Abbey of Gembloux
Encyclopedia
Abbey
An abbey is a Catholic monastery or convent, under the authority of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community.The term can also refer to an establishment which has long ceased to function as an abbey,...
near the town of Gembloux
Gembloux
Gembloux is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Namur, on the axis Brussels-NamurOn 1 January 2006 the municipality had 21,964 inhabitants...
in the province of Namur
Namur (province)
Namur is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and on France. Its capital is the city of Namur...
, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
.
History
The former Benedictine monastery, located about nine miles north-west of NamurNamur (city)
Namur is a city and municipality in Wallonia, in southern Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia....
on the river Orneau, was founded about 945 by Saint Guibert or Wibert and dedicated to Saint Peter and the martyr Saint Exuperius
Exuperius (Theban Legion)
Exuperius or Exupernis is venerated as a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church; according to tradition, he was the standard-bearer of the Theban Legion and thus a companion to Saint Maurice.-Veneration:...
. Saint Guibert was assisted in the erection of the monastery and the selection of its monks by Erluin, who had resigned a canonry to become a monk. Some of Guibert's relatives challenged the legality of the monastic foundation on the grounds that the monastery was built on land of the Imperial fisc
Fisc
Under the Merovingians and Carolingians, the fisc applied to the royal demesne which paid taxes, entirely in kind, from which the royal household was meant to be supported, though it rarely was...
, which had been given in fee to Guibert's ancestors and could not be alienated without imperial authority. Emperor Otto I summoned Guibert and Erluin to his court, but was so favourably impressed with the manner in which they defended their undertaking that on 20 September 946, he issued an imperial diploma approving the foundation of Gemblacum and granting it various privileges.
Guibert appointed his friend Erluin the first abbot of Gembloux, while he himself became a monk at Gorze Abbey
Gorze Abbey
Gorze Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Gorze in the present arrondissement of Metz-Campagne, near Metz in Lorraine. It was prominent as the source of a monastic reform movement in the 930s.-History:...
near Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
. He returned twice to Gembloux. The first time was in 954, when the Hungarians
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
threatened to pillage the monastery. Guibert not only saved it from harm but also converted some Hungarians to Christianity. The second time was in 957, when his brother-in-law Heribrand of Mawolt had seized the revenues of the monastery. Guibert persuaded Heribrand to leave the possessions of the monastery unmolested in the future. On 23 May 962, Guibert died at Gorze and his remains were brought for burial to Gembloux.
When monastic discipline was well established at Gembloux, Erluin attempted, at the suggestion of Count Regnier of Hainaut, to reform Lobbes Abbey
Lobbes Abbey
Lobbes Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Lobbes in Hainaut, Belgium. The abbey played an important role in the religious, political and religious life of the Prince-Bishopric of Liège, especially around the year 1000.-Foundation:...
in 955. The monks of Lobbes however did not welcome reform, and on the night of 20 October 958 three of them assaulted Erluin in his cell, dragged him outside the monastery and inflicted on him serious bodily injuries. Erluin died at Gembloux on 10 August 986 after Pope Benedict VII
Pope Benedict VII
Pope Benedict VII, born in Rome, the son of David or Deodatus , and previously Bishop of Sutri, died July 10, 983; belonged to the noble family of the Counts of Tusculum. He was elected by the Roman clergy and people under the influence of Sicco, imperial envoy of Emperor Otto II...
had granted his monastery exemption
Exemption (church)
In the Roman Catholic Church, exemption is the whole or partial release of an ecclesiastical person, corporation, or institution from the authority of the ecclesiastical superior next higher in rank....
and papal protection.
During the short reign of his successor, abbot Heriward (987-990), the monks voluntarily relinquished their right of exemption in favour of Bishop Notger of Liège, who was well disposed towards the monastery. Heriward was succeeded by Erluin II (990-1012), under whose weak administration monastic discipline greatly relaxed.
His successor Olbert (1012-1048), a pious and learned abbot, restored discipline, built a new abbey church in 1022, organized a rich library, and by encouraging sacred and secular learning gave the first impulse to the subsequent flourishing condition of Gembloux. During the period of its greatest intellectual activity the abbey was ruled by Mysach (1048-1071), Thietmar (1071-1092), Liethard (1092-1115) and Anselm
Anselm of Gembloux
Anselm of Gembloux was abbot of Gembloux Abbey 1115–1136, and continuator of the chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux.-Sources:*Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, VI 375-385....
(1115-1136).
Under Thietmar flourished the famous chronicler Sigebert of Gembloux
Sigebert of Gembloux
Sigebert of Gembloux was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII and Pascal II...
(1030-1112), who in a neat Latin style wrote a chronicle of the world from 381-1111, a history of the abbots of Gembloux and other historical works of great value. His chronicle was continued by Abbot Anselm till 1136, and his history of the abbots of Gembloux by the monk Gottschalk, a disciple of Sigebert. The learned prior Guerin, a famous teacher at the abbey school, was a contemporary of Sigebert.
In 1157 and again in 1185 the monastery was destroyed by fire, and though rebuilt, it began from this period to decline in importance.
In 1505, under Abbot Arnold II de Solbrecg (1501-1511), it became affiliated to the Bursfeld Union.
It was pillaged by the Calvinists in 1598, and was partly destroyed by fire in 1678 and again in 1712. It was just beginning to recover from these heavy misfortunes when in 1793 the Revolutionary
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
government suppressed it.
The buildings, which largely survived, are used for the Agronomical University of Gembloux
Faculté universitaire des sciences agronomiques de Gembloux
The Faculté Universitaire des Sciences Agronomiques de Gembloux, in Gembloux, Wallonia, Belgium, is a university in the French Community of Belgium. Its official language is French. The university is housed in the historical Abbey of Gembloux, which dates from the tenth century...
.