Savigny Abbey
Savigny Abbey(Abbaye de Savigny) was a monastery near the village ofSavigny-le-Vieux(Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of theCongregation of Savigny,who wereBenedictines;by 1150 it wasCistercian.
History
[edit]It was situated on the confines ofNormandyandBrittany.The founder wasVitalis de Mortain,Canon of the Collegiate Church of St. Evroul, who, resigning his prebend to embrace an eremitical life underRobert of Arbrisselin the forest of Craon (Anjou), and leaving the latter, retired to the forest of Savigny (1105), where he built a hermitage. Soon, however, the number of disciples who gathered around him necessitated the construction of adequate buildings, in which was instituted the monastic life, following theRule of St. Benedict,and interpreted in a manner similar to the Cistercians.[1]
Around 1115, Rudolph, lord of Fougeres, confirmed the grants he had formerly made to Vital, and monastery of Our Lady of Savigny was established.[2]The abbey was home to as many as 120 monks.Aimoof Landecob was a noted member.[3]It was the mother of the Benedictine reform in Normandy and within thirty years it had 33 subordinate houses,[1]includingVaux-de-Cernay Abbey.
In 1119Pope Celestine II,then inAngers,took it under his immediate protection, and strongly commended it to the neighbouring nobles.Robert fitz Martinand his wife, Maud, granted to Savigny Abbey land atVengeons.[4]Under Geoffroy, successor to Vitalis,Henry I of Englandestablished and generously endowed 29 monasteries of this Congregation in his dominions.Bernard of Clairvauxalso held them in high esteem, and it was at his request that their monks, in the times of theantipope Anacletus,declared in favour ofPope Innocent II.
Serlon, third successor of the Founder, found it difficult to retain his jurisdiction over the English monasteries, who wished to make themselves independent, and so determined to affiliate the entire Congregation to Citeaux, which was effected at the General Chapter of 1147.[2]
Little by little discipline became relaxed, and oncecommendatory abbotswere introduced (1501) it never regained its first greatness. In 1509 it was pillaged and partly burned by theCalvinists,and records of the following year mention but twenty-four monks remaining.[1]It continued to exist until the Revolution reduced it to a heap of ruins. In 1791 it was purchased for a quarry and much of the stone sold off. In 1838, archaeologistArcisse de Caumontpurchased the Romanesque gate in order to preserve it.[5]
The church, a model of Cistercian architecture, was restored in 1869. The abbey was listed as aMonument historiqueby the French Ministry of Culture in 1924,[6]and now serves for parish purposes.
Burials
[edit]- Isabelle de Meulan(†1220) benefactress
- Robert Stitchill(†1274) (though his heart was buried atDurham Cathedral)[7]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abcObrecht, Edmond. "Abbey of Savigny." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 31 Jan. 2015
- ^abThe Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church2nd ed., (E. A. Livingstone, ed.) OUP, 2006ISBN9780198614425
- ^Merton, Thomas.In the Valley of Wormwood: Cistercian Blessed and Saints of the Golden Age,Liturgical Press, 2013, p. 153ISBN9780879077587
- ^Lyte, Henry C. Maxwell. "Bursi, Falaise, and Martin",Proceedings of the Somersetshire Archaeological and Natural History Society,Volume 64, 1919, p. 10
- ^"Savigny-le-Vieux Abbey", Office de Tourisme, Mont Saint-Michel
- ^Base Mérimée:PA00110611,Ministère français de la Culture.(in French)Ancienne abbaye
- ^Piper "Stichill, Robert of"Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Abbey of Savigny".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Sources
[edit]- Tissier,Bibliotheca patrum cisterciensum(Bonnefont, 1660–69);
