Benedictine Abbey de Lessay
Just to the south of the Abbey of Lessay stands an isolated town, Creances, from which the LeRoy and Jacquet names can be found. It is an ancient town dating to the period before the Celts had moved into the area now known as Normandy. The town is also tied closely with the Abbey of Lessay, its church bearing the name Sainte Trinte, to which the abbey was dedicated.
The Benedictine Abbey of Lessay (formerly Exaquium) was founded in 1056 beside the River Ay, in the parish of Sainte-Opportune, by the powerful Lords of La Haye-du-Puits, Thurston Haldup and son Eudes au Capel, apparently of the ducal family. A copy of the assets of the abbey serving as a reproduction (the original document dated 1080 was destroyed in 1944 during destruction of the archives department) lists the considerable grants and benefits given to the monastery from the wealth of neighboring noblemen. It carries the signatures of the Duke/King William the Conqueror, of Queen Mathilde, of their son Robert (a future Duke of Normandy), Henry and William (future Kings of England, and many prominent ecclesiastic and lay Anglo-Norman royal personages. Later on, new records and Papal Bills confirm the abbey in its rights and privileges or added to its concessions.
The construction of the edifice, dedicated to Sainte Trinity, was commenced in 1064 after the Priest of Coutances, Geoffroy de Monteray, had accorded authorization. The work, already well advanced, it appears, to the death of Eudes in 1098, was accomplished early in the 12th century, but it was only in 1178 that the Archbishop of Rouen, assisted by Richard de Bohon, Bishop of Coutances, dedicated the church. Up until 1790 thirty-nine Abbots succeeded to the head of the abbey. The first, Roger, a monk from the celebrated Abbey of Bec, directed the monastery for almost fifty years and to that point recruited seventy monks. But the number declined rapidly in the following centuries; dropping to thirty six monks in 1250, from the time of the visit of Eudes Rigaud, the Archbishop of Rouen, to fifteen monk towards the end of the 14th century.
It is during the 12th century that the Abbey of Lessay reached its zenith, both in material and spirit. Its power and its revenues were then considerable. In 1460 the "Liber of Beneficis" mentioned profits provided from forty-four localities, the jurisdiction of the abbey extending up to the Diocese of Bayeux, to Jersey, and even England where it had the patronage of ten churches.
The Benedictine Abbey of Lessay (formerly Exaquium) was founded in 1056 beside the River Ay, in the parish of Sainte-Opportune, by