Faremoutiers Abbey

Faremoutiers Abbey (French: Abbaye Notre-Dame de Faremoutiers) was an important Merovingian Benedictine nunnery (re-established in the 20th century) in the present Seine-et-Marne department of France. It formed an important link between the Merovingian Frankish Empire and the southern Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of Kent and East Anglia.

History

The abbey was founded in about 620 by Burgundofara (Saint Fara), the first abbess. It was a double monastery, the first in France, with communities of both monks and nuns. It was established to follow the strict Rule of Saint Columbanus. The site, an estate belonging to Fara's family, originally known as Evoriacum, was renamed Faremoutiers ("Fara's monastery") in her honour. The modern village of Faremoutiers grew up around the abbey.

In the 9th century, as all French abbeys were commanded to do by Louis the Pious, it changed to the Rule of Saint Benedict.

In 1140 it was destroyed by fire. In 1445, at the end of the Hundred Years' War, it was pillaged by soldiers.

In the 16th and 17th centuries the abbey enjoyed royal favour, but was later tainted by Jansenism, and in the 18th century suffered from an exhausting lawsuit with the bishop of Meaux and continuing economic problems.

It was suppressed during the French Revolution. Until 1796 the premises were used as a barracks and thereafter as a quarry.

Re-foundation

In 1930 Benedictine nuns, living nearby at Amillis, founded a small community on the site of Faremoutier abbey, which remains to this day.

List of abbesses of Faremoutiers
  • Burgundofara or Saint Fara (c. 620–643x655)
  • Saint Æthelburg (died c. 664), daughter of King Anna of East Anglia
  • Saint Sæthryth (d. after 664), stepdaughter of King Anna of East Anglia
  • Saint Eorcengota (695-nk), daughter of Eorcenberht of Kent
  • Ruothild (840-852), daughter of Charlemagne
  • Bertha (852-877), daughter of Lothar I?
  • Judith (died 977)
  • Avelina (10th century)
  • Hildegarde (10th century)
  • Risende (1137-1146)
  • Emma (1146-1154)
  • Lucienne de La Chapelle (1154-1212)
  • Marguerite I (1212-1215)
  • Hersende de Touquin (1215-1219)
  • Eustachie (1219-1240)
  • Julienne de Grez de Nesle-en-Brie (1240-1252)
  • Sibylle (1252-1272)
  • Avoie (1272-1289)
  • Marguerite II de Mons (1289-1290)
  • Marguerite III de Chevry (1290-1312)
  • Marguerite IV de Mons (1312-1341)
  • Mathilde de Joinville de La Malmaison (1341-1346)
  • Jeanne I de Noyers (1346-1363)
  • Marguerite V de Lully d’Ancre (1363-1383)
  • Marguerite VI de Noyers (1383-1409)
  • Jeanne II de Châteauvillain (1409-1417)
  • Denise du Sollier (1417-1434)
  • Jeanne III Rapillard (1434-1439)
  • Isabelle I de Mory (1439-1454)
  • Jeanne IV de Bautot (1454-1490)
  • Jeanne V Chrestienne d’Harcourt-Beuvron (1490-1511)
  • Madeleine de Valois-Orléans-Angoulême (1511-1515), daughter of Charles, Count of Angoulême
  • Marie I Cornu (1515-1518)
  • Jeanne VI Joly (1518-1531)
  • Marie II Baudry (1531-1555)
  • Antoinette de Lorraine-Guise (1555-1563), daughter of Claude, Duke of Guise
  • Françoise Guillard (1563-1567)
  • Marie III Violle (1567-1573)
  • Louise I de Bourbon-Montpensier (1573-1586), daughter of Louis, Duke of Montpensier
  • Isabelle II de Chauvigny (1586-1593)
  • Anne de La Châtre de Maisonfort (1593-1605)
  • Françoise I de La Châtre de Maisonfort (1605-1643)
  • Jeanne VII Anne de Plas (1643-1677)
  • Marie IV Thérèse-Constance du Blé d’Uxelles (1677-1685)
  • Marie V Anne-Généreuse-Constance de Beringhen d’Armainvilliers (1685-1721)
  • Louise II Charlotte-Eugènie-Victoire de Beringhen d’Armainvilliers (1721-1726)
  • Olympe-Félicité-Sophie-Fare de Beringhen d’Armainvilliers (1726-1743)
  • Françoise II Catherine Molé de Champlâtreux (1743-1745)
  • Marie Renée de Maupeou (1745-1759)
  • Charlotte-Julie Lenormant des Forts d’Etiolles (1759-1775)
  • Claude de Durfort de Léobard (1775-1791)

See also

Sources
  • de Fontaine de Resbecq, Eugène: Histoire de Faremoutiers (1991). ISBN 978-2-87760-669-1
  • Guerout, Jean: Faremoutiers. In: Lexikon des Mittelalters (LexMA). Band 4, Artemis & Winkler, München/Zürich 1989. ISBN 3-7608-8904-2
  • Riché, Pierre, Dictionnaire des Francs: Les temps Mérovingiens. Eds. Bartillat, 1996. ISBN 2-84100-008-7

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