Abbey of St John, Laon

The Abbey of St. John, Laon (French: Abbaye Saint-Jean de Laon) was a Benedictine monastery in Laon, France, from 1128 to 1766, which replaced a nunnery founded in 641.[1]The prefecture of the department of Aisne now occupies the site.

Engraving of the abbey in the Monasticon Gallicanum (late 17th century)

History

In 641 Saint Sadalberga,[2] sister of Saint Leudinus Bodo, disciple of Saint Eustace, second abbot of Luxeuil, and widow of Saint Blandinus, retired to Laon, where she founded a nunnery outside the city walls, south of the town.[3] The dedication was to Our Lady ("Notre-Dame"), the same as that of Laon Cathedral. The community grew rapidly to some 300 nuns. Sadalberga then made it a double monastery. She was herself the first abbess. The second abbess was her daughter, Saint Anstrudis.

The abbey had initially followed an adaptation of the demanding Rule of St. Columbanus but later adopted the Rule of St. Benedict. In 1128 the nuns were replaced by a community of Benedictine monks.[1] At around the same time the dedication changed from Our Lady to Saint John the Baptist.

The abbey was partly destroyed in the wars against the Huguenots, but rebuilt in the 17th century. In 1648 it was taken over by the Maurists. The buildings were renovated from 1742. In 1766 the monastery was suppressed. The college of Laon moved into the premises in 1781.[1]

Former entrance

In 1800 the prefect of the department of Aisne took the complex over and today the entire prefecture stands on the site. The physical remains of the former abbey include some buttresses built into the city wall, parts of a church portal and the 18th-century cloister. It is commemorated in the street name "Rue du Cloître Saint-Jean".

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References
  1. BNF: Abbaye Saint-Jean, Laon
  2. Dominique Barthélemy, Rénovation d'une seigneurie : les chartes de Crécy-sur-Serre en Laonnois (1190) [archive], Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes, 1985, vol. 143, p. 240.
  3. Ville de Laon, service archéologique, Laon des origines à la Révolution

Further reading
  • Bruno Krusch (ed.): Vita Sadalbergae abbatissae Laudunensis. MGH SS rer. Merow. 5 (1910). pp. 40–66
  • Suzanne Martinet: L’abbaye Notre-Dame la Profonde et les deux premières abbesses. In: Mémoires de la Fédération des Sociétés d'histoire et d'archéologie de l'Aisne. Vol. XV, 1969, pp. 62–71f (online: PDF; 774 kB)
  • Annie Renoux: Palais et monastères: la question des Klosterpfalzen en France. In: Hans Rudolf Sennhauser (ed.): Pfalz - Kloster - Klosterpfalz St. Johann in Müstair. 2011, ISBN 978-3-7281-3339-7, p. 93 (Skizze zur Lage der Abtei im Laon des 11. Jahrhunderts)

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