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18-453: The Chronicle of Moissac (also known as Chronicon Moissiacense ) is an anonymous compilation that was discovered in the abbey of Moissac , but is now thought to have been compiled in the Catalan monastery of Ripoll in the end of the tenth century. Like most chronicles , it begins with Adam , but gains increasing interest for historians as it nears its end date of 828. Unfortunately,

36-855: A folio with the entries covering the years 716–770 is missing. The only surviving manuscript of the Chronicle of Moissac dates from the later 11th century and is now in the French National Library in Paris (Cod. Paris. lat. 4886). The base text of the chronicle is the Universal Chronicle of 741 , itself a continuation of the Major Chronicle of Bede . For his continuation, the compiler seems to have used early annals that had been compiled in southwest Francia , otherwise untraced, which contribute as primary sources for

54-578: A new golden age under the rule of abbots Pierre and Antoine de Caraman, whose building programme included in particular the Gothic part of the abbey church. The 1626 secularization of the abbey caused the Benedictine monks to leave the cloister, which had been a centre of Benedictine life for nearly 1,000 years. They were replaced by Augustinian canons, under commendatory abbots including well-known cardinals such as Mazarin and de Brienne . In 1793,

72-561: A vow to erect a monastery with 1,000 monks (in memory of a thousand of his warriors who died in battle) if he triumphed over the Visigoths who had ruled the area for the past century as federati of the Roman Empire . He threw his javelin from the top of the hill to mark the spot where "abbey of a thousand monks" was to be built. Unfortunately, the javelin landed in the middle of a swamp. Historical records however indicate that it

90-587: Is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Occitanie region in southern France . Antoine Laumet de La Mothe, sieur de Cadillac, the founder of the American city of Detroit was born here in 1658. The surroundings of Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave have been occupied since Roman times ; the ruins of a villa were found near a place called Marcassus , 2.9 km by road on the left bank of

108-551: The French Revolution put an end to monastic life in Moissac. The abbey church of St Pierre is relatively intact and is still an active church, but the outlying buildings have suffered considerably. In the middle of the 19th century, the laying of a railway track threatened the cloister, but it was saved (though the refectory was demolished to facilitate the railway cutting) and listed as a historic monument . Since 1998,

126-481: The Tarn , on the edge of the plateau which dominates the alluvial plain. Because the town is a strategic crossroads, it is disputed by the viscounts of Lomagne. Around the castle, an agglomeration develops little by little, with a port at the base of the castle. In 1135 , Guillaume, Abbot of Moissac joins the viscount Saxetus de Lomagne and the viscountess Sybille d'Auvillar to grant a charter to this village which becomes

144-613: The "sauveté" of Saint Nicolas (a sauveté is an agglomeration founded by the monasteries prior to the movement of creation of the bastides ): the inhabitants are free within the enclosure from the city. In an additional act to the charter, the Viscount of Lomagne swears to the monks and inhabitants of Saint-Nicolas never to take away their city or their castle and to protect them against invaders. Around 1185 , during his victorious campaign in Quercy during which he conquered sixteen castles,

162-531: The 13th century, Raymond de Montpezat, followed by Bertrand de Montaigut, abbots and builders, ruled the abbey. Aymeric de Peyrac , writing his Chronicle in the 15th century in the château of Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave , describes these times. Illuminated manuscripts produced in the monastery's scriptorium were taken to Paris by Jean-Baptiste Colbert in the 17th century and are now in the Bibliothèque Nationale . The 15th century ushered in

180-510: The Sère (Stream) and a capital Corinthian order in white marble was discovered at a place called 'es Arênes. Fragments of tile , potterys and amphora s were found to the west of the village and at a place called les Patots , a very old path was an old Roman road . In the 12th century , the monks of Moissac built a castle on the left bank of the Garonne , facing the confluence of

198-611: The career of Charlemagne and the military, political and ecclesiastical history of his times. As the Annals of Aniane made use of the same lost source, they are sometimes used to fill in the Chronicle of Moissac for its lost years. Moissac Abbey According to legend, Moissac Abbey was founded by the Frankish king Clovis , in person the day after a victory over the Visigoths , in 506. The legend states that Clovis had made

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216-473: The church and cloisters have had international protection as part of a World Heritage Site , " Routes of Santiago de Compostela in France ". Architectural features of interest include the church's south-west portico , a crenellated structure with sculpture that is a major masterpiece of Romanesque art . This reflected an expansion of image carving both in scope and size and extended the use of sculpture from

234-503: The high altar and issued a Papal Bull dated 7 May 1097 restoring 40 churches to the abbey; he also ordered the construction of the cloister , completed in 1100. The 11th and 12th centuries were the first golden age, as Moissac was affiliated to the abbey of Cluny and accepted the Cluniac Reforms , under the guidance of Durand de Bredons , both the abbot of Moissac and the bishop of Toulouse . Papal support, its location on

252-557: The king of England , Richard Cœur-de-Lion stayed at the castle and had the front tower, known as the Tour des Anglais, built there. Abbot Bernard de Montaigu , who held the abbey chair of Moissac from 1260 to 1295 , built the west wing of the castle and its two four-meter towers with heights of 25 and 28 metres. At the end of the 13th century , the castle was completed with its four towers; it measures 125 metres on its east-west axis and 100 metres on its north-south axis. The town plan

270-457: The pilgrim road, the restoration of the buildings and the reforms of de Bredon made the abbey one of the most powerful in France. In the 12th century, the abbot of Moissac was second in seniority within the Cluniac hierarchy only to the abbot of Cluny himself. During this era, the abbey was led by major abbots Dom Hunaud de Gavarret and Dom Ansquitil, who had the doorway and tympanum built. In

288-685: The sanctuary to the public exterior. The tympanum depicts the Apocalypse of the Book of Revelation. Supporting the tympanum, a trumeau features a statue of the Prophet Isaiah , an outstanding example of Romanesque sculpture, comparable to the work at Santo Domingo de Silos . The cloisters also feature Romanesque sculpture. Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave Saint-Nicolas-de-la-Grave ( French pronunciation: [sɛ̃ nikɔla də la ɡʁav] ; Languedocien : Sent Micolau de la Grava )

306-430: Was a dramatic time for the abbey. In 1030, the roof collapsed from lack of maintenance, and in 1042, there was a serious fire. Durand de Bredons , bishop of Toulouse , appointed the abbot of Cluny Odilon de Mercœur to bring in a sweeping reform to counter the laxity of the monks in 1047. A new church building was added in 1063 along with significant restoration works. Pope Urban II visited in 1097 and consecrated

324-513: Was founded by Saint Didier , bishop of Cahors , in the middle of the 7th century. The establishment of the monastery was difficult because of raids by Moors from the south and west and the Norsemen from the north. The abbey was sacked by the Arabs of al-Andalus twice around 732 and was looted in the 9th century by Norman pirates and in the 10th century by Hungarians . The 11th century

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