Almenêches Abbey
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abbaye d'Almenêches | |
 Church of Almenêches Abbey | |
  Location within Lower Normandy | |
| Monastery information | |
|---|---|
| Order | Benedictine |
| Established | 6th century |
| Reestablished | c. 1063 |
| People | |
| Founder | Roger of Montgomery |
| Architecture | |
| Heritage designation | Monument historique |
| Designated date | 1948 |
| Site | |
| Coordinates | 48°41′50.5″N 0°6′39.5″E / 48.697361°N 0.110972°E |
Almenêches Abbey (French: Abbaye d'Almenêches) was a Benedictine nunnery[1] at Almenêches in Orne, Normandy, France. It was founded in the 6th century, but had been abandoned by the 10th century.[2] Roger of Montgomery refounded it sometime between 1063 and 1066.[3]
During the Anglo-Norman civil war, upon hearing the abbey was being used by Duke Robert Curthose as a stable,[3] Robert of Bellême burned it down.[4] The abbess, Bellême's sister Emma, fled with her sister nuns; they were temporarily accommodated in surrounding houses or at the Abbey of Saint-Evroul.[3] The following year Emma had the abbey at Almenêches rebuilt.[3] It subsequently suffered another fire under Abbess Matilda, Emma's successor,[3] and a third one after 1308.[2]
Episcopal visit
In 1260, Archbishop Eudes Rigaud noted the refectory was not in use; the nuns ate in groups of twos and threes in private rooms.[5] He ordered them to cease this activity and eat in the refectory.[5] Eudes also noted that the nuns ran up debts in the town and that some of the nuns even had children.[6] The nuns also failed to live a communal life, did not attend Matins or Compline, and allowed seculars to visit the nunnery.[6] Eudes admits to finding the nunnery in disarray, explaining he did not have the time to fix every problem he encountered.[7] Instead, Eudes ordered their bishop to instruct their abbess on the proper life for the nuns.[7]
