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Villeneuve Abbey
Villeneuve Abbey, dedicated to Our Lady, was a Cistercian monastery at the present-day Les Sorinières, near Nantes in Pays de la Loire (formerly in Brittany), France, founded in 1201 and dissolved in 1790, during the French Revolution. For many years after its foundation, the abbey was the principal burial place of the founder's family. The main surviving building, also known as the Château de Villeneuve, is now a hotel. Early history On the death of Conan IV, Duke of Brittany, his daughter Constance became ruler of Brittany and Countess of Richmond, at a time when both were parts of the Angevin Empire. She married firstly Geoffrey, a younger son of Henry II of England and Eleanor of Aquitaine, who thus became Duke of Brittany, and secondly after Geoffrey's death Ranulf, Earl of Chester. In 1196, Constance was kidnapped by her estranged husband, but in 1199 she escaped, and the marriage was dissolved on the grounds of desertion. Thirdly, about November 1199, she ...
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Cistercian
The Cistercians, () officially the Order of Cistercians ( la, (Sacer) Ordo Cisterciensis, abbreviated as OCist or SOCist), are a Catholic religious order of monks and nuns that branched off from the Benedictines and follow the Rule of Saint Benedict, as well as the contributions of the highly-influential Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, known as the Latin Rule. They are also known as Bernardines, after Saint Bernard himself, or as White Monks, in reference to the colour of the "cuculla" or cowl (choir robe) worn by the Cistercians over their habits, as opposed to the black cowl worn by Benedictines. The term ''Cistercian'' derives from ''Cistercium,'' the Latin name for the locale of Cîteaux, near Dijon in eastern France. It was here that a group of Benedictine monks from the monastery of Molesme founded Cîteaux Abbey in 1098, with the goal of following more closely the Rule of Saint Benedict. The best known of them were Robert of Molesme, Alberic of Cîteaux and the Engl ...
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Angevin Empire
The Angevin Empire (; french: Empire Plantagenêt) describes the possessions of the House of Plantagenet during the 12th and 13th centuries, when they ruled over an area covering roughly half of France, all of England, and parts of Ireland and Wales, and had further influence over much of the remaining British Isles. It may be described as an early example of a composite monarchy. The empire was established by Henry II of England, who succeeded his father Geoffrey Plantagenet as Duke of Normandy and Count of Anjou (from which the Angevins derive their name). Henry married Eleanor of Aquitaine in 1152, becoming her royal consort, and inherited his mother Empress Matilda's claim to the English throne, succeeding his rival Stephen, in 1154. Although their title of highest rank came from the Kingdom of England, the Plantagenets held court primarily on the continent at Angers in Anjou, and at Chinon in Touraine. The influence and power of the House of Anjou brought them ...
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Marais Poitevin
The Marais Poitevin () or Poitevin Marsh is a large area of marshland in western France. The name means "Poitou's Marsh" or the "Marsh of the Poitou region". It is a remnant of what was the former . The western zone near the sea (about two-thirds of the area) is called the "dry marsh" (or "dried marsh"). It is used for farming and livestock breeding. The eastern zone, called the "wet marsh", is a maze of islets crisscrossed by picturesque canals, primarily now a tourist destination for boating. It is nicknamed The Green Venice (''la Venise Verte''). Overview With an area of , this is the largest marsh on France's Atlantic coast and the second largest of the country, after the Camargue in Provence. The Marais Poitevin is the most important area of angelica cultivation in France. Extending across three departments (Vendée, Deux-Sèvres, and Charente-Maritime), it is situated west of Niort, north of La Rochelle, and south of Fontenay-le-Comte. In 1979 the Marais Poitevin was de ...
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Primary Abbey
Primary abbey in the context of the Cistercian order refers to the first daughter houses of Cîteaux Abbey. The four primary abbeys were La Ferté (1113), Pontigny (1114), Clairvaux (1115), and Morimond (1115). History The primary abbeys, along with Cîteaux Abbey, were the epicentres of wide-reaching affiliations across Europe. In the 12th and 13th centuries daughter and granddaughter houses arose, which attached to Cîteaux as their mother house: this system of centralized control of the order was unknown before the Cistercians. By the death of St. Bernard of Clairvaux Bernard of Clairvaux, Cistercians, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, Mysticism, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Bened ... in 1153, there were in total 333 dependent houses, by the middle of the 13th century 647, and by 1675 742. Of these, 109 belonged to Cîteaux, 16 to La ...
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Clairvaux Abbey
Clairvaux Abbey (, ; la, Clara Vallis) was a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, from Bar-sur-Aube. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; the present structure dates from 1708. Clairvaux Abbey was a good example of the general layout of a Cistercian monastery. The abbey has been listed since 1926 as a historical monument by the French Ministry of Culture. The grounds are now occupied and used by Clairvaux Prison, a high-security prison. History In 1115 Bernard, a Benedictine monk of the Abbaye de Saint-Nicolas-lès-Cîteaux, was sent with a group of twelve other monks to found a new house at Vallée d'Absinthe. Hughes I, Count of Troyes, donated this valley to the colony of Cistercians.Gildas, Marie. "Abbey of Clairvaux." The Catholic Encyclopedia
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Prières Abbey
Prières Abbey (french: Abbaye de Prières or ''Notre-Dame de Prières''; la, Abbatia de Precibus) is a former Cistercian monastery in the commune of Billiers in the department of Morbihan, Brittany, France, about 28 kilometres southeast of Vannes near the coast and the mouth of the River Vilaine. History The abbey was founded in 1251 and richly endowed by Duke John I of Brittany, as penance for his earlier destruction of the Priory of Saint-Pabu and annexation of its lands during the construction of the Château de Suscinio. The new abbey was a daughter house of Buzay Abbey (of the filiation of Clairvaux), from where the first monks came. Among its temporal endowments were the saltpans of the Guérande peninsula. The abbey was rebuilt in the 17th century. In 1791, in the French Revolution, it was dissolved. The premises were subsequently used as a barracks. The site passed into private hands in 1801, after which most of the buildings were demolished. The remaining parts ...
