Maillezais Abbey
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Maillezais Cathedral (, or ''St. Peter Maillezais'') is a ruined
Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...
church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...
in the commune of
Maillezais Maillezais () is a commune in the Vendée department in the Pays de la Loire region in western France. It was once an island in the Marais Poitevin, until monks of the Maillezais Abbey dug canals in the 13th century. Remains of the sea wall ar ...
in the
Vendée Vendée () is a department in the Pays de la Loire region in Western France, on the Atlantic coast. In 2019, it had a population of 685,442.refectory A refectory (also frater, frater house, fratery) is a dining room, especially in monastery, monasteries, boarding schools and academic institutions. One of the places the term is most often used today is in graduate seminary, seminaries. The name ...
, dormitory, kitchen, cellars,
turret Turret may refer to: * Turret (architecture), a small tower that projects above the wall of a building * Gun turret, a mechanism of a projectile-firing weapon * Optical microscope#Objective turret (revolver or revolving nose piece), Objective turre ...
s and ramparts. The cathedral has been declared a heritage monument in reflection of its Romanesque and Gothic
architectural form In architecture, form refers to a combination of external appearance, internal structure, and the Unity (aesthetics), unity of the design as a whole, an order created by the architect using #Space and mass, space and mass. External appearance Th ...
. It was designated a ''
monument historique () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which national heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a collection of buildings, ...
'' on 30 January 1924. The cathedral belonged to the Diocese of Luçon, with
Roman Rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...
s, and with St. Peter as the
patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, Eastern Orthodoxy or Oriental Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, fa ...
.


