Cuissy Abbey was a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular in the Catholic Chur ...

abbey in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

in the

diocese of Soissons The Diocese of Soissons, Laon, and Saint-Quentin (Latin: ''Dioecesis Suessionensis, Laudunensis et Sanquintinensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Soissons, Laon et Saint-Quentin'') is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The dioc ...

, and was among the earliest foundations of the Premonstratensian Order.

History

The abbey was situated at Cuissy-et-Geny, near

Laon Laon () is a city in the Aisne Departments of France, department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. History Early history The Ancient Diocese of Laon, which rises a hundred metres above the otherwise flat Picardy plain, has always held s ...

, in the ''

département In the administrative divisions of France, the department (, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level (" territorial collectivities"), between the administrative regions and the communes. There are a total of 101 ...

'' of

Aisne Aisne ( , ; ; ) is a French departments of France, department in the Hauts-de-France region of northern France. It is named after the river Aisne (river), Aisne. In 2020, it had a population of 529,374. Geography The department borders No ...

. It was founded in 1118 by Luc de Roucy, canon and dean of

, who withdrew there with a few disciples. In 1122, the community joined the

order of

canons regular The Canons Regular of St. Augustine are Catholic priests who live in community under a rule ( and κανών, ''kanon'', in Greek) and are generally organised into Religious order (Catholic), religious orders, differing from both Secular clergy, ...

which had just been founded by

Norbert of Xanten Norbert of Xanten, O. Praem (c. 1080 – 6 June 1134), also known as Norbert Gennep, was a German Catholic bishop who was the Archbishopric of Magdeburg, Archbishop of Magdeburg, founder of the Premonstratensian order of canons regular, and is ...

, and a house of which had been set up in Laon with the support of the bishop. The community was raised to the status of an abbey in 1124, with Luc as the first abbot. As one of the earliest Premonstratensian abbeys, Cuissy, along with the Abbey of St. Martin, Laon, and

Floreffe Abbey Floreffe Abbey () is a former Premonstratensian monastery, the second of the order to be founded, situated on the Sambre at Floreffe, about south-west of Namur, Wallonia, Belgium. History When Norbert of Xanten, founder of the Premonstratensia ...

, was one of the ''primarii inter pares'', or senior houses of the order. Cuissy developed a reputation for exceptionally fine calligraphy and manuscript illumination. The church and monastic premises were almost entirely rebuilt in 1746, apparently leaving no medieval structures. The abbey was dissolved in 1790 during the French Revolution, and the site, after some use for industrial purposes, was abandoned. Some surviving structures from the 17th and 18th centuries have been classed as historical monuments since 1928.

Notes

References

Catholic Encyclopedia: Soissons
*
Persée : ''Histoire et architecture de l'Abbaye de Cuissy aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles''
Martine Plouvier, 1976 Premonstratensian monasteries in France 1118 establishments in Europe 1110s establishments in France Monasteries in Aisne Christian monasteries established in the 1110s 1790s disestablishments in France Monasteries dissolved during the French Revolution {{France-Christian-monastery-stub