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Charter
A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the recipient admits a limited (or inferior) status within the relationship, and it is within that sense that charters were historically granted, and it is that sense which is retained in modern usage of the term. The word entered the English language from the Old French ''charte'', via Latin ''charta'', and ultimately from Greek χάρτης (''khartes'', meaning "layer of papyrus"). It has come to be synonymous with a document that sets out a grant of rights or privileges. Other usages The term is used for a special case (or as an exception) of an institutional charter. A charter school, for example, is one that has different rules, regulations, and statutes from a state school. Charter can be used as a synonym for "hire" or "lease ...
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Le Bignon
Le Bignon (; br, Bignon) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France. Population See also * Communes of the Loire-Atlantique department The following is a list of the 207 communes of the Loire-Atlantique department of France. The communes cooperate in the following intercommunalities (as of 2020):Communes of Loire-Atlantique {{LoireAtlantique-geo-stub ...
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Lac De Grand-Lieu
Lac de Grand-Lieu () is a lake located to the southwest of Nantes, in the Loire-Atlantique, France, and almost entirely in Saint-Philbert-de-Grand-Lieu. At an elevation of , its surface area is , making it the largest lake in France in winter, but second after Lac du Bourget in summer. The lake is classified as a Local Nature Reserve, and use of boats on the lake are prohibited for all but a small number of licensed professional fishermen. Tourism Due to the lake classification, as a protected area, its access is restricted. Navigation on the lake is prohibited; only seven professional fishermen have been granted specific authorisation to do so. Because of its shallow topography, and its wild vegetation, the lake is difficult to access. Except during the winter floods, it is only accessible from a few locations, such as at Bouaye in the north, at Pierre Aigüe in Saint-Aignan-Grandlieu and la Chevrolière in the east. For visitors, a museum has been created to present the lak ...
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Alix, Duchess Of Brittany
Alix of Thouars (1200 – 21 October 1221) (in Breton Alis) ruled as Duchess of Brittany from 1203 until her death. She was also Countess of Richmond in the peerage of England. Life Alix was born in 1200. She was the daughter of Constance, Duchess of Brittany and Guy of Thouars. According to several French historians, Constance died after giving birth to Alix's sisters Catherine and Margaret. Alix's older half-brother was Arthur I, Duke of Brittany and her half-sisters were Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany and Matilda of Brittany, the children of Constance and Geoffrey Plantagenet. Upon the death of Richard I of England, a power struggle commenced between her half-brother Arthur and John, King of England. At the Battle of Mirebeau in 1202, Arthur and Eleanor were captured. Arthur was imprisoned at the Château de Falaise and in 1203 disappeared. Eleanor was imprisoned at Corfe Castle. The Breton barons recognized Alix as Duchess of Brittany after the presumed death of A ...
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Guy Of Thouars
Guy of Thouars (died 13 April 1213) was the third husband of Constance, Duchess of Brittany, whom he married in Angers, County of Anjou between August and October 1199 after her son Arthur of Brittany entered Angers to be recognized as count of the three countships of Anjou, Maine and Touraine. He was an Occitan noble, a member of the House of Thouars. He is counted as a duke of Brittany, jure uxoris, from 1199 to 1201. Between 1196 and the time of her death in 1201, while delivering twin daughters, Constance ruled Brittany with her young son Arthur I, Duke of Brittany as co-ruler. Duke Arthur I was captured in 1202 by their uncle John, King of England and disappeared in 1203; with his full elder sister Eleanor, Fair Maid of Brittany captured along with him and imprisoned by John, he was succeeded by his infant maternal sister, Alix of Thouars. Guy served as Regent of Brittany for his infant daughter Alix from 1203 to 1206. In 1204, Guy de Thouars as regent of Duchess Alix, va ...
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Ranulf De Blondeville, 6th Earl Of Chester
Ranulf de Blondeville, 6th Earl of Chester and 1st Earl of Lincoln (1170–26 October 1232), known in some references as the 4th Earl of Chester (in the second lineage of the title after the original family line was broken after the 2nd Earl), was one of the "old school" of Anglo-Norman barons whose loyalty to the Angevin dynasty was consistent but contingent on the receipt of lucrative favours. He has been described as "almost the last relic of the great feudal aristocracy of the Conquest". Early life Ranulf, born in 1170, in Montgomeryshire, Powys, Wales was the eldest son of Hugh de Kevelioc and Bertrade de Montfort of Evreux. He was said to have been small in physical stature. He succeeded to the earldom of Chester (like his father before him) as a minor (aged eleven) and was knighted in 1188 or 1189, which gave him control of his estates in England and Normandy. Although he used, not inconsistently, the style ''Duke of Brittany'' on account of his marriage, he never ...
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