Detail of Veüe de l'Abbaye Royalle de Saincte Croix de Poictiers
Louis Boudan, 1699
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The monastery of Sainte-Croix de Poitiers was founded by Queen Radegund (c. 520–587), wife of Clotaire I (497–561), from whom she separated to devote herself to religious life. She settled in Poitiers between 552 and 557, where she founded a female monastery dedicated to Notre-Dame. Clotaire himself supported its construction and endowed it financially.
Radegunda retires to the monastery
Illuminated manuscript of the Life of Saint Radegunda (1101)
Poitiers / Médiathèque François-Mitterrand
The first abbess was Agnès, while Radegund lived there as a nun until her death. From at least 561, the monastery followed the Rule of Saint Caesarius. Around 579, a relic of the True Cross arrived from the East, brought by the founder, and from that time the monastery became known as Sainte-Croix. The abbey church, where the relic was venerated, was built at that time, along with a funerary church dedicated to Sainte-Marie, which is the origin of today’s church of Sainte-Radegonde. There is also mention of a structure believed to be the saint’s cell, which has been reconstructed in modern times. No records of the monastery are known from the 7th century, possibly due to regional instability.
Around 817, the community was reformed according to the directives of Louis the Pious, who promoted the Benedictinization of imperial monasteries through Benedict of Aniane. Sainte-Croix then adopted the Rule of Saint Benedict. A clerical community was formed around the church of Sainte-Radegonde to serve the nuns. In 865, Poitiers was attacked by the Normans, causing significant damage to the monastery and to Sainte-Radegonde. In 878, Louis II the Stammerer placed the monastery under his protection and confirmed its holdings. During the 14th century, the Hundred Years’ War brought serious damage and a decline in revenue. At the end of the 15th century, the situation worsened due to internal conflicts, culminating in the violent occupation of the monastery.
Miracle of Saint Radegund
Illuminated manuscript of the Life of Saint Radegunda (1101)
Poitiers / Médiathèque François-Mitterrand
Tomb of Radegunda, founder of Sainte-Croix
Although it never depended on Fontevraud (Maine-et-Loire), some of the abbesses of Sainte-Croix were associated with it. In the 16th century, nuns from Fontevraud reformed the community life and reinstated the cloister, which had nearly disappeared, and also restored order to the monastery’s finances. During the Wars of Religion (16th century), the monastery was occupied as a defensive post and suffered severe destruction (1569). In the early 17th century, restoration work began and monastic life resumed regularly.
Following the Revolution, the monastery was suppressed. In 1789 it remained active due to the number of religious women, but in 1792 it was sold and the nuns dispersed. The community was later reestablished, and some parts of the monastery were recovered. In 1932, it regained the status of abbey, and in 1965 it was relocated to Saint-Benoît, south of the city, at La Cossonière, where it remains active. In Poitiers, at the site of the former monastery, remnants of the Merovingian church are preserved, though altered over time and eventually destroyed. The chapel rebuilt on the site of Saint Radegund’s former cell (Pas-de-Dieu) still stands and now houses the Sainte-Croix Museum. A short distance away is the church of Sainte-Radegonde, which holds the saint’s tomb.
Reliquary of the True Cross carried by Radegunda,
which is preserved in the monastery
Image from Wikimedia Commons
Mosaic of the primitive monastery
Image from Les fouilles de l'église Sainte-Croix a Poitiers (1963)
Excavations at the ancient monastery
Image from Les fouilles de l'église Sainte-Croix a Poitiers (1963)
Remains of the monastery (Google maps)
Floor plan of the old monastery
Image from Les fouilles de l'église Sainte-Croix a Poitiers (1963)
The current monastery in La Cossonière
- BARBIER DE MONTAULT, X. (1882). Le trésor de l’abbaye Sainte-Croix de Poitiers avant la Révolution. Mémoires de la Société des antiquaires de l'Ouest. Piotiers: Druinaud
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1910). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 3: Auch, Bordeaux. Abbaye de Ligugé
- CROISET, Jean (1723). Les vies des saints pour tous les jours de l’année. Vol. 2. Lyon: Boudet
- EYGUN, François (1963). Les fouilles de l'église Sainte-Croix a Poitiers. Actes du 87e Congrès National des Sociétés Savantes. París: Imp. Nationale
- GOTTIS, Augustine (1823). L'abbaye de Sainte-Croix, ou Radegonde, reine de France, vol. 1-5. París: Lecointe et Durey
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 9. París: Bloud et Barral
- LABANDE-MAILFERT, Yvonne; i altres (1986). Histoire de l’abbaye Sainte-Croix de Poitiers. Poitiers: Société des Antiquaires de l’Ouest
- PICTAVE, Jehan (1909). Poitiers. Ses monuments, son histoire. Poitiers: Courrier
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
The monastery of Sainte-Croix de Poitiers, now disappeared, was located in the centre of the city, near the cathedral. The present community resides at La Cossonière (Saint-Benoît), south of Poitiers