Mozac Abbey is a former

Cluniac The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer whi ...

in the

commune A commune is an alternative term for an intentional community. Commune or comună or comune or other derivations may also refer to: Administrative-territorial entities * Commune (administrative division), a municipality or township ** Communes of ...

Mozac Mozac () is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. Population See also *Communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department The following is a list of the 464 communes of the Puy-de-Dôme department of France. Inter ...

near Riom in

Auvergne Auvergne (; ; oc, label= Occitan, Auvèrnhe or ) is a former administrative region in central France, comprising the four departments of Allier, Puy-de-Dôme, Cantal and Haute-Loire. Since 1 January 2016, it has been part of the new region Au ...

, France.

History

A monastery was founded here in either 533 or 680 by Saint Calminius (''Saint Calmin'') and his wife, Saint Namadia. Calminius is said to have given the new monastery relics of

Saint Peter ) (Simeon, Simon) , birth_date = , birth_place = Bethsaida, Gaulanitis, Syria, Roman Empire , death_date = Between AD 64–68 , death_place = probably Vatican Hill, Rome, Italia, Roman Empire , parents = John (or Jonah; Jona) , occupat ...

, to whom the foundation was dedicated, and of Saint Caprasius of Agen, brought from

Agen The commune of Agen (, ; ) is the prefecture of the Lot-et-Garonne department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. It lies on the river Garonne southeast of Bordeaux. Geography The city of Agen lies in the southwestern department ...

, of which there has long been no trace. From "King Pepin", either Pepin the Short in 764 or

Pepin II of Aquitaine Pepin II, called the Younger (823 – after 864 in Senlis), was King of Aquitaine from 838 as the successor upon the death of his father, Pepin I. Pepin II was eldest son of Pepin I and Ingeltrude, daughter of Theodobert, count of Madrie. ...

in 848, the monastery received the relics of

Saint Austremonius Stremonius or Saint Austremonius or Saint Stramonius or Austromoine, the "apostle of Auvergne," was the first Bishop of Clermont. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. Legend During the consulship (in 250 AD) of the Emperor Decius ...

, first

bishop of Clermont The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Clermont (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Claromontana''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Clermont'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the department of Puy-d ...

and responsible for the evangelisation of the Auvergne; the abbey passed under royal protection. These have survived until today and are preserved in a painted wooden casket of the sixteenth century. The chasse reliquary of Calminius, or Saint Calmin, is one of the outstanding masterpieces of

Limoges enamel Limoges enamel has been produced at Limoges, in south-western France, over several centuries up to the present. There are two periods when it was of European importance. From the 12th century to 1370 there was a large industry producing metal o ...

. In 1095 Pope Urban II launched the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

at the

Council of Clermont The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Pope Urban's speech ...

and at the same time affiliated Mozac to the

Cluniac Order Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churches ...

; nevertheless, Mozac was able to retain some of its independence, as it remained an abbey rather than becoming a dependent priory, as were most of Cluny's affiliated houses. The abbey was rebuilt in the early twelfth century. The buildings were severely damaged and largely destroyed in a series of earthquakes between 1477 and 1490, and among the few remains of the

Romanesque architecture Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of medieval Europe characterized by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque style, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 11th century, this lat ...

that have survived are carved Romanesque capitals (''illustration'') that were particularly noted by

Prosper Mérimée Prosper Mérimée (; 28 September 1803 – 23 September 1870) was a French writer in the movement of Romanticism, and one of the pioneers of the novella, a short novel or long short story. He was also a noted archaeologist and historian, and a ...

in the first assessment of medieval monuments in France: "What renders the church of Mozat icparticularly interesting are its capitals, which, for the merit of their execution, may be compared to the best of

Brioude Brioude (; Auvergnat: ''Briude'') is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region in south-central France. It lies on the banks of the river Allier, a tributary of the Loire. History At Brioude, the ancient ''Bri ...

". The rebuilding was carried out in the

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style, using the harder

Volvic Volvic () is a commune in the Puy-de-Dôme department in Auvergne in central France. The church at Volvic is dedicated to “St Priest” ( Projectus), who is reputed to have been killed here in 676 AD. Population International relations ...

stone instead of the limestone of the earlier constructions. From 1516 Mozac was ruled by

commendatory abbots A commendatory abbot ( la, abbas commendatarius) is an ecclesiastic, or sometimes a layman, who holds an abbey ''in commendam'', drawing its revenues but not exercising any authority over its inner monastic discipline. If a commendatory abbot is a ...

who were not in residence. In 1790 the abbey was dissolved in the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in coup of 18 Brumaire, November 1799. Many of its ...

