The remains of the former Abbey of Notre-Dame de Clairefontaine are located in

Wallonia Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

near Clairefontaine, a Belgian hamlet belonging to the city of

Arlon Arlon (; lb, Arel ; nl, Aarlen ; german: Arel ; wa, Årlon; la, Orolaunum) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in and capital of the province of Luxembourg in the Ardennes, Belgium. With a population of just over 28,000, it is th ...

, 3 km from the Luxembourgish town of

Eischen Eischen ( lb, Äischen) is the largest town in the commune of Habscht in south-western Luxembourg, and its administrative centre. As of 2005, the town has a population of 1,532. Name Eischen takes its name from the river Eisch, which flows thro ...

. The valley has been inhabited since Roman times and castle Bardenbourg, in which amongst others Countess Ermesinde resided, saw several important personalities of its time. These included

Pope Eugene III Pope Eugene III ( la, Eugenius III; c. 1080 – 8 July 1153), born Bernardo Pignatelli, or possibly Paganelli, called Bernardo da Pisa, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 February 1145 to his death in 1153. He ...

, who stopped there in 1147 with a group of 18 cardinals on a trip from

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. The Pope's entourage included Bernard de Fontaine, who became a saint. It was said that he had been told that someone in the lord of Bardenbourg's family was very ill. Thereupon he got water from a spring not far from the castle, and blessed the sick person with this water. The latter made a miraculous recovery, and this is said to be the origin of the name "Clairefontaine". The water is still said to have healing properties. About a hundred years later, Ermesinde had a vision, apparently seeing the Virgin Mary, and had the Cistercian abbey built here. As the countess died in February 1247, it was her son Henry V the Blond who constructed the abbey.P. Péporté, ''Historiography, Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Luxembourg'', (Brill, 2011), 115. It was first mentioned in records in 1250. The abbey was destroyed by French revolutionaries.P. Péporté, ''Historiography, Collective Memory and Nation-Building in Luxembourg'', 118. This may be because the inhabitants of surrounding areas used the stones of the abbey to build their houses. Around 1875 the Jesuits of Arlon built a new chapel on the place of the old abbey.

References

Literature

* Bisdorff, Georgette (2012). ''Clairefontaine, un site médiéval, archéologique et historique.'' Die Warte: Perspectives 19, 2369, 14 June 2012, pages 10–12. * Bulletin trimestriel de l'Institut d'Archéologie du Luxembourg, no 3-4, page 163-245, "L'abbaye cistercienne de Clairefontaine - Du rêve d'Ermesinde aux réalités archéologiques", Arlon, 2010.

External links

L'abbaye cictercienne from Paroisse Saint Martin
{{coord, 49, 39, 57, N, 5, 51, 57, E, region:BE-WLX_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Ruined Christian monasteries in Belgium Christian monasteries in Luxembourg (Belgium) Arlon