There will now follow, much to the delight of likely nearby no-one, a series of posts about the Royal Abbey of l’Épau, which was the highlight of my travels last week.
The Royal Abbey of l’Épau stands on the eastern edge of Le Mans and was founded in 1230 by Bérengère of Navarre, widow of Richard the Lionheart. Having settled in Le Mans after Richard’s death, she established the Cistercian monastery as both a religious foundation and her intended final resting place, although she died only months after the first stone was laid.
The first community consisted of twelve monks from Cîteaux, following the suitably austere Cistercian tradition in which unnecessary decoration, excessive comfort and cheerful clutter were all regarded with suspicion. I have some sympathy with their lack of interest in decadence and frivolity, it’s all rather over-rated. Bérengère was buried at the abbey, ensuring that she finally acquired a permanent connection with England’s royal history despite being the only English queen never actually to set foot in England. It felt most appropriate that I was visiting her tomb on the day that England were playing in the semi-finals of the World Cup because of the three lions link.
The abbey remained home to monks until the French Revolution, when it was sold as national property in 1791 and subsequently served as a laundry, farm and an agricultural store. It’s fair to say that it was not treated well during this period, these abbeys were not designed to be large sheds. But, at least the buildings weren’t demolished, although they were close to total destruction on numerous occasions. Indeed, it’s because the structure was rather handy as a large shed that they weren’t torn down.
British troops occupied the site during the First World War, while German forces used it as a vehicle garage during the Second World War, representing a particularly decisive departure from the original monastic rule. Things improved considerably after the Département de la Sarthe acquired the increasingly neglected complex in 1959 and began the extensive restoration that transformed it into one of the region’s principal historic and cultural sites.
Anyway, further examinations of the church, cloister, chapter house and Bérengère’s tomb will follow. At least it’ll keep me distracted for a while.