Bassac Abbey
Bassac Abbey (French: Abbaye Saint-Étienne de Bassac) is a former Benedictine monastery in Bassac, Charente, France, in the former diocese of Saintes.
| Bassac Abbey Abbaye Saint-Étienne de Bassac | |
|---|---|
ESE view of the abbey (12th–18th centuries), Bassac, Charente, France | |
| Religion | |
| Affiliation | Catholic Church |
| District | Charente |
| Province | Poitou-Charentes |
| Ecclesiastical or organizational status | existing |
| Year consecrated | 1002 |
| Location | |
| Location | Bassac, Charente |
| Geographic coordinates | 45.661836°N 0.105384°W |
| Website | |
| abbayebassac | |
The abbey was founded in 1002 by Wardrade Lorichès, count of la Marche and first known Lord of Jarnac, and his wife Rixendis on their return from a pilgrimage to Rome. Both were later buried in the abbey church),[1] which was consecrated in around 1015 by Grimoard, Bishop of Angoulême, and his brother Iso, Bishop of Saintes. In 1095 the abbey was made subordinate to the abbey of Saint-Jean-d'Angély by Pope Urban II[2] but regained its independence in 1246.[3] Bassac Abbey was largely reconstructed under Guillaume de Vibrac, abbot from 1247 to 1286.[4][5]
It was suppressed in 1791 during the French Revolution. The buildings were sold off as biens nationaux ("state property") except for the church, which became the parish church.[6]
From 1947 to 2012 the surviving buildings were occupied and partly restored by the Congrégation des frères missionnaires de Sainte-Thérèse de l’Enfant Jésus. The site was sold in 2015 to a trust ("société civile immobilièree") for renovation as a "cultural and spiritual space of international dimensions" ("espace culturel et spirituel de dimension internationale").[7]
See also
Resources
- Le château de Jarnac, ses barons et ses comtes, P. Lacroix, Aux Librairies Historiques, Paris, 1875
- Jules Denyse, "L'abbaye royale de Saint-Étienne de Bassac," Bulletins et mémoires de la Société archéologique et historique de la Charente 5, no. 3 (1880): 86.
- Paul Calendini, "Bassac (Abbaye bénédictine Saint-Étienne de)," in Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques, ed. Alfred Baudrillart, Albert de Meyer, and Van Cauwenbergh (Paris: Librairie Letouzey et Ané, 1932), 6:1260–61.
- Abbaye Saint-Étienne de Bassac Archived December 24, 2014, at the Wayback Machine virtualtourist.com
- French History: The Charente River Archived 2014-12-24 at the Wayback Machine adamandmollygo.com
- Base Mérimée, Abbaye ancienne Saint-Etienne, Bassac
- Olivier Sarazin, Abbaye de Bassac (16): un ambitieux projet présenté ce soir à Paris, in Sud Ouest, 21 August 2020 (online version)