Bonneval Abbey (Eure-et-Loir)
Encyclopedia
- for the Cistercian Bonneval Abbey, see Bonneval Abbey (Aveyron)Bonneval Abbey (Aveyron)Bonneval Abbey was founded as a monastery of Cistercian monks, which is located in Le Cayrol, in the Department of Aveyron, in the south of France. It is now inhabited by Trappistine nuns.-History:...
Bonneval Abbey, also known as St. Florentinus' Abbey (French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
: Abbaye de Bonneval, Abbaye St-Florentin de Bonneval or Abbaye St-Florentin et St-Hilaire de Bonneval), is a former Benedictine monastery in Bonneval, Eure-et-Loir
Bonneval, Eure-et-Loir
Bonneval is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in northern France.-Population:-References:*...
, in France.
History
The Benedictine abbey at Bonneval was founded in 857 by a knight called Foulques under the auspices of Charles of ProvenceCharles of Provence
Charles of Provence was the Carolingian King of Provence from 855 until his early death in 863.Charles was the youngest son of Holy Roman Emperor Lothair I and Ermengarde of Tours....
, great-grandson of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...
. (The town of the same name subsequently grew up around the monastery).
Originally dedicated to the Roman martyrs Saints Marcellinus and Peter
Marcellinus and Peter
Saints Marcellinus and Peter were two 4th century Christian martyrs in the city of Rome.-Life:Very little is known about the two martyrs' lives. Marcellinus, a priest, and Peter, an exorcist, died in the year 304, during the persecution of Diocletian...
, the abbey took the name of Florentinus after the transfer here of relics of the more local Saints Florentinus and Hilarius, martyred in Burgundy, in thanks for services rendered by the monks of Bonneval to abbot Aurelian of Ainay Abbey. During the monks' return trip from Roanne
Roanne
Roanne is a commune in the Loire department in central France.It is located northwest of Lyon on the Loire River.-Economy:...
to Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
so many miracles occurred and the saints became so popular that the abbey was known from then on by their names, and later by that of Florentinus only.
In 911, Bonneval Abbey was attacked by invading Normans
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
and burnt down. It was not until 50 years later that it was rebuilt, with the support of Eudes, son of Thibaut the Cheat (Thibaut le Tricheur).
In 1110, Louis VI, King of France
Louis VI of France
Louis VI , called the Fat , was King of France from 1108 until his death . Chronicles called him "roi de Saint-Denis".-Reign:...
, took the abbey under royal protection for political reasons. The 12th and 13th centuries were the high period of Bonneval Abbey.
The Hundred Years' War
Hundred Years' War
The Hundred Years' War was a series of separate wars waged from 1337 to 1453 by the House of Valois and the House of Plantagenet, also known as the House of Anjou, for the French throne, which had become vacant upon the extinction of the senior Capetian line of French kings...
had a very damaging effect on the monastery. In 1420, Henry V, King of England
Henry V of England
Henry V was King of England from 1413 until his death at the age of 35 in 1422. He was the second monarch belonging to the House of Lancaster....
, attacked it and once again it was pillaged and burnt down. It was not rebuilt until the end of the 15th century, under René d’Illiers, Bishop of Chartres, who among other things rebuilt the abbots' lodging over the sub-basements of the 13th century.
In 1568, the Grand Condé, at the head of the Protestants, attacked the abbey, which was largely burnt down again.
At the French Revolution
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...
the abbey's property and premises were declared a national asset and the remaining buildings sold to a businessman who installed a thread-making factory and later a carpet factory.
In 1845 it was turned into an agricultural settlement for abandoned children, and in 1861 the lunatic asylum of the department of Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir
Eure-et-Loir is a French department, named after the Eure and Loir rivers.-History:Eure-et-Loir is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790 pursuant to the Act of December 22, 1789...
.
The abbots' lodging was restored at the end of the 19th century to its original Early Renaissance style under the leadership of the director, Dr Vincent Bigot.
The abbey buildings now accommodate a psychiatric hospital, the Centre Hospitalier Henry Ey, named after the distinguished psychiatrist Henry Ey (1900–1977), for many years its director.
Two large pictures formerly in the monastery refectory
Refectory
A refectory is a dining room, especially in monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminaries...
are now in the parish church of Notre-Dame in Bonneval, depicting the miracle of the loaves and the fishes and Jesus healing Simon the Leper, a copy of an original by Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin
Nicolas Poussin was a French painter in the classical style. His work predominantly features clarity, logic, and order, and favors line over color. His work serves as an alternative to the dominant Baroque style of the 17th century...
.