Charroux Abbey (french: Abbaye Saint-Sauveur de Charroux) is a ruined

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 whic ...

in Charroux, in the

Vienne Vienne (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Viéne'') is a landlocked department in the French region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. It takes its name from the river Vienne. It had a population of 438,435 in 2019.department of

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine (; oc, Nòva Aquitània or ; eu, Akitania Berria; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Novéle-Aguiéne'') is the largest administrative region in France, spanning the west and southwest of the mainland. The region was created by ...

, western

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

History

Charroux was a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , found ...

abbey, founded in 785 by Roger, Count of

Limoges Limoges (, , ; oc, Lemòtges, locally ) is a city and Communes of France, commune, and the prefecture of the Haute-Vienne Departments of France, department in west-central France. It was the administrative capital of the former Limousin region ...

. It had up to 213 affiliated abbeys and priories. The Council of Charroux was held at the abbey in 989. Under the patronage of

William IV, Duke of Aquitaine William IV (937 – 3 February 994), called Fierebras or Fierebrace (meaning "Proud Arm", from the French ''Fier-à-bras'' or ''Fièrebrace'', in turn from the Latin ''Ferox brachium''), was the Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 963 ...

, the assembly of clergy founded the ''Pax Dei'', or Peace of God. This agreement granted immunity from violence to noncombatants who could not defend themselves, beginning with the peasants and the clergy.

Excommunication Excommunication is an institutional act of religious censure used to end or at least regulate the communion of a member of a congregation with other members of the religious institution who are in normal communion with each other. The purpose ...

was established as the punishment for attacking or robbing a church, for robbing peasants or the poor of farm animals, and for robbing, striking or seizing a priest or clergyman who was not bearing arms. The abbey was said to have possessed the

Holy Prepuce The Holy Prepuce, or Holy Foreskin (Latin or ), is one of several relics attributed to Jesus, a product of the circumcision of Jesus. At various points in history, a number of churches in Europe have claimed to possess Jesus's foreskin, sometim ...

, the foreskin of

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

, which was allegedly given to the monks by

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Em ...

King of the Franks The Franks, Germanic-speaking peoples that invaded the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century, were first led by individuals called dukes and reguli. The earliest group of Franks that rose to prominence was the Salian Merovingians, who c ...

from 768 to 814. The relic was displayed to members of a council at Charroux in 1082. At some point, however, the relic went missing. The original abbey church was destroyed in 989. In the early eleventh century, the Count of Poitou asked the monks of Saint-Sernin in Poitou to rebuild the church and institute reforms for the monks. The abbey church was rebuilt in the 11th century, and was "one of the most distinguished houses in Southern France. The new church was dedicated in 1096 by

Pope Urban II Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...

. The abbey was burned in 1422, during the

Hundred Years War The Hundred Years' War (; 1337–1453) was a series of armed conflicts between the kingdoms of England and France during the Late Middle Ages. It originated from disputed claims to the French throne between the English House of Plantage ...

, and was plundered three times during the Wars of Religion, in 1562, 1569 and 1587. In 1762 the abbey was abandoned. Following 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 November 1799. Many of its ideas are conside ...

, the buildings, already in ruins, were sold for the national good in 1790. It was sold in five sections, and the buildings partly demolished to form a racecourse. However, the owner of the Charlemagne Tower resisted pressure to demolish the structure. Charles de Cherge and

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 ...

intervened to save the remains of the monument, and the sculptures on the gate were purchased by the French state. The remains were classified as '' monuments historique'' in 1945 and 1950. Today, the remains are in the care of the ''

Centre des monuments nationaux The Centre des monuments nationaux (CMN) (French, 'National monuments centre') is a French government body (Établissement public à caractère administratif) which conserves, restores and manages historic buildings and sites that are the propert ...

'', and are open to the public.

Architecture

Abbey church

The only remaining structure of the church is the 11th-century lantern tower, known as the Charlemagne Tower. It formed the central rotunda of the abbey. Overall, the church was long, although the site of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-typ ...

was built over in the 19th century.