History

Around 1100, Abbot Pierre wrote two books on the founding and construction of the Abbey of Maillezais. The Abbot Pierre's account tells that during a hunting expedition in 976, Countess Emma, the wife of
William IV, Duke of Aquitaine William IV ( 937 – 3 February 994''Nouvelle Biographie Générale''. The date of 5 February 995 probably comes from Owen.), called Fierebras (meaning "Proud Arm", from the French ''Fier-à-bras'' (which means Proud-to-Arm), in turn from t ...
, discovered the ruins of a chapel dedicated to Saint Hilaire and decided to found an abbey at the site. The couple contributed to the structure's rebuilding and it became an important monastery in the
Pays de la Loire Pays de la Loire (; but can also mean 'Lower Loire') is one of the eighteen administrative regions of France, located on the country's Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. It was created in the 1950s to serve as a zone of influence for its capital an ...
. The new church was consecrated in 989 by
Gombald Gundobald or Gombald (died after 998) was the Archbishop of Bordeaux from 989 to his death. He was the ''episcopus Gasconum'', bishop of the Gascons, from 978, holding the episcopal dignity in all the Gascon sees. He was the third son of Sancho I ...
,
Archbishop of Bordeaux The Archdiocese of Bordeaux (–Bazas) (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Burdigalensis (–Bazensis)''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Bordeaux (–Bazas)''; Occitan: ''Archidiocèsi de Bordèu (–Vasats)'') is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or a ...
. Father Gausbert, cousin of Countess Emma, brought thirteen monks from Église Saint-Julien de Tours to create a
Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...
abbey, first settling in Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux, Vendée, about north of the current ruins. The abbey's jurisdiction later passed from Église Saint-Julien de Tours to Église Saint-Cyprien in
Poitiers Poitiers is a city on the river Clain in west-central France. It is a commune in France, commune, the capital of the Vienne (department), Vienne department and the historical center of Poitou, Poitou Province. In 2021, it had a population of 9 ...
. In 1010, the Saint-Pierre-le-Vieux abbey moved to Maillezais, with groundbreaking for a new Maillezais chapel, soon after again dedicated to Saint Pierre (St. Peter). William V, Duke of Aquitaine was buried at the abbey's cloister in 1030. His sons Guillaume and Eudes chose to be buried in Maillezais as well. In May 1197, by the bull ''Officii nostri'',
Pope Clement III Pope Clement III (; 1130 – 20 March 1191), was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 December 1187 to his death in 1191. He ended the conflict between the Papacy and the city of Rome, by allowing the electi ...
took the monastery of Maillezais under papal protection, listing all of its dependencies and properties.Lacurie, Joseph-Louis (1852). ''Histoire de l'abbaye de Maillezais depuis sa fondation jusqu'à nos jours, suivie de pièces justificatives la plupart inédites'' (in French). Fontenay-le-Comte: E. Fillon. p. 282 et seq. In 1225, Geoffroy d'Estissac, who was envious of Maillezais, attacked and looted the abbey. Excommunicated from the church, he went to Rome and apologized to the Pope in the presence of the abbot of Maillezais for his wrongful deeds. After he was pardoned, he restructured it with additional bays extending the nave. Under Abbot Geoffroy II Povereau in the early 14th century, it was a large property consisting of churches, priories, and large fertile land. The Abbey of Maillezais was located on an island in the waterlogged
Marais Poitevin The Marais Poitevin () or Poitevin Marsh is a large area of marshland in the former province of Poitou in western France. 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 ...
. The area was extensively developed in the early part of the 13th century, when the abbeys of Maillezais, Nieul-sur-l'Autise, Saint-Michel-en-Herm, and the Absie St. Maixent joined together for the project. The monks dug canals to manage the water and create more arable land. In 1317, after the final suppression of the
Albigensians Catharism ( ; from the , "the pure ones") was a Christian quasi-dualist and pseudo-Gnostic movement which thrived in Southern Europe, particularly in northern Italy and southern France, between the 12th and 14th centuries. Denounced as a her ...
in France,
Pope John XXII Pope John XXII (, , ; 1244 – 4 December 1334), born Jacques Duèze (or d'Euse), was head of the Catholic Church from 7 August 1316 to his death, in December 1334. He was the second and longest-reigning Avignon Papacy, Avignon Pope, elected by ...
restructured the allocation of French
bishopric In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associate ...
s, creating two new
episcopal see An episcopal see is the area of a bishop's ecclesiastical jurisdiction. Phrases concerning actions occurring within or outside an episcopal see are indicative of the geographical significance of the term, making it synonymous with ''diocese'' ...
s, each with a cathedral, out of the diocese of Poitiers. Pope John XXII raised the status of Maillezais to that of diocese, with Saint-Pierre Cathedral (formerly the abbey church) becoming the seat of the new Bishop of Maillezais. The abbot of Maillezais, Geoffroy Povereau, was appointed the first bishop. The cathedral became a center of intellectual pursuits; in the early 16th century
François Rabelais François Rabelais ( , ; ; born between 1483 and 1494; died 1553) was a French writer who has been called the first great French prose author. A Renaissance humanism, humanist of the French Renaissance and Greek scholars in the Renaissance, Gr ...
taught at the abbey for five years. The refurbishing of the cathedral was continued, and in the middle of the 14th century a Gothic transept was added and a bell was also provided. There were many improvements to the cathedral's interiors such as better furnishings, conversion of the abbot's residence into an episcopal palace, building of a monastery dormitory near the second cloister. However, what remains among the ruins of the cathedral are its eastern and southern wings. Among other bishops of the cathedral were Guillaume de Lucé (1421–38) and Thibaud de Lucé (1438–55), who were political counselors to Charles VII. Further improvements took place when Geoffrey d'Estissac of Périgord became the bishop in 1518. It was the last refurbishing done and the additions made were the choir of the cathedral and also the castle of Coulonges on l'Autise. During the period after 1528, when Rabelais had been in charge of the monastic order from 1524–28, there was internecine war between the Catholics and the Protestants. The cathedral was destroyed in 1562 in the course of the
Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
and subsequent Wars of Religion. In 1589,
Agrippa d'Aubigné Théodore-Agrippa d'Aubigné (, 8 February 155229 April 1630) was a French poet, soldier, propagandist and chronicler. His Epic poetry, epic poem ''Les Tragiques'' (1616) is widely regarded as his masterpiece. In a book about his Catholic contemp ...
, a Protestant, a scholar and a poet, became the bishop and fortified the cathedral with a watch tower. The fort became a stronghold of the Protestants for the next thirty years till the Duke of Rohan succeeded him. When during the late 16th and early 17th century the Protestants of the
Huguenots The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...
had converted it into a fort-like structure, the Catholics had to even baptize their children outside the city limits. It remained under the control of the Protestants till 1618. But by 1619 the cathedral was back under the control of the Catholics and
Henri de Sourdis Henri d'Escoubleau de Sourdis, 20 February 1593 to 18 June 1645, was a French naval commander and Archbishop of Bordeaux. Like many churchmen of his day, de Sourdis was a military man as well as a prelate. Appointed Bishop of Maillezais in 161 ...
became the Bishop. In 1629, the Bishopric of Maillezais was one of the richest in France with a lease value of 35,000
livres Livre may refer to: Currency * French livre, one of a number of obsolete units of currency of France * Livre tournois, one particular obsolete unit of currency of France * Livre parisis, another particular obsolete unit of currency of France * F ...
. It remained the seat of the Bishopric of Maillezais until 1648, when
Pope Innocent X Pope Innocent X (6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death, in January 1655. Born in Rome of a family fro ...
transferred the bishopric to the St. Louis Cathedral of La Rochelle, in the
Diocese of La Rochelle The Diocese of La Rochelle and Saintes (; ) is a Latin Church diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the département of Charente-Maritime and the French overseas collectivity of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon. The bishop is ...
. The
monastic community A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
continued at the Maillezais site until 1666, when the entire site was abandoned. The cathedral site remained dormant till after the French Revolution when it was sold as national property to serve as a stone quarry. In 1840, it was returned to the people, who decided to maintain the cathedral as a heritage monument. It was designated a historical monument on 30 January 1924. It was only after 1996 that the General Council of the Vendée took interest in its restoration.


