Abbey of Saint Bertin
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Abbaye Saint-Bertin | |
Order of Saint Benedict | |
Established | 7th century |
---|---|
Disestablished | 1791 |
Architecture | |
Heritage designation | Monument historique |
Designated date | 1840 |
Site | |
Location | Saint-Omer, France |
Coordinates | 50°45′03″N 2°15′50″E / 50.7507°N 2.264°E |
The Abbey of Saint Bertin was a
The abbey was founded on the banks of the
Already in the 9th century, the abbey had a priory in Poperinge. A Romanesque church was constructed in the mid-11th century.[1] It was 25 m (82 ft) high with a 48-metre-high (157 ft) tower. It included a large 14th-century semi-circular sanctuary with five side-chapels. It served as a model for the church, whose construction was not completed until the beginning of the 16th century.
By the eleventh century it was one of the most important abbeys in the area, and represented the Flemish dynasty. Its importance rested in no small part on having the body of Silvin of Auchy, whose body had been stolen by Arnulf I and moved to Saint-Bertin; he, along with the saints Folcwin, Bertin, and Winnoc were essential to the foundational identity of the abbey. The abbey was also closely associated with the abbey of Saint-Silvain in Auchy, and had strict control over the election of that abbey's abbot. The reference to the theft of Silvin's body was whitewashed: a twelfth-century copy of Folcwin's Gesta abbatum Sancti Bertini, "Deeds of the Abbots of Saint-Bertin", makes no mention of it.[2]
The abbey ceased to flourish after the 13th century, although it survived until its closure during the French Revolution. In 1830, the commune ordered the demolition of the church, though they spared the tower. The buttress they erected to support it is still visible, although the tower itself collapsed in 1947 owing to damage sustained in the shelling of the town during World War II. St-Omer's town hall was constructed with stone removed from the site in 1834.
List of abbots
- 638–659 — Mummolin I
- 655–700 — Bertin
- 700–??? — Rigobert
- Erlefred
- 712 — Erkembode
- c. 745 — Waimar
- Nantharius I
- Dadbert
- Hardrad
- 795–804 — Odland
- 804–820 — Nantharius II
- 820–834 — Fridugisus
- 834–844 — Hugh I
- 844–859 — Adalard (first time)
- 859–881 — Hugh II
- 861–864 — Adalard (second time)
- 864–866 — Hunfrid I
- 866–878 — Hilduin
- 878–883 — Fulk the Venerable(first time)
- 884–892 — Rudolf
- 893–900 — Fulk the Venerable (second time)
- The following were abbots in commendam:
- 900–918 Baldwin II, Margrave of Flanders
- 918–933 Adelolf, Count of Boulogne
- 933–958 Arnulf I, Count of Flanders
- 958–962 Baldwin III, Count of Flanders
- 965–987 Arnulf II, Count of Flanders
- 944–947 — Gerard I
- 947–950 — Guy
- 950–954 — Hildebrand (first time)
- 954–961 — Ragenold
- 961–962 — Adolf
- 962–971 — Hildebrand (second time)
- 973–984 — Walter I
- 985–986 — Trutgaud
- 986–1007 — Odbert
- 1008–1021 — Hunfrid II
- 1021–1043 — Roderic
- 1043–1065 — Bovo
- 1065–1081 — Heribert
- 1081–1095 — John I
- 1095–1124 — Lambert
- 1124–1131 — John II of Furnes
- 1131–1136 — Simon I of Ghent
- 1138–1163 — Leo of Saint-Bertin
- 1163–1176 — Godescal
- 1176–1186 — Simon II
- 1186–1230 — John III of Ypres
- 1230–1237 — Jacques I of Furnes
- 1237–1249 — Simon III of Ghent
- 1249–1264 — Gilbert
- 1265–1268 — Jacques II
- 1268–1271 — Guillaume I d'Oye
- 1271–1278 — Jean IV Dubois
- 1278–1294 — Walter II Bloc
- 1294–1297 — Eustache Gomer
- 1297–1311 — Gilles d'Oignies
- 1311–1334 — Henri de Coudescure
- 1334–1365 — Aleaume Boistel
- 1365–1383 — Jean V le Long
- 1383–1407 — Jacques III de Condète
- 1407–1420 — Jean VI de Blicquère
- 1420–1425 — Alard Trubert
- 1425–1447 — Jean VII de Griboval
- 1447–1450 — Jean VIII de Medon
- 1450/1–1473 — Guillaume Fillastre
- 1473–1492 — Jean IX Launay
- 1492–1493 — Jacques IV Duval
- 1493–1531 — Antoine I de Berghes
- 1531–1544 — Angelbert d'Espagne
- 1544–1571 — Gérard II de Haméricourt
- 1571–1583 — vacancy
- 1583–1603 — Waast de Grenet
- 1604–1611 — Nicolas Mainfroy
- 1612–1623 — Guillaume III Loemel
- 1623–1631 — Philippe Gillocq
- 1631–1641 — vacancy
- 1641–1650 — Antoine II Laurin
- 1650–1674 — François I de Lières
- 1674–1677 — François II Boucault
- 1677–1705 — Benoît I de Béthune des Plancques
- 1706–1723 — Mommelin II Le Riche
- 1723–1723 — Guillaume IV Dubois
- 1723–1744 — Benoît II Petit Pas
- 1744–1763 — Charles de Gherboode d'Espaing
- 1764–1774 — Antoine III Clériade de Choiseul-Beaupré
- 1774–1791 — Joscio d'Allesnes
References
- ^ Some carved capitals and fragments of mosaics from this structure are conserved in the museum in Hôtel Sandelin, St-Omer.
- ^ Vanderputten, Steven (2012). "Crises of Cenobitism: Abbatial Leadership and Monastic Competition in Late Eleventh-Century Flanders". The English Historical Review. 127 (525): 259–284.