Other monasteries in Charente-Maritime

Cistercians

The Cistercian Abbey of La Grâce-Dieu was founded in Benon, in the diocese of Saintes, by Duke William X of Aquitaine (1099–1137) in the context of supporting Pope Innocent II against Antipope Anacletus II — a cause actively championed by Bernard of Clairvaux. Kings Louis VII the Young and Eleanor of Aquitaine supported the monastery and are sometimes regarded as co-founders. In 1191, La Grâce-Dieu participated in the foundation of the Abbey of Notre-Dame de Charon (Charente-Maritime).

Augustinians

The convent of the Augustinian friars in Saint-Savinien was probably founded during the 14th century. It suffered damage during the Wars of Religion, especially in 1568, and was definitively suppressed in 1791. The church, modified in the 16th century, still stands, though it is now desacralized.

Benedictine

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de La Tenaille was founded in 1125 from the nearby monastery of Notre-Dame de Fontdouce (Charente-Maritime) by Guillaume de Conchamp (†1137), founder and also abbot of Fontdouce. It was a modest house with a brief existence, destroyed in 1583 after being occupied by the Huguenots. It was never rebuilt, and in 1619 its assets passed to the Jesuits of Saintes. A Romanesque chapel from the 12th century survives, along with other structures dating from the 18th century. Details about its history are scarce due to the loss of documentation during the Revolution.

Benedictine

The priory of Saint-Germain was founded in 1077 as a dependency of the Abbey of Saint-Jean-d’Angély, when Bertrand de Varaize donated the church of Saint-Germain to that monastery. A small 12th-century Romanesque church survives, restored in the 18th century. Worship was suppressed during the Revolution and only resumed in 1875 as a parish church, a role it already served when it was a priory. The church has three naves, a transept, and three apses; the south doorway stands out for its fine sculpted decoration, while the western portal is simpler.