Architectural and archaeological remains

The façade on the west gable of the church built in 1025, which consisted of two bays of naves flanked by two towers, is now fully open. The staircase to access the first floor, which existed originally, is also missing. The fortifications in the form of battlements built in the 15th century by Agrippa are still seen. Of the seven bays added with partial columns with capitals camouflaged by the fortifications, only the top four Romanesque bays are visible. A realignment is seen in this on account of the second floor raised in later years. Three large Gothic windows topped with dissimilar arcades provide light to the naves. Out of the high transepts, built in first half of the fourteenth century, only the north transept part is visible now. At the lower part of the walls of the transept decorated arches are seen, and in some part it is a door which provides views of the warheads. A decorated, arched cornice is seen at the second level and it has two large openings in the Gothic style. The bell tower has fully survived and from the top of the tower vistas of the marsh that surrounds the cathedral could be seen. Entrance to the tower is through a door decorated with carvings. The view from the tower also covers the northwest wall of the ruins. The façade on the northern side wall has five protective boxes, which were erected in the twelfth century. Archaeological excavations done at the cloister and near the refectory have revealed foundations of buildings—a kitchen, refectory, dormitory, and a chapter house, all built around a central garden. The kitchen had an octagonal layout. Tombs, pots, urns, remnants of columns, two capitals, butt of abbot copper enamels (dated to late thirteenth century), silos, washbasins, cellar (of 12th century) were also found. The fourteenth-century buildings such as the inn do not exist now. Excavation done in the south wing has revealed a salt cellar at the entrance which is a large vaulted room in the basement which was used by monks for making salt. At the ground floor level there are two rooms used for dining, with the kitchen located in the basement which had a central fireplace. On the upper floor there was a second dining room as part of the dormitory, with wooden fittings and a fireplace at the centre. A pier provided the approach to the moors which could be used for plying boats through its winding channels from where one can get views of the "imposing ruins of the abbey silhouetted in the sky".


Burials

* William V, Duke of Aquitaine *
William VI, Duke of Aquitaine William VI (1004 – March 1038), called the Fat, was Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou (as William IV) between 1030 and his death. He was the eldest son of William V the Great by his first wife, Adalmode of Limoges. Throughout his reign, ...
*
Odo of Gascony Odo ( or ''Odon'', ; c. 1010 – 10 March 1039/1040) was Duke of Gascony from 1032 and then Duke of Aquitaine and Count of Poitou from 1038. He was a member of the House of Poitiers, the second son of William V of Aquitaine, the eldest by his ...


References


Bibliography

* * {{Authority control Former cathedrals in France Churches in Vendée Monuments historiques of Vendée 989 establishments 10th-century establishments in France