Monastic buildings

Some of the monastic buildings survive, to the south of the abbey church. The

chapter house A chapter house or chapterhouse is a building or room that is part of a cathedral, monastery or collegiate church in which meetings are held. When attached to a cathedral, the cathedral chapter meets there. In monasteries, the whole commu ...

was an extension of the south transept, and was built in the 13th century. In the 15th century by the abbot Jean Chaperon, including a flamboyant

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 ...

doorway which connected with the church. Three Gothic gateways were built in front of the Romanesque church facade in the 13th century. 27 sculptures of kings and abbots, and several parts of the gates, were preserved following the demolition of the church, and they represent the height of Gothic sculpture in the

Poitou Poitou (, , ; ; Poitevin dialect, Poitevin: ''Poetou'') was a Provinces of France, province of west-central France whose capital city was Poitiers. Both Poitou and Poitiers are named after the Pictones Gallic tribe. Geography The main histori ...

region. The sculptures are displayed in the chapter house.

Abbots of Charroux

This is an incomplete list of

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. Th ...

s and commendators of Charroux.

Commendators

*Pierre VI Chateigner of Rocheposay (1521–1543) *Lazare de Baïf (1543–1547) *Rene de Daillon of Lude (1547–1567), later bishop of Bayeux, commander of the

Order of the Holy Spirit , status = Abolished in 1830 after the July RevolutionRecognised as a dynastic order of chivalry by the ICOC , founder = Henry III of France , head_title = Grand Master , head = Disputed:Louis Alphonse, Duke of AnjouJean, Count of Paris , ...

, and adviser to Henri IV *Pantaléon of Rochejaubert (resigned 1588) *François of Rochejaubert (c.1588–1614) *Jean II of Rochejaubert (1614–1635) * Armand Jean du Plessis, Cardinal Richelieu (commendator until his death on 4 December 1642), also chief advisor to

Louis XIII Louis XIII (; sometimes called the Just; 27 September 1601 – 14 May 1643) was King of France from 1610 until his death in 1643 and King of Navarre (as Louis II) from 1610 to 1620, when the crown of Navarre was merged with the French crown ...

Richard Smith Richard Smith may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Richard Penn Smith (1799–1854), American playwright * Richard Smith (silent film director) (1886–1937), American silent film director * Richard Smith (screenwriter), Scottish screenwriter, ...

(resigned 1648), an Englishman,

Vicar Apostolic of England The Apostolic Vicariate of England (and Wales) was an ecclesiastical jurisdiction of the Roman Catholic Church in England and Wales. It was led by a vicar apostolic (or apostolic vicar) who was a titular bishop. The apostolic vicariate was created ...

and titular Bishop of Chalcedon * Jules, Cardinal Mazarin (1648–1650), chief minister to

Louis XIV , house = Bourbon , father = Louis XIII , mother = Anne of Austria , birth_date = , birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France , death_date = , death_place = Palace of Ve ...

, resigned *Louis II Maurice de la Trémoille, Count of Laval (1651–1681) *Frederic-Guillaume de la Trémoille, Prince of Talmont (March 21, 1681 – 1689) *Charles Frotier de Messelière (April 9, 1689 – 1708) *François de Crussol d' Uzès d' Amboise (July 30, 1727 – † May 30, 1758), also Bishop of Blois and

Archbishop of Toulouse The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Toulouse (–Saint Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux) ( la, Archidioecesis Tolosana (–Convenarum–Rivensis); French: ''Archidiocèse de Toulouse (–Saint-Bertrand de Comminges–Rieux-Volvestre)''; Occitan: ''A ...

*N. de Montmorillon (1758– )

References

* * {{Authority control Benedictine monasteries in France Monuments historiques of Vienne Buildings and structures in Vienne Ruins in Nouvelle-Aquitaine Tourist attractions in Vienne Monuments of the Centre des monuments nationaux