Ligugé Abbey
Encyclopedia
Ligugé
Ligugé is a commune in the Vienne department in the Poitou-Charentes region in western France.It is located on the River Clain, 8 km south of Poitiers. It is known for its historic monastery, Ligugé Abbey.-Twin towns:...
in the département of Vienne
Vienne
Vienne is the northernmost département of the Poitou-Charentes region of France, named after the river Vienne.- Viennese history :Vienne is one of the original 83 departments, established on March 4, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was created from parts of the former provinces of Poitou,...
, and in the diocese of Poitiers, and one of the earliest monastic foundations in 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...
.
First foundation
It was founded in about 360 by Saint Martin of ToursMartin of Tours
Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...
, to whom it was later dedicated. The reputation of the founder attracted a large number of disciples to the new monastery. When however Martin became Bishop of Tours and established the monastery of Marmoutier
Marmoutier Abbey (Tours)
Marmoutier Abbey, also known as the Abbey of Marmoutier , was an early monastery outside Tours, Indre-et-Loire, France. In its later days it followed the Benedictine order as an influential monastery with many dependencies....
a short distance from that city, the fame of Ligugé declined considerably.
Among Saint Martin's successors as abbots of Ligugé may be mentioned Saint Savin, who resigned the post of abbot to become a hermit, and Abbot Ursinus, during whose rule the monk Defensor compiled the well-known "Scintillarum Liber".
The invasion of the Saracens, the wars of the dukes of Aquitaine
Duke of Aquitaine
The Duke of Aquitaine ruled the historical region of Aquitaine under the supremacy of Frankish, English and later French kings....
with the early Carolingian
Carolingian
The Carolingian dynasty was a Frankish noble family with origins in the Arnulfing and Pippinid clans of the 7th century AD. The name "Carolingian", Medieval Latin karolingi, an altered form of an unattested Old High German *karling, kerling The Carolingian dynasty (known variously as the...
s, and lastly the Norman
Normans
The Normans were the people who gave their name to Normandy, a region in northern France. They were descended from Norse Viking conquerors of the territory and the native population of Frankish and Gallo-Roman stock...
invasion were a series of disasters that almost destroyed the monastery. By the eleventh century it had sunk to the position of a dependent priory attached to Maillezais Abbey, and finally reached the lowest level as a benefice held in commendam
In Commendam
In canon law, commendam was a form of transferring an ecclesiastical benefice in trust to the custody of a patron...
.
One of the commendatory priors, Geoffrey d'Estissac, a great patron of literature and the friend of Rabelais, built the existing church, a graceful structure but smaller by far than the ancient basilica
Basilica
The Latin word basilica , was originally used to describe a Roman public building, usually located in the forum of a Roman town. Public basilicas began to appear in Hellenistic cities in the 2nd century BC.The term was also applied to buildings used for religious purposes...
which it replaced.
Dissolution
In 1607 Ligugé ceased to be a monastery and was annexed to the Jesuit college of Poitiers, which it served as a country house until the suppression of the society in 1762.At the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
the buildings and lands were sold as national property, the church being used for some time as the Municipal Council chamber. With the revival of the Roman Catholic Church under the Bourbon restoration
Bourbon Restoration
The Bourbon Restoration is the name given to the period following the successive events of the French Revolution , the end of the First Republic , and then the forcible end of the First French Empire under Napoleon – when a coalition of European powers restored by arms the monarchy to the...
, the building was constituted a parish church.
Second foundation
In 1849 Louis-Edouard-François-Desiré PieLouis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie
Louis-Édouard-François-Desiré Pie , also referred to as Cardinal Pie, was a French Catholic bishop of Poitiers and cardinal, known for his ultramontanism and defence of the social reign of Christ the King....
, afterwards cardinal, became Bishop of Poitiers. He was the intimate friend of Dom Prosper Guéranger, re-founder of the French Benedictine Congregation, and in 1852 he established at Ligugé a colony of monks from Solesmes Abbey. At first a priory, the new foundation was raised in 1864 to an abbey by Pope Pius IX
Pope Pius IX
Blessed Pope Pius IX , born Giovanni Maria Mastai-Ferretti, was the longest-reigning elected Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, serving from 16 June 1846 until his death, a period of nearly 32 years. During his pontificate, he convened the First Vatican Council in 1869, which decreed papal...
, and Dom Léon Bastide was appointed first abbot.
In 1880 the monks were driven from the abbey by the "Ferry Laws
Jules Ferry
Jules François Camille Ferry was a French statesman and republican. He was a promoter of laicism and colonial expansion.- Early life :Born in Saint-Dié, in the Vosges département, France, he studied law, and was called to the bar at Paris in 1854, but soon went into politics, contributing to...
"; many of them retired under Dom Bourigaud, the successor of Dom Bastide, to Silos Abbey in Spain
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
, which they rebuilt and saved from extinction.
Some years later the buildings at Ligugé were sold to a civil syndicate, by which they were leased to the abbot and community who were thus enabled to re-enter their monastery, where they established the abbey publishing house. Novices now came in considerable numbers and in 1894 the ancient Fontenelle Abbey
Fontenelle Abbey
Fontenelle Abbey or the Abbey of St. Wandrille is a Benedictine monastery in the commune of Saint-Wandrille-Rançon near Caudebec-en-Caux in Seine-Maritime, Normandy, France.-First foundation:...
in the Bishopric of Rouen was resettled by a colony from Ligugé.
Among the novices and postulants at this period were Joris-Karl Huysmans
Joris-Karl Huysmans
Charles-Marie-Georges Huysmans was a French novelist who published his works as Joris-Karl Huysmans . He is most famous for the novel À rebours...
and Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel
Paul Claudel was a French poet, dramatist and diplomat, and the younger brother of the sculptor Camille Claudel. He was most famous for his verse dramas, which often convey his devout Catholicism.-Life:...
, who wrote of their experiences at Ligugé in "L'Oblat" and "Partage de Midi" respectively.
In 1902 the community were again driven out, this time by the "Association Laws", and settled in Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
at Chevetogne in the Bishopric of Namur. On their return, they had the abbey church re-constructed: it was consecrated on 12 October 1929.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
the abbey gave shelter to Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman
Robert Schuman was a noted Luxembourgish-born French statesman. Schuman was a Christian Democrat and an independent political thinker and activist...
, the future distinguished French politician and champion of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
, in August 1942 while he was waiting for passage to the free zone, as well as to Amadou Bow of Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
, future director of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
. Father Lambert of the community, a member of the Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
, was put to death in the camp at Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel
Wolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
on 3 December 1943.
After the war an enamelling workshop was set up here.
The community, as of 2005, consisted of 28 members.
Abbots of Ligugé (Second foundation)
- Dom Léon Bastide 1864-1880
- Dom Joseph Bourigaud 1880-1907
- Dom François-Léopold Gaugain 1907-1937
- Dom Pierre Basset 1937-1954
- Dom Gabriel Le Maître 1954-1963
- Vacancy"" 1963-1966
- Dom Pierre Miquel 1966-1990
- Dom Jean-Pierre Longeat 1990-