Villers Abbey
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,...
located near the town of Villers-la-Ville
Villers-la-Ville
Villers-la-Ville is a Walloon municipality located in the Belgian province of Walloon Brabant. On January 1, 2006 Villers-la-Ville had a total population of 9,572...
in the Brabant
Walloon Brabant
Walloon Brabant is a province of Wallonia in Belgium. It borders on the province of Flemish Brabant and the provinces of Liège, Namur and Hainaut . Its capital is Wavre...
province of Wallonia (Belgium), one piece of the Wallonia's Major Heritage. Founded in 1146, the abbey was abandoned in 1796. Most of the site has since fallen into ruins.
History
In 1146, twelve Cistercian monkMonk
A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism, living either alone or with any number of monks, while always maintaining some degree of physical separation from those not sharing the same purpose...
s and three lay brothers from Clairvaux
Clairvaux Abbey
Clairvaux Abbey is a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, 15 km from Bar-sur-Aube, in the Aube département in northeastern France. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; a high-security prison, the Clairvaux Prison, now occupies the grounds...
came to Villers in order to establish the abbey on land granted them by Gauthier de Marbais. After establishing several preliminary sites (Villers I and Villers II), work was finally undertaken in the 13th century to build the current site. The choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
was constructed by 1217, the crypt
Crypt
In architecture, a crypt is a stone chamber or vault beneath the floor of a burial vault possibly containing sarcophagi, coffins or relics....
by 1240 and the 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...
by 1267. The church itself took seventy years to build and was completed by the end of the century.
During this period, the abbey reached the height of its fame and importance. Contemporary accounts suggest that roughly 100 monks and 300 lay brothers resided within its walls, although this is possibly an exaggeration. The lands attached to the abbey also expanded considerably, reaching some 100 km² of woods, fields and pasturage.
Decline set in during the 16th century, tied to the larger troubles of the Low Countries
Low Countries
The Low Countries are the historical lands around the low-lying delta of the Rhine, Scheldt, and Meuse rivers, including the modern countries of Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg and parts of northern France and western Germany....
. Spanish tercio
Tercio
The tercio was a Renaissance era military formation made up of a mixed infantry formation of about 3,000 pikemen, swordsmen and arquebusiers or musketeers in a mutually supportive formation. It was also sometimes referred to as the Spanish Square...
s, during the campaign of 1544, did considerable damage to the church and cloister, both of which were partially restored in 1587.
In the early seventeenth century, the history of the abbey was written by Crisóstomo Henríquez
Crisóstomo Henríquez
Crisóstomo Henríquez was a Cistercian religious and church historian of the Spanish Congregation working in the Low Countries.-Biography:...
.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, the abbey's fortunes continued to diminish. The number of monks and the abbey's wealth dwindled and it was finally abandoned in 1796 in the wake 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...
.
Burials
- Henry II, Duke of BrabantHenry II, Duke of BrabantHenry II of Brabant was Duke of Brabant and Lothier after the death of his father Henry I in 1235...
- Sophie of Thuringia, Duchess of BrabantSophie of Thuringia, Duchess of BrabantSophie of Thuringia was the second wife and only Duchess consort of Henry II, Duke of Brabant and Lothier. She was the heiress of Hesse which she passed on to her son, Henry upon her retention of the territory following her partial victory in the War of the Thuringian Succession in which she was...
- John III, Duke of BrabantJohn III, Duke of BrabantJan III van Brabant , also called John III, the Triumphant , was Duke of Brabant, Lothier, and Limburg...
- Gobert of Aspremont
- Juliana of LiègeJuliana of LiègeSaint Juliana of Liège was a religious woman and visionary from Retinnes in the Bishopric of Liège, now in Belgium. She was known in her community for her "capacious memory," her gift of prophecy, and religious devotion...
After dissolution
Further degradation to the site occurred in 1855 when the railway line between LeuvenLeuven
Leuven is the capital of the province of Flemish Brabant in the Flemish Region, Belgium...
and Charleroi
Charleroi
Charleroi is a city and a municipality of Wallonia, located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. , the total population of Charleroi was 201,593. The metropolitan area, including the outer commuter zone, covers an area of and had a total population of 522,522 as of 1 January 2008, ranking it as...
passed through the old abbatial grounds.
In 1893, the Belgian state
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...
purchased the site and launched a conservation effort. Classed as an official historic site in 1973, the abbey has subsequently enjoyed considerable restoration, and the remains of the abbey along with numerous outbuildings can still be seen, including the cloister, refectory, kitchens, dormitories, and brewing house. Since 1992, the site has been maintained by the "Association pour la Promotion Touristique et Culturelle de Villers" (APTCV).
The church, although in ruins, is an outstanding example of Cistercian architecture, with imposing vaulting
Vault (architecture)
A Vault is an architectural term for an arched form used to provide a space with a ceiling or roof. The parts of a vault exert lateral thrust that require a counter resistance. When vaults are built underground, the ground gives all the resistance required...
, arch
Arch
An arch is a structure that spans a space and supports a load. Arches appeared as early as the 2nd millennium BC in Mesopotamian brick architecture and their systematic use started with the Ancient Romans who were the first to apply the technique to a wide range of structures.-Technical aspects:The...
es and rose windows.
The abbey now hosts an annual choir festival "Nuit Des Choeurs" in which a number of choirs sing a variety of music - classical through to gospel, jazz and pop arrangements - from different parts of the grounds over successive nights culminating in a firework display and centre stage concert.