Buzay Abbey

Buzay Abbey was a Cistercian Abbey at Rouans in Pays de la Loire, France, formerly in Brittany. Bernard of Clairvaux founded the abbey at Buzay in 1135. The abbey became rich, thanks to the salt trade, commercial traffic on the river Loire, and many gifts of land and other property. In 1177, Robert II, bishop of Nantes, approved the addition of a convent for nuns. In 1180, Geoffrey Plantagenet, Count of Nantes, a son of Henry II of England, Duke of Normandy, and of Eleanor of Aquitaine, assigned to the abbey in perpetuity twenty livres to be paid by the mills of the surrounding parish.

With effect from 1474, commendatory abbots were appointed by the duke or king, replacing the regular abbots elected locally.

During the War in the Vendée (March – December 1793), following the French Revolution, Buzay Abbey was destroyed by fire. What now remains of the buildings is a tower which had been rebuilt in the 18th century, and some vaulted cellars. Other survivals are the bells, which were transferred to Chartres cathedral, an Italian marble altar, which was moved to the church of Saint-Louis in Paimbœuf, a pulpit, now in the church of St Peter in Bouguenais, and some other objects, including the oldest crucifix in the Pays de Retz, dating from the fourteenth century, in the chapel of St Anne of Tharon at Saint-Michel-Chef-Chef.

References:

• Wikipedia

Address

Buzay 6, Rouans, France

Details

Founded: 1135
Category: Religious sites in France
Historical period: Birth of Capetian dynasty (France)