Jouarre Abbey

Jouarre Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame de Jouarre) is a Benedictine abbey in Jouarre in the département of Seine-et-Marne.

Jouarre Abbey church

History
Crypt and sarcophagi
Capital of the crypt
Charlotte of Bourbon

The Merovingian foundation of Abbess Theodochilde or Telchilde, was founded traditionally in 630, inspired by the visit of St. Columban, the travelling Irish monk who inspired monastic institution-building in the early seventh century. As part of its Celtic heritage, Jouarre was established as a "double community," i.e., a community of monks as well as nuns, both under the rule of the abbess, who in 1225 was granted immunity from interference by the bishop of Meaux, answering only to the pope.

The Merovingian (pre-Romanesque) crypt beneath the Romanesque abbey church contains a number of burials in sarcophagi, notably that of Theodochilde's brother, Agilbert (died 680), carved with a tableau of the Last Judgment and Christ in Majesty, highlights of pre-Romanesque sculpture. In the mid-ninth century the abbey acquired relics of St. Potentian; the relics assembled at Jouarre attracted pilgrims. The reputation of the house stood so high the abbey received a visit from Pope Innocent II in 1131 and was able to house a synod in 1133. The abbess's submission to the bishop of Meaux did not come about until Bossuet held the post in 1690.[1]

The abbey is an important pilgrimage center. A fortified town was built around it and gave birth to the present city of Jouarre.

At the time of the St. Bartholomew's Day massacre (1572), the abbess Charlotte of Bourbon (1547–1582) converted to Protestantism and escaped from the abbey in a cart of hay, and fled to Germany. She married William I of Orange-Nassau.

The present monastery buildings, once again occupied by Benedictine nuns, date from the eighteenth century; their traditional vegetable and fruit garden (potager) are notable.

The abbesses

(incomplete list)

  • Telchilde (630-680)
  • St. Agilberta, second Abbess of Jouarre
  • St. Balda[2]
  • Hersende[3]
  • Jeanne de Montpensier (1541 † 1620), daughter of Louis III of Montpensier
  • Charlotte of Bourbon, daughter of Louis III of Montpensier
  • Jeanne de Guise (1586 † 1638), daughter of Henry, Duke of Guise
  • Henriette de Lorraine (1631–1693), daughter of Claude de Lorraine, Duke of Chevreuse
  • Anne-Therese de Rohan (1684–1738) daughter of Charles de Rohan, prince de Soubise

Burials

Foundations
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References
  1. Bossuet vs. Jouarre's Women Archived 1 December 2005 at Archive.today
  2. Dunbar, Agnes B.C. (1901). A Dictionary of Saintly Women. Volume 1. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 98.
  3. Lucien Auvray, Les Registres de Gregoire IX (Paris: Bibliotheque des Ecoles Francaises d'Athene et de Rome, 1896-1910), vol I, p 279, April 27, 1230.

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