Description of the attraction
The Abbey of Fontevraud is located in the French department of Maine et Loire. The abbey is located in the village of the same name, not far from the city of Chinon. It was founded at the beginning of the XII century, between 1110 and 1119 by the itinerant preacher Robert d'Abrissel.
Robert d'Abrissel received land in the northern part of Poitou thanks to the petition of the Duchess of Toulouse Philippe, who convinced her husband Guillaume IX of Aquitaine of the need to create a spiritual community in the area. Founded in 1100, the monastery was "double" - both male and female. Abbeys of this type soon spread throughout England. According to the covenant of Robert d'Abrissel, a woman was supposed to manage such an abbey, and he also appointed the first abbess, Petronilla de Chemilier. She was succeeded by Matilda of Anjou, the aunt of the future King of England, Henry II Plantagenet.
From that moment, the heyday of the Abbey of Fontevraud began - many noble ladies became abbesses. The abbey found shelter for leprosy patients, repentant sinners, homeless and oppressed women. The Plantagenet dynasty, which united under its rule not only England, but also the territories of modern France, including Anjou, became the main patrons of the abbey, turning it into their ancestral tomb.
In the XIV-XV centuries, the Abbey of Fontevraud experienced a period of decline due to the plague and the Hundred Years War. In addition, the constant interference in the affairs of the abbey by the bishops of Poitiers was also negatively influenced.
But already at the end of the 15th century, the restoration of the prestige of the Abbey of Fontevraud began, when the new abbess - Mary of Breton, aunt of King Louis XII of France - carried out reforms concerning the order of the order, which were later approved by Pope Sixtus IV. In the 16th century, the abbeses were representatives of the royal house of Bourbon, during whose reign many of the buildings of the monastery were reconstructed. A 1300-meter cloister was also added and a gallery leading to the north transept, the other three cloisters, the refectory and the entire east wing of the monastery were renovated. Abbess Louise de Bourbon hired a local artist who painted the chapter hall of the abbey with frescoes depicting the Passion of Christ. In 1558, St. Benedict's Hospital was damaged by floods and was rebuilt at the end of the 16th century.
In 1637, a conflict arose in the Abbey of Fontevraud - local monks opposed the female administration of the monastery. The new abbess - Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon, the illegitimate daughter of the French king Henry IV - had to turn to the Council of State for help, which supported the abbess. Despite the fact that she failed to achieve the canonization of the founder of the order, Robert d'Abrissel, and thereby finally consolidate her position, Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon was able to resolve religious differences, and her reign is considered the second Golden Age in the history of the abbey.
On August 16, 1670, King Louis XIV chose a new abbess of the Abbey of Fontevraud - the sister of his official favorite, Madame de Montespan, nicknamed "Queen Abbess". During her reign, gardens were laid out around the abbey, and the construction of the palace continued. The new abbess continued to lead the life of a secular lady, the royal family was often received in the monastery, in 1689 Madame de Montespan herself lived here for a whole year. At the same time, violating all the monastic laws, the abbess ordered to stage a new play by the famous French playwright Jean-Baptiste Racine, Esther, in the abbey.
The monastic order was disbanded during the Great French Revolution. On August 17, 1792, a revolutionary decree was issued obliging all monks and nuns to immediately leave their monasteries. The last abbess died in poverty in Paris in 1797.
In 1804, the Abbey of Fontevraud was turned into a prison by a decree of Napoleon, the first prisoners arrived in 1814. The prison was distinguished by inhuman conditions of detention, political criminals suffered especially. During the Vichy collaborationist regime, many members of the Resistance movement were shot in this prison.
In 1963, the building of the Abbey of Fontevraud was transferred to the French Ministry of Culture, restoration work was carried out. In 1985, the abbey was opened to the public, and the final work was completed only in 2006.
The Abbey of Fontevraud is the ancestral tomb of the Plantagenets, here are buried the king and queen of England Henry II and Alienora of Aquitaine, their children - Richard the Lionheart and John of England, her son - the Count of Toulouse Raymond VII, the wife of King John the Landless - Isabella of Angouleme. However, only tombstones remained from their graves; the ashes were lost during the plundering of the abbey by the revolutionaries. The young Princess Teresa, the daughter of King Louis XV, was also buried here.
