JUMIÈGES. - The Benedictine abbey of St Peter, founded in 654 by St Filibert on land granted by Queen Bathild, wife of Clovis II, on the banks of the Seine in the diocese of Rouen.
Abbot Filibert, in addition to the monastic buildings, constructed three churches: the first dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, the second to St Peter, and the third to St Germanus. The abbey flourished rapidly and sent missionaries to Britain and Ireland. At the end of the 8th century Charlemagne had Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, and his son Theodo imprisoned there; on their tomb, discovered in the 10th century, a sumptuous monument was erected in the 13th century, around which grew up the legend known as that of the Enervés of J.
The abbey suffered a fire in 841 and the plundering of the Norman invasions; it was restored by Duke William Longsword, to whom are owed the bases of the two towers still standing in the façade of the church of St Peter. Then followed another period of decline. At the beginning of the 11th century Duke Richard II summoned to Jumièges William of Volpiano, abbot of St Bénigne in Dijon, who installed as abbot there his disciple Theodoric of Montgomery (1014-28). The church, dedicated to the Blessed Virgin, was then rebuilt (1037) by Abbot Robert Champart; the dedication took place on 10 July 1067; its abbot represented the clergy of Normandy at the Council of Clermont in 1095, presided over by Pope Urban II.
In 1332 Abbot William the Younger began the reconstruction of the church of St Peter, at a time of great prosperity for the abbey, which was however invaded and plundered by English troops in 1358; the monks, driven out, returned with Abbot John of St-Denis in 1370, but again English troops under Henry V sacked it in 1415; the monks were forced to sell part of their property to finance repairs. In 1450 King Charles VII stayed there.
In 1515 Abbot Philip of Luxembourg introduced the reform of Chezal-Benoît; Abbot Francis of Fontenay rebuilt the cloister and repaired the church of the Blessed Virgin. The Protestants plundered the abbey on 8 May 1562. Under Abbot Marian of Martimpré the reform of St-Vannes was introduced; in 1663 the new library was built; between 1704 and 1732 the new great dormitory was constructed, just as decline was beginning. The French Revolution dispersed the monks in 1793.
The church dedicated to the Blessed Virgin still preserves its façade with the two towers, over 50 m high, of the 11th century; the central nave and the smaller one on the north side still retain their vaulting; the choir and transept were demolished at the beginning of the 19th century. A passage, known as that of Charles VII, once connected this church with that of St Peter, which had three naves; the ruins of the cloister and library also remain, while the dormitories are destroyed. A museum houses fragments of statues, capitals and tombstones.