The Abbaye Blanche ("White Abbey") was a nunnery founded in 1112 in Mortain , France .
10-511: Shortly after establishing an abbey for men called Holy Trinity of Savigny , Saint Vitalis , founder of the monastic order of Savigny , set up the Abbaye Blanche for women, with his sister Adelina as abbess. The nuns of the Abbaye Blanche wore habits of undyed wool and followed a very strict interpretation of the Rule of Saint Benedict . The church is built on a Latin cross floorplan of
20-627: A saint by the Catholic Church . She was a noblewoman of Normandy , the sister of Saint Vitalis . She became the abbess of the Benedictine convent Abbaye Blanche in Normandy , a religious community founded by her brother. Her feast day is celebrated on October 20. 48°39′29″N 0°56′42″W / 48.65806°N 0.94500°W / 48.65806; -0.94500 Savigny Abbey Savigny Abbey ( Abbaye de Savigny )
30-524: A central nave and a wide transept. The style is Early Gothic , though unfortunately only the chapter house , cellar and Romanesque cloister remain in their original 12th-century form. The communities of Holy Trinity and the Abbaye Blanche joined the Cistercian order in 1147, as did the other 30 or so houses of the Order of Savigny. Saint Adelina (died 1125) was a French Benedictine nun honored as
40-575: The Founder, found it difficult to retain his jurisdiction over the English monasteries, who wished to make themselves independent, and so determined to affiliate the entire Congregation to Citeaux, which was effected at the General Chapter of 1147. Little by little discipline became relaxed, and once commendatory abbots were introduced (1501) it never regained its first greatness. In 1509 it
50-487: The forest of Craon (Anjou), and leaving the latter, retired to the forest of Savigny (1105), where he built a hermitage. Soon, however, the number of disciples who gathered around him necessitated the construction of adequate buildings, in which was instituted the monastic life, following the Rule of St. Benedict , and interpreted in a manner similar to the Cistercians. Around 1115, Rudolph, lord of Fougeres, confirmed
60-551: The grants he had formerly made to Vital, and monastery of Our Lady of Savigny was established. The abbey was home to as many as 120 monks. Aimo of Landecob was a noted member. It was the mother of the Benedictine reform in Normandy and within thirty years it had 33 subordinate houses, including Vaux-de-Cernay Abbey . In 1119 Pope Celestine II , then in Angers , took it under his immediate protection, and strongly commended it to
70-470: The neighbouring nobles. Robert fitz Martin and his wife, Maud, granted to Savigny Abbey land at Vengeons . Under Geoffroy, successor to Vitalis, Henry I of England established and generously endowed 29 monasteries of this Congregation in his dominions. Bernard of Clairvaux also held them in high esteem, and it was at his request that their monks, in the times of the antipope Anacletus , declared in favour of Pope Innocent II . Serlon, third successor of
80-616: Was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux ( Manche ), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny , who were Benedictines ; by 1150 it was Cistercian . It was situated on the confines of Normandy and Brittany . The founder was Vitalis de Mortain , Canon of the Collegiate Church of St. Evroul, who, resigning his prebend to embrace an eremitical life under Robert of Arbrissel in
90-598: Was pillaged and partly burned by the Calvinists , and records of the following year mention but twenty-four monks remaining. It continued to exist until the Revolution reduced it to a heap of ruins. In 1791 it was purchased for a quarry and much of the stone sold off. In 1838, archaeologist Arcisse de Caumont purchased the Romanesque gate in order to preserve it. The church, a model of Cistercian architecture,
100-633: Was restored in 1869. The abbey was listed as a Monument historique by the French Ministry of Culture in 1924, and now serves for parish purposes. [REDACTED] This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain : Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). " Abbey of Savigny ". Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company. 48°30′7″N 1°1′40″W / 48.50194°N 1.02778°W / 48.50194; -1.02778 Commendatory abbots Too Many Requests If you report this error to
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