Hautecombe Abbey
Encyclopedia
Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille
Saint-Pierre-de-Curtille is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.-World heritage site:It is home to one or more prehistoric pile-dwelling settlements that are part of the Prehistoric Pile dwellings around the Alps UNESCO World Heritage...
near Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains
Aix-les-Bains is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.It is situated on the shore of Lac du Bourget, by rail north of Chambéry.-Geography:...
in Savoy
Savoy
Savoy is a region of France. It comprises roughly the territory of the Western Alps situated between Lake Geneva in the north and Monaco and the Mediterranean coast in the south....
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. For centuries it was the burial place of the members of the House of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
. It is visited by 150,000 tourists yearly.
History
The origins of Hautecombe lie in a religious community which was founded about 1101 in a narrow valley (or combe) near Lake Bourget by hermitHermit
A hermit is a person who lives, to some degree, in seclusion from society.In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Christian who lives the eremitic life out of a religious conviction, namely the Desert Theology of the Old Testament .In the...
s from Aulps Abbey
Aulps Abbey
Aulps Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery located at an altitude of 810 metres in the village of Saint-Jean-d'Aulps in the Aulps Valley, Haute-Savoie, French Alps...
, near Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva
Lake Geneva or Lake Léman is a lake in Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe. 59.53 % of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland , and 40.47 % under France...
. In about 1125 it was transferred to a site on the north-western shore of the lake under Mont du Chat, which had been granted to it by Amadeus, Count of Savoy
Amadeus III of Savoy
Amadeus III of Savoy was Count of Savoy and Maurienne from 1103 until his death. He was also known as the Crusader....
, who is named as the founder; and shortly afterwards it accepted the Cistercian Rule from Clairvaux
Clairvaux Abbey
Clairvaux Abbey is a Cistercian monastery in Ville-sous-la-Ferté, 15 km from Bar-sur-Aube, in the Aube département in northeastern France. The original building, founded in 1115 by St. Bernard, is now in ruins; a high-security prison, the Clairvaux Prison, now occupies the grounds...
. The first abbot was Amadeus de Haute-Rive, afterwards Bishop of Lausanne
Bishop of Lausanne
The Bishop of Lausanne was a Prince-Bishop of the Holy Roman Empire and the Ordinary of the diocese of Lausanne, Switzerland .Bern secularized the bishopric in 1536....
. Two daughter-houses were founded from Hautecombe at an early date: Fossanova Abbey
Fossanova Abbey
Fossanova Abbey, earlier Fossa Nuova, is a Cistercian monastery in Italy, in the province of Latina, near the railway-station of Priverno, c. 100 kilometers south-east of Rome....
(afterwards called For Appio), in the diocese of Terracina in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, in 1135, and San Angelo de Petra, close to Constantinople
Constantinople
Constantinople was the capital of the Roman, Eastern Roman, Byzantine, Latin, and Ottoman Empires. Throughout most of the Middle Ages, Constantinople was Europe's largest and wealthiest city.-Names:...
, in 1214.
Pope Celestine IV
Pope Celestine IV , born Goffredo da Castiglione, was pope from October 25, 1241 to November 10, 1241.Born in Milan, Goffredo or Godfrey is often referred to as son of a sister of Pope Urban III , but this information is without foundation...
and Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III
Pope Nicholas III , born Giovanni Gaetano Orsini, Pope from November 25, 1277 to his death in 1280, was a Roman nobleman who had served under eight Popes, been made cardinal-deacon of St...
were monks at Hautecombe.
Apart from its exceptionally beautiful location, the chief interest of Hautecombe is that it was for centuries the burial-place of the Counts and Dukes of Savoy
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy was formed in the early 11th century in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, it grew from ruling a small county in that region to eventually rule the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 until the end of World War II, king of Croatia and King of Armenia...
. Count Humbert III
Humbert III of Savoy
Umberto III , surnamed the Blessed, was Count of Savoy from 1148 to 1189. His parents were Amadeus III of Savoy and Mahaut of Albon, the sister of Guy IV of Dauphinois. His memorial day is March 4.According to CopeHis first wife died young; his second marriage ended in divorce...
, known as "Blessed", and his wife Anne were interred there in the latter part of the 12th century; and about a century later Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
Boniface of Savoy, Archbishop of Canterbury
Boniface of Savoy was a medieval Bishop of Belley in France and Archbishop of Canterbury in England. He was the son of the Count of Savoy, and owed his initial ecclesiastical posts to his father. Other members of his family were also clergymen, and a brother succeeded his father as count...
(1245–1270), son of Count Thomas I of Savoy
Thomas I of Savoy
Thomas I or Tommaso I was Count of Savoy from 1189-1233. He was the son of Humbert III of Savoy and Beatrice of Viennois. His birth was seen as miraculous; his monkish father had despaired of having a male heir after three wives. Count Humbert sought counsel from St...
, was buried in the sanctuary of the abbey church. He had come out from England with King Edward I
Edward I of England
Edward I , also known as Edward Longshanks and the Hammer of the Scots, was King of England from 1272 to 1307. The first son of Henry III, Edward was involved early in the political intrigues of his father's reign, which included an outright rebellion by the English barons...
to accompany him in a crusade, but died at the castle of St. Helena in Savoy.
The abbot Anthony of Savoy, a son of Charles Emmanuel I, was also buried there in 1673.
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
entered Savoy, and was turned into a china-factory. King Charles Felix of Sardinia
Charles Felix of Sardinia
Charles Felix was the Duke of Savoy, Piedmont, Aosta and King of Sardinia from 1821 to 1831.-Early life:...
purchased the ruins in 1824, had the church re-constructed by the Piedmont
Piedmont
Piedmont is one of the 20 regions of Italy. It has an area of 25,402 square kilometres and a population of about 4.4 million. The capital of Piedmont is Turin. The main local language is Piedmontese. Occitan is also spoken by a minority in the Occitan Valleys situated in the Provinces of...
ese architect Ernest Melano in an exuberant Gothic-Romantic style, and restored it to the Cistercian Order. He and his queen, Maria Christina of the Two Sicilies, are buried in the Belley chapel, which forms a kind of vestibule to the church. Some 300 statues and many frescoes adorn the interior of the church, which is 215 feet (65.5 m) long, with a transept 85 feet (25.9 m) wide. Most of the tombs are little more than reproductions of the medieval monuments.
Turin
Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...
, but the Italian monks soon left, and were replaced by others from Sénanque Abbey
Sénanque Abbey
Sénanque Abbey is a Cistercian abbey near the village of Gordes in the département of the Vaucluse in Provence, France.-First foundation:...
, who remained until about 1884. The premises were taken over by the Benedictines of Marseilles Priory in 1922, but in 1992 the monks left for Ganagobie Abbey
Ganagobie Abbey
Ganagobie Abbey is a Benedictine monastery in Ganagobie in the department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France. It is part of the Solesmes Congregation of the Benedictine Confederation and as such focuses on Gregorian chant .-Cluniac priory:...
in the Alpes de Haute Provence, and the buildings are now administered by the "Communauté du Chemin-Neuf", an ecumenical
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
and charismatic
Charismatic movement
The term charismatic movement is used in varying senses to describe 20th century developments in various Christian denominations. It describes an ongoing international, cross-denominational/non-denominational Christian movement in which individual, historically mainstream congregations adopt...
Roman Catholic group.