FONTEVRAULT (PONT EBRALDI)

FONTEVRAULT (Pont Ebraldi). — Ancient abbey of Benedictine nuns near Saumur in France (Marne et Loire), formerly in the territory of the diocese of Poitiers, now in that of Angers, founded at the end of the 11th century by Roberto d'Arbrisselle.

The abbey church of Notre-Dame was begun at the beginning of the 12th century and consecrated by Callistus II in 1119; it underwent alterations in the 13th–14th centuries. The central nave, vaulted and crowned with cupolas, destroyed in 1816, was called the “cemetery of kings” because it received the tombs of Enrico II of England and of Eleonora of Guyenne, his wife; of Riccardo Cuor di Leone; of Isabella d'Angoulême, widow of King Giovanni senza Terra; and of Roberto d'Arbrisselle. Today the abbey has been reduced to a central detention facility. The chapter house still preserves scenes of the Passion painted by T. Pot (1567). Beside the monumental refectory stands the octagonal tower flanked by six apsidioles. Adjoining the ancient dormitory is the church of S. Benedetto, from the 12th century, with a 17th-century cloister. Nearby is the church of S. Lazzaro (late 12th century), with another cloister. The present church of S. Michele dates from the end of the 12th century and contains the large wooden altar from the abbey church (1621).

HISTORY. — Roberto d'Arbrisselle, the first itinerant preacher in France, gathered around himself, for the “poor of Christ,” women and men who, converted by his preaching, followed and imitated him. After an initial period of apostolic wandering, they took the Rule of S. Benedetto as the basis of their life, with their own statutes. A particular feature of this Order was its double monasteries, of men and women—although a strict separation prevailed between them—governed by the abbess of F., who, in honour of Our Lady, also presided over the men’s monasteries.

In the century of its foundation, the Order of F. soon spread throughout France and England. It gained many proselytes among the nobility. Several princesses of the houses of Orléans and Bourbon became abbesses. In 1475 Pope Sisto IV approved the great reform of the abbess Maria di Bretagne (1457–77). Toward the end of the sixteenth century, a religious movement emerged from F. that in 1618 led to the foundation of the Congregation of Calvary (Calvariennes). Under Gabriele di Rochechouart (1670–1740), F. experienced a new period of prosperity, but in 1790 the Order, which still numbered 19 monasteries in 4 provinces, was suppressed. In 1824 it was revived in France in the Congregation of the Sisters of S. Maria di F.; today it has few members in three independent priories at Chemille, Brionde, and Boulanc.