. The abbey church survives as the parish church of Mozac.

Buildings and contents

Romanesque capitals with figurative carvings of high quality survive in some quantity, and the church still contains some elements of Romanesque architecture. The relics of Saint Austremonius are still preserved here, as are those of the founder Saint Calminius, in a chasse reliquary shrine (''illustrations of details'') which is the largest extant reliquary in mediaeval

in the world.

List of abbots of Mozac

Elected by the community

* About 681: Euterius * 8th century: Lanfred I * 8th century: Lanfred II * End of the 9th century: Mansion * 9th century: Robert * About 950: Stephen I * 11th century: Gerald * About 1061: Peter I * About 1095: Eustache I de Guignes * About 1102: Hugues de Semur * In 1131 and 1147: Eustache II de Montboissier * In 1168 and 1181: Pierre III de Marsacno sign of Pierre II * In 1195 and 1197: Guillaume I de Bromont * About 1205: Eustorge * About 1212: Géronte de la Tour * In 1217 and 1243: Aymeric de Mercœur * About 1245: Pierre IV de Chazelas * 1252 - 1267: Pierre V d'Ysserpans * In 1267 and 1269: Aymon I de Vergy * In 1277 and 1284: Pierre VI de la Ferté-Chauderon * In 1284 and 1286: Aymon II Brun * 1286 - 1294: Guillaume II de Saint-Saturnin * 1294 - 1309: Pierre VII de Vallière * 1318 - 1343: Guy de Grézolles * 1343 - 1349: Jean I de Saint-Sernin * In 1350 and 1352: Bernard de Tranchelyon * In 1361 and 1377 : Étienne de Cottet * In 1380 and 1406: Jean II de Laqueuille * 1406 - 1419: Philibert d'Archimbaud * 1420 - 1424: Philibert de l'Espinasse * 1424 - 1458: Louis I de Banson * 1459 - 1470: Raymond de Marcenat * 1479 - 1509: Jean III de Marcenat * 1510 - 1515: Louis II de Chassaigne

Commendatory abbots

* 1516 - 1524 : Claude Duprat * 1524–1528 : Thomas Duprat * 1529–1560 : Guillaume Duprat * 1568–1570 : Sébastien de l'Aubespine * 1571–1610 : Nicolas de Neuville de Villeroy * 1613–1640 : Antoine Rigoulet * 1641–1655 : Camille de Neuville de Villeroy * 1655–1705 : François d'Albon * 1705–1719 : Joseph-Michel Archon * 1720–1736 : François Ferrand de Cossey (or d'Escossay) * 1739–1764 : Louis-Charles Baudouin * 1764–1789 : Jean Fau de Raze

Notes

References

* Bonnet, Jean, 1938. ''L'abbaye royale de Mozac en Auvergne''. * Craplet, Bernard, and Granet, Jean, 2002 (re-print). ''Abbatiale Saint-Pierre Mozac''
Éditions Gaud
* Craplet, Bernard, 1972. ''Auvergne romane'', (4th ed.), pp. 121 – 129. Éditions Zodiaque. * Gomot, Hippolyte, 1872. 'Histoire de l'abbaye royale de Mozat''. * Hénault, Denis, 2005. ''Le site monastique de Mozac au Moyen Âge (VIIe-XVe siècle): Étude historique, archéologique et spatiale'' (master's thesis). Clermont-Ferrand: Université Blaise-Pascal. * Joly, Anne, 2001. ''Temporel d'une abbaye auvergnate au Moyen Âge : Mozac (1095-1560)'' (master's thesis). Clermont-Ferrand: Université Blaise-Pascal. * Perona, Matthieu, 2004. ''L'abbaye royale des bénédictins de Mozat au Moyen Âge (Histoire, vie monastique et architecture de 533 à 1516)''
Éditions Club Historique Mozacois

External links

*
Federation of Cluniac Sites
*
Romanes.com : Photographs of the Romanesque capitals
*

*
CÉSAM (Comité d'études et de soutien à l'abbaye de Mozac): Friends of Mozac Abbey
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mozac Abbey Cluniac monasteries in France Buildings and structures in Puy-de-Dôme Romanesque architecture in France Churches in Puy-de-Dôme