Monasticon Gallicanum (1677-1710)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The Benedictine abbey of Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers was founded by Pepin I of Aquitaine (c. 797–838) in 828, outside the walled enclosure of Poitiers, on the opposite bank of the River Clain. The name of its first abbot is known: Martin (830–840), from the nearby Abbey of Saint-Savin (Vienne)..
Veüe de l'Abbaye de St Cyprian lez Poictiers
Louis Boudan (1699)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The first monastery was burned down in 866 during the Norman invasions that ravaged the city. It was restored around 936 thanks to the intervention of Bishop Frotier of Poitiers. The abbey was dedicated to the Virgin Mary, Saint Martin, and Saint Cyprian, whose body was venerated here, having been transferred at that time from the Abbey of Saint-Savin (Vienne). From then on, the monastery was known under the single dedication of Saint-Cyprien. It was favoured by the bishops of Poitiers, who maintained a long-standing relationship with it, as well as by the dukes of Aquitaine, especially William III of Aquitaine († 963) and his descendants, until the 11th century. The priories of Saint-Maurice-la-Clouère and Saint-Pierre d’Usson du Poitou were dependent on this abbey.
Over time, it became a prosperous and influential monastery, but it also suffered from the instability that affected the region: first, during the Hundred Years’ War, when the church was destroyed in 1359; later, during the Wars of Religion, in 1562, when it was plundered and abandoned. It was rebuilt in the first half of the 17th century and, in 1645, it joined the Congregation of Saint-Maur. It remained a Benedictine abbey until the Revolution, after which it disappeared. In the last quarter of the 19th century, the site was temporarily occupied by a Dominican community. Remains from the Roman period have been found here, over which the monastery —now vanished— is thought to have been built.
Detail of Veüe de la ville de Poictiers, capitalle de Poictou
Louis Boudan (1699)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Building within the abbey enclosure, demolished in the 19th century
Anne Claude Philippe de Caylus (s. XVIII)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Detail of Vue de Poitiers à l'époque du siège (1569)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Roman remains discovered in 1873
Société des Antiquaires de l'Ouest
Poitiers / Médiathèque François-Mitterrand
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1910). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 3: Auch, Bordeaux. Abbaye de Ligugé
- DE LONGUEMAR, M. (1874). Rapport sur les fouilles dans l'enclos des dominicains. Bulletins de la Société des antiquaires de l'Ouest, XIII série. Poitiers
- MATSUO, Kayoko (2012). Pratiques de l’écrit et gestion patrimoniale monastique aux XIe et XIIe siècles, d’après le cartulaire de l’abbaye de Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers. Tesi doctoral Un. Bordeaux 3
- OLIM (1875). L'ancienne abbaye de Saint-Cyprien-lès-Poitiers. Revue d'Aquitaine, núm. 1. Poitiers
- PEIGNÉ-DELACOURT, Achille (1877). Monasticon Gallicanum. Paris: G. Chamerot
- RÉDET, Louis F. X. (1874). Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Cyprien de Poitiers. Société des archives historiques du Poitou. Poitiers: Oudin
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
The Abbey of Saint-Cyprien stood outside the city of Poitiers, to the south, on the opposite bank of the Clain River