Trinity Abbey, Vendôme

Trinity Abbey, Vendôme, was a Benedictine monastery founded in 1035 in Vendôme by Geoffrey Martel and his first wife, Agnes of Burgundy. It was consecrated on 31 May 1040, one month before Geoffrey became Count of Anjou.

The abbey was under the direct authority of the Pope and nobody else. This fact was accepted by Thierry of Chartres and by King Henry I of France in 1056. In 1063, its abbot was given the rights of being a cardinal. It was often in conflict with the counts of Vendôme and some, like Geoffrey Jordan, were excommunicated.

In the 17th century, Vendôme was part of the Maurist congregation. One of the most famous Maurists, Luc d'Achery, was professed in Vendôme.^[1]

The cloister buildings were substantially demolished by the military users at the onset of the twentieth century, but what remains houses a small museum devoted to the Vendômois. The monastery manuscripts are mainly conserved at the town library. The church until recently functioned for one midweek mass.

Notes

1. ^ F. L. Cross and E. A. Livingstone, The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church, p. 446.

Coordinates: 47°47′28″N 1°4′8″E / 47.79111°N 1.06889°E / 47.79111; 1.06889