Abbey of Saint Vincent, Laon

The Abbey of St. Vincent, Laon (French: Abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon) was a Benedictine monastery in Laon, Picardy, northern France. It was founded in c. 580 and initially followed the Rule of St. Columbanus, adopting the Rule of St. Benedict in 948.[1][2][3][4]

View of Laon with the abbey in the foreground (drawing by Fleury, 17th century)

In November 882, after the monks had been decimated by the Viking invaders, the abbey was sacked, pillaged, burned and ruined.[5]

A 13th-century wall painting to the left of the altar was discovered in 1769 by Canon Villette (archdeacon of the church of Laon) showing three generations of the chevaliers d'Eppes (Jehan died in 1273, a younger Jehan who died in 1293, and a third family member with no epitaph).

In 1359 during the Hundred Years War the troops of Edward III of England attacked a poorly fortified part of the town called la Villette and set fire to the abbey, destroying its rich library.[6]

Geoffroy de Billy, later député aux états-généraux for the region of Blois from 1576 to 1577,[7] became abbot of Saint-Vincent and also of abbey of Saint-Jean, Amiens.[8] In 1561, he fought against Protestantism when he was involved in the case of Nicole Obry, known as Nicole de Vervins, at which time he exorcised 30 devils, including four from Nicole herself.[9][10]

The abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution. Many of the buildings were dismantled and the materials sold off, and others were destroyed later in the 19th century, leaving the abbot's lodging as the only surviving structure. Permission for demolition was issued in 2007. A fire on 14 June 2008, apparently arson, caused serious damage.[11]

  • View of the former abbey and the church
  • The building in 2007
  • Façade of the abbot's lodging after the fire of 2008
  • Abbey wall forming part of the ramparts of Laon
  • Abbey church interior 1860

References
  1. Maximilien Melleville, Histoire de la ville de Laon et de ses institutions - L'abbaye Saint-Vincent de Laon [archive], 1846, p. 108.
  2. Monuments Hisorique entry.
  3. Bulletin de la Société Académique de Laon (Éd. Fleury et Ad. Chevergny, 1856) page 409.
  4. Dom Robert Wyard, Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Vincent de Laon, 1858 (1re éd. v. 1680/1685) p 115.
  5. Dom Robert Wyard, Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Vincent de Laon, 1858 (1re éd. v. 1680/1685) p97.
  6. Dom Robert Wyard, Histoire de l'abbaye de Saint-Vincent de Laon, 1858 (1re éd. v. 1680/1685) p 483.
  7. Jean-Antoine Roucher, Antoine Perrin, Louis d'Ussieux, Collection universelle des mémoires particuliers relatifs à l'histoire de France, s.n., 1789, v. 51, p. 398.
  8. François-Alexandre Aubert de La Chesnaye-Desbois, Badier, Dictionnaire de la noblesse, contenant les généalogies, l'histoire & la chronologie des familles nobles de la France, l'explication de leurs armes et l'état des grandes terres du royaume…: On a joint à ce dictionnaire le tableau généalogique et historique des maisons souveraines de l'Europe…, Schlesinger frères, 1864, v.3, p. 28
  9. J. Roger Histoire de Nicole de Vervins d'après les historiens contemporains et témoins oculaires, ou Le triomphe du Saint Sacrement sur le démon à Laon en 1566 [archive], publié par H. Plon, 1863 p. 133
  10. A modern account of the case of Nicole Obry (Aubrey) in English, which however does not mention de Billy
  11. lunion.presse.fr

Sources

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