Saint-Laurent Abbey
Longorotense / Saint-Laurent-lès-Cosne / Saint-Laurent-des-Aubats / S Laurentius
(Saint-Laurent-l'Abbaye, Nièvre)
The ancient monastery of Saint-Laurent-lès-Cosne is traditionally attributed an early origin, dating back to an establishment founded by Wulfin around 530, at a place called Longrest. The site is mentioned as Longorotense monasterium and was associated with the chapter of Saint-Hilaire-le-Grand in Poitiers (Vienne). The establishment was also known as Saint-Laurent and Saint-Hilaire. Around the year 1100, Dongion is documented there and is considered the first known abbot.
Around 1084, the bishop of Auxerre, Robert de Nevers (1076–1084), formally established the Rule of Saint Augustine there and granted it the status of an abbey. Around 1100, the former monastery of Saint-Eusèbe d’Auxerre (Yonne) was reformed, and a community of canons was sent there from Saint-Laurent, so that Saint-Eusèbe became dependent on this canonry as a priory. A papal bull issued by Pope Eugene III in 1147 confirmed the abbey’s possessions.
As for the misfortunes it suffered, particular mention should be made of the devastation caused by the conflict of 1199 between Peter II of Courtenay (c. 1165–1219) and Hervé IV of Donzy (c. 1172–1222). During the Hundred Years’ War, the abbey was again affected, and in 1405 it was sacked by the troops of the Duke of Orléans. In 1475 it was once again burned and sacked. The situation was repeated in 1567, during the Wars of Religion. Despite this, the abbey remained active and, in the 17th century, joined the Congregation of France, which maintained the site with increasingly reduced activity until shortly before the Revolution, when it was suppressed because of its decline.
In 1816, the church suffered a fire caused by lightning and was severely damaged. In 1928, the Romanesque portal was lost; it was sold to an antiques dealer and eventually ended up on display at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. In 1945, the bell tower collapsed, further aggravating the ruin of the building.
Portal, now at the Philadelphia Museum of Art
Photo by CVB, on Wikimedia
Le Nivernois, album historique et pittoresque (1840)
Photo by Henri Heuzé (n/d)
Ministère de la Culture (France)
Médiathèque de l'architecture et du patrimoine, diffusion RMN-GP
Old postcard, private collection
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1913). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France, vol. 6. Province ecclésiastique de Sens. Ligugé/París
- CROSNIER, Augustin-Joseph (1877). Les congrégations religieuses dans le diocèse de Nevers. Vol. 1. Nevers: Michot
- MARON, A. (1901). Promenade archéologique à Cosne, Saint Père, Saint- Laurent, Saint-Verain et environs. Bulletin de la Société nivernaise des lettres, sciences et arts. Nevers
- MORELLET, Napoléon-Joseph (1840). Le Nivernois, album historique et pittoresque. Vol. 2. Nevers: Bussière
- PAUTRAT, J. (1990). Saint-Laurent à travers dels siècles. Pautrat
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1770). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 12. París: Typographia Regia
The ruins of Saint-Laurent Abbey are located in the commune of Saint-Laurent-l’Abbaye, north of La Charité-sur-Loire