Gorze Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Gorze

Gorze

Gorze is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.It was the home of the once-famous Gorze Abbey.-See also:*Communes of the Moselle department*Parc naturel régional de Lorraine...

 in the present arrondissement of Metz-Campagne

Arrondissement of Metz-Campagne

The arrondissement of Metz-Campagne is an arrondissement of France, located in the Moselle département, in the Lorraine région. It has 9 cantons and 142 communes.-Cantons:The cantons of the arrondissement of Metz-Campagne are:# Ars-sur-Moselle...

, 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...

 in Lorraine

Lorraine (région)

Lorraine is one of the 27 régions of France. The administrative region has two cities of equal importance, Metz and Nancy. Metz is considered to be the official capital since that is where the regional parliament is situated...

. It was prominent as the source of a monastic reform movement in the 930s.

History

Gorze Abbey was founded in 749

749

Year 749 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 749 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.- Europe :* June – Aistulf succeeds his...

 by Bishop Chrodegang of Metz

Chrodegang of Metz

Saint Chrodegang was the Frankish Bishop of Metz from 742 or 748 until his death.-Biography:He was born in the early eighth century at Hesbaye of a noble Frankish family that via his mother Landrada was related to the Robertians, and died at Metz, March 6, 766.He was educated at the court of...

, who obtained for it from Rome

Rome

Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 the relics of Saint Gorgonius

Gorgonius

Saint Gorgonius of Nicomedia was a Christian martyr, part of the group Gorgonius, Peter Cubicularius and Dorotheus, who died in 304 AD at Nicomedia during the persecution of Emperor Diocletian....

. The new community at first followed his Rule, but decline later set in. The highly placed Frankish lord Bivin of Gorze

Bivin of Gorze

Bivin of Gorze was a Frank from the Bosonid-family. He was married to a daughter of Boso the Elder, who may have been called Richildis. During his life he functioned as lay abbot of the Gorze Abbey...

 (810–863), married to a daughter of Boso the Elder

Boso the Elder

Boso the Elder was a Frank from the Bosonid dynasty. He was married to Engeltrude and died around 855. His family, the Bosonids were a dynasty of Franks that produced counts, dukes, abbots and bishops during the Carolingian Age...

, functioned as lay abbot

Lay abbot

Lay abbot is a name used to designate a layman on whom a king or someone in authority bestowed an abbey as a reward for services rendered; he had charge of the estate belonging to it, and was entitled to part of the income.This custom existed principally in the Frankish Empire from the eighth...

 of Gorze. In 933

933

Year 933 was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Julian calendar.-Africa:* Failed attempt by the Fatimid dynasty to seize the Maghreb al-Aqsa from the local rulers allied to the Spain-based Umayyad Caliphate.- Europe :* Cotentin and Jersey are seized by William Longsword, Duke of Normandy.*...

 the premises, by then semi-derelict, were given by Adalbero, Bishop of Metz, to John of Gorze

John of Gorze

Saint John of Gorze was a Lorraine-born monk, diplomat, administrator, and monastic reformer....

 and Einald of Toul so that they could restore observance of the Rule of St. Benedict. They did so extremely successfully and the customary of Gorze soon spread to many other monasteries, at first local, such as St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier

St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier

St. Maximin's Abbey was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.-History:The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Trier in the 4th century. Maximin St. Maximin's Abbey was a...

, and St. Evre's Abbey, Toul

St. Evre's Abbey, Toul

The Abbey of St. Evre, Toul was a Benedictine, later Cluniac, monastery in Toul, France. Established in or just before 507, it was the oldest monastery in Lorraine and of great significance in the monastic and religious reforms in the Rhine and Moselle region of the 10th and 11th...

, and later in more distant places, such as Bavaria

Bavaria

Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...

, through the mediation of Wolfgang of Regensburg

Wolfgang of Regensburg

Saint Wolfgang was bishop of Regensburg in Bavaria from Christmas 972 until his death. He is a saint of the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches...

.

Gorze Reform

The Gorze Reform was similar to the Cluniac Reform in that it aimed at a re-establishment of the Rule of St. Benedict, but quite different in several major areas. In particular, whereas Cluny created a centralised system of authority in which the religious houses adopting its reforms became subordinate to Cluny itself, the Gorze reforms preserved the independence of the participating monasteries, and resulted instead in a network of loosely connected affiliations based on several centres, such as Fulda

Fulda

Fulda is a city in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district .- Early Middle Ages :...

, Niederaltaich

Niederaltaich Abbey

Niederaltaich Abbey or Niederaltaich Monastery is a house of the Benedictine Order founded in 731 , situated in the village of Niederalteich on the Danube in Bavaria....

, Einsiedeln

Einsiedeln Abbey

Einsiedeln Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in the town of Einsiedeln in the Canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, the title being derived from the circumstances of its foundation, from which the name Einsiedeln is also said to have originated...

 and St. Emmeram's Abbey in Regensburg

St. Emmeram's Abbey

St. Emmeram's Abbey , now known as Schloss Thurn und Taxis, Schloss St. Emmeram, and St...

.

Gorze was also the home of the "chant messin", an early form of Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant

Gregorian chant is the central tradition of Western plainchant, a form of monophonic liturgical music within Western Christianity that accompanied the celebration of Mass and other ritual services...

 or plainsong

Plainsong

Plainsong is a body of chants used in the liturgies of the Catholic Church. Though the Eastern Orthodox churches and the Catholic Church did not split until long after the origin of plainchant, Byzantine chants are generally not classified as plainsong.Plainsong is monophonic, consisting of a...

, as a part of the liturgy

Liturgy

Liturgy is either the customary public worship done by a specific religious group, according to its particular traditions or a more precise term that distinguishes between those religious groups who believe their ritual requires the "people" to do the "work" of responding to the priest, and those...

, and also of sacred drama, particularly in connection with the Easter

Easter

Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...

 rituals.

After the reform

From the 12th century Gorze ceased to occupy the central spiritual position it had had previously. Nevertheless in material terms it continued to prosper, and in the 12th and 13th centuries undertook substantial building works, including the lay church, which alone of the abbey buildings still survives, as the present parish church of Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....

. The extensive territory which the abbey accumulated became known as the "Terre de Gorze".

The abbey was dissolved in 1572 as a consequence of the Reformation

Protestant Reformation

The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

. An attempt at a re-foundation in 1580 came to nothing, and the buildings, apart from St. Stephen's church, were demolished.

Abbot's Palace

The "Terre de Gorze" continued however as a territorial unit, with an abbot as its overlord, even in the absence of a monastic community. In the 1660s these lands passed from the Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...

 to France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

. In the 1690s, the Prince-Abbot Eberhard von Löwenstein built an appropriately splendid residence, which still stands. At the time of 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 building was confiscated and sold off and was later used for a variety of military and local government purposes, particularly as a workhouse for the poor. The palace has now been restored and is in use as a museum, old people's home and for several other purposes. The gardens, nymphaeum

Nymphaeum

A nymphaeum or nymphaion , in ancient Greece and Rome, was a monument consecrated to the nymphs, especially those of springs....

and chapel are all of architectural and artistic interest.

External links

Tholey Historical Society: Article about Gorze AbbeyAbbot's Palace, Gorze

Sources and references

• Lawrence, C.H., 2001. Medieval Monasticism (3rd edn.). Longman