This was a priory of the Order of Fontevraud, founded on the initiative of Robert d’Arbrissel (c. 1045–1116), who, after establishing that abbey, travelled across various regions pursuing his evangelizing and monastic mission. In 1108, Aymery de Châtellerault granted him this land, which, according to an undocumented tradition, had previously belonged to a now-lost male monastery.
A priory was founded on the site, and, as was typical for the Fontevraud order, it functioned as a double monastery, with both a female and a male community, under the authority of the prioress. In 1119, Pope Callixtus II confirmed its possessions. In 1562, during the Wars of Religion, the site was plundered and set on fire. In 1611, reform efforts began with the arrival of Antoinette d’Orléans, but due to disagreements with the abbess of Fontevraud (Maine-et-Loire), they left the site in 1617 and went on to found the Congregation of Our Lady of Calvary.
The priory of Lencloître remained active until the Revolution, when the community was forced to disperse. In 1805, the church was given the parish functions of the village that had grown up around it. What remains of the monastic complex is essentially the 12th-century church, which has undergone very few changes since its original foundation. It has three naves, six bays, and a transept. The chevet features three apses: one aligned with the central nave and two in the arms of the transept. The other buildings have suffered more damage and alteration, but the site is remarkable for having preserved parts of both conventual spaces: that of the women and that of the men.
Church floor plan
Published in Congrès archéologique de France (1952)
Dovecote
- AUBERT, R. (1963). Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Vol. 15. París: Letouzey et Ané
- AUSSIBAL, Amans (1987). Fontevraud et ses prieurés. La Pierre-qui-Vire: Zodiaque
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1910). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 3: Auch, Bordeaux. Abbaye de Ligugé
- CROZET, René (1952). Lencloître. Congrès archéologique de France, 109 ss. Poitiers: Société française d'archéologie
- GUÉRIN, Paul (1888). Les Petits Bollandistes. Vies des saints. Vol. 3. París: Bloud et Barral
- LALANNE, Charles (1859). Histoire de Châtelleraud et du Châtelleraudais, vol. 1. Châtellerault: Rivière
- NIDERST, René (1952). Robert d'Arbrissel et les origines de l'Ordre de Fontevrault. Rodez: Subervie
- OURSEL, Raymond (1984). Haut-Poitou roman. La nuit des temps, 42. Zodiaque
Lencloître is located to the north of Poitiers