name of the founder, Romarici Mons (Romaric's mount) which later became "Remiremont". A market town grew around the monastery. [2] In the Middle Ages, its estate was the largest in the region.
Gradually, the women at Remiremont stopped following the Benedictine rule and became secular canonesses, who did not take perpetual vows, and were free to resign their prebendary and marry. Remiremont was very exclusive. Canonesses were admitted from those who could give proof of 200 years of noble descent. Enriched by the Dukes of Lorraine, the kings of France and the Holy Roman Emperors, the canonesses of Remiremont attained great power. The canonesses lived independently within the abbey with their own circle of friends and servants. As prebends, they each received a share of the abbey's considerable income to dispose of as they wished, and could leave to visit family, sometimes for months at a time. [3]
The abbey church consecrated by Pope Leo IX in 1051, at which time he granted Remiremont exemption from episcopal oversight, reporting to the Pope. In token of his, every three years the abbess would send to Rome a white horse draped with a purple cloth. [4] At the time of Rudolph of Habsburg (1290), the abbess was raised to the status of Imperial Princess. On Whit Monday the neighboring parishes paid homage to the collegiate chapter in a ceremony called the Kyriolés (canticles in the vernacular).
On their accession, the Dukes of Lorraine became de facto suzerains of the abbey and had to come to Remiremont to swear to continue their protection. [4] The "War of the Escutcheons" (French : panonceaux) in 1566 between the duke and the abbess ended in favor of the duke, and the abbess never recovered her former position. In order to demonstrate their Imperial immediacy and their independence from the Dukes of Lorraine, the canonesses of the abbey mounted escutcheons around the town displaying the Imperial eagle. Charles III, Duke of Lorraine, took advantage of the absence of Emperor Maximilian II, away campaigning in Hungary, to remove the escutcheons by force and establish his de facto sovereignty.
In the 17th century the canonesses of Remiremont took the title of countesses. In church they wore long white mantles trimmed with ermine. They were obliged to live at the abbey three months in the year in gentile houses built in a large enclosure around the church. Many kept carriages and gave balls, concerts, and other entertainments. [5]
Catherine of Lorraine was an abbess from 1612 to 1648. The office was to be given to her niece, Marguerite, but she married Gaston, Duke of Orléans. The couple's second daughter, Élisabeth Marguerite d'Orléans, became titular abbess, as was Princess Élisabeth Charlotte of Lorraine. Béatrice Hiéronyme de Lorraine was also abbess. Anne Charlotte de Lorraine, was an abbess from 1738 until 1773. Maria Christina of Saxony, sister to the Dauphine Marie Josèphe, was abbess after Anne Charlotte from 1773 until 1782. From 1782 until 1786 it was ruled by Princess Charlotte of Lorraine.
The last abbess, under the Ancien Régime from 1786 until 1790, was Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon, the daughter of Louis Joseph, Prince of Condé. She was prioress of the Monastery of the Temple at her death in 1824. [6]
Arnulf of Metz was a Frankish bishop of Metz and advisor to the Merovingian court of Austrasia. He later retired to the Abbey of Remiremont. In French he is also known as Arnoul or Arnoulf. In English he is known as Arnold.
Gerard, also known as Gerard the Wonderful, was a Lotharingian nobleman. He was the count of Metz and Châtenois from 1047 to 1048, when his brother Duke Adalbert resigned them to him upon his becoming the Duke of Upper Lorraine. On Adalbert's death the next year, Gerard became duke, a position that he held until his death. In contemporary documents, he is called Gerard of Alsace, Gerard of Chatenoy, or Gerard of Flanders.
Leopold the Good was Duke of Lorraine and Bar from 1690 to his death. Through his son Francis Stephen, he is the direct male ancestor of all rulers of the Habsburg-Lorraine dynasty, including all Emperors of Austria.
Remiremont is a town and commune in the Vosges department, northeastern France, situated in southern Grand Est. The town has been an abbatial centre since the 7th century, is an economic crossroads of the Moselle and Moselotte valleys, and is also a stepping stone for tourists wishing to explore the Vosges and neighbouring Alsace. Remiremont is also known as La Belle des Vosges.
Saint Amatus, also called Amatus of Grenoble, Saint Ame, or Aimee, was a Frankish Colombanian monk and hermit. Together with St. Romaric, he founded Remiremont Abbey.
Bouzonville is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in northeastern France.
Saint Germanus of Granfelden was the first abbot of Moutier-Grandval Abbey. He is venerated as a martyr saint in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches.
Saint Romaric was a Frankish nobleman who lived in Austrasia from the late 6th century until the middle of the 7th century. He and Amatus of Grenoble founded Remiremont Abbey.
Chelles Abbey was a Frankish monastery founded around 657/660 during the early medieval period. It was intended initially as a monastery for women; then its reputation for great learning grew, and when men wanted to follow the monastic life, a parallel male community was established, creating a double monastery.
Anne Charlotte of Lorraine was the Abbess of Remiremont and Mons. She was the thirteenth of fourteen children of Leopold, Duke of Lorraine, and his spouse Élisabeth Charlotte d'Orléans. Her mother was the niece of Louis XIV of France and sister of Philippe II, Duke of Orléans and Regent of France during the minority of Louis XV.
Élisabeth Charlotte Gabrièle of Lorraine was a Princess of Lorraine. She died of smallpox aged 10. She was the Titular Abbess of Remiremont.
Catherine of Lorraine was the Abbess of Remiremont.
Princess Maria Christina of Saxony was a Princess of Saxony and later Abbess of Remiremont.
Dorothea Maria zu Salm (1651-1702), was a German-Roman monarch as Princess Abbess of the immediate Imperial Remiremont Abbey in the Duchy of Lorraine which then formed a part of the Holy Roman Empire, but later on was annexed by France in 1766.
Anne Marie Thérèse of Lorraine, was a Princess of Lorraine and was later a Princess Abbess of the Imperial Remiremont Abbey in France.
Princess Anne Charlotte de Lorraine-Brionne (1755–1786), was an aristocrat, styled at French court as Mademoiselle de Brionne. She was also reigning Princess Abbess of the Imperial Remiremont Abbey in France in 1782–1786.
Barbara of Salm (1570–1611), in France called Barbe de Salm, was a German-Roman monarch as Princess Abbess of the Imperial Remiremont Abbey in France.
Madeleine de Choiseul (1500-1578), was a German-Roman vassal as Princess Abbess of the Imperial Remiremont Abbey in France. She was abbess twice, in 1520 and in 1544. She took over upon the death of Alix de Choiseul's death in 1520, who had fulfilled the role from 1507 to 1520. Upon her appointment, it is said that she was not revered by her other Ladies.
Nivelles Abbey is a former Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire founded in 640. It is located in Nivelles, Walloon Brabant, Belgium.
The House of Luxembourg, also known as the House of Ardenne–Luxembourg in order to distinguish it from later families, were a Lotharingian noble family known from the tenth and eleventh centuries. They are one of the three main branches of the House of Ardenne, along with the House of Ardenne–Verdun, and the House of Ardenne–Bar.
This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Remiremont". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.48°0′56″N6°35′29″E / 48.01556°N 6.59139°E
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