Vraie Croix chapel
The monastery of Notre-Dame de la Boissière was founded in 1131. It was a house linked to Savigny, a Benedictine congregation that developed very rapidly at that time from the monastery of Savigny (Manche), an establishment inspired by Saint Vital of Mortain († 1122). The foundation of La Boissière received the support of the counts of Anjou and the lords of Daon, among others. The monks who formed the first community came from Savigny.
In 1147, that order was incorporated into the Cistercian Order, and the house of La Boissière joined it as well. In 1152, a bull of Pope Eugenius III confirmed its possessions. The donations and favours it received over time contributed to its development and enabled the completion of the monastic buildings. The church was not consecrated until 1204, after further contributions, including that of Richard the Lionheart in 1190. In 1224, it received privileges and protection from the Holy See.
Affiliation of La Boissière
According to Originum Cisterciensium (L. Janauschek, 1877)
Its development was also influenced by the acquisition of a fragment of the True Cross, brought from the East in 1244, during the time of the Crusades, by Jean d’Alluye. This encouraged the influx of pilgrims. The monastery was burned during the Hundred Years’ War, resulting in the loss of material goods, including the archive, and forcing the community to abandon it temporarily. Upon their return, a difficult reconstruction began. Monastic life came to an end here with the Revolution, and the site is now privately owned.
The chapel of the Vraie Croix, located to the west of the monastery, is well preserved. As for the monastic complex, there are buildings from the modern period, now used as a residence. In the easternmost part, the apse of the abbey church is preserved. The relic of the True Cross remained in the monastery until the Revolution, when it was transferred to Baugé. It is now kept at the Sanctuaire de la Vraie Croix d’Anjou in Baugé-en-Anjou.
From La Boissière
Archives départementales de Maine-et-Loire, 11 Fi 2729
- BARRAU, Jean-Baptiste (1874). Notice historique sur la vraie Croix de Baugé. Angers: Lainé
- BESSE, Jean-Martial (1920). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France, vol. 8, Tours. París : Picard
- CHEVALLIER, P. (1854). Notice sur l’abbaye de La Boissière. Mémoires de la Société d'agriculture, sciences et arts d'Angers. Angers: Cosnier & Lachèse
- JANAUSCHEK, Leopoldus (1877). Originum Cisterciensium. Vol. 1. Viena
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1856). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 14. París: Typographia Regia
- TONNERRE, Noël-Yves (2013). La place des abbayes cisterciennes dans l’histoire de l’Anjou. Annales de Bretagne et des Pays de l’Ouest, 120-3
The monastery belongs to the commune of Dénezé-sous-le-Lude, to the north of this settlement, situated between Angers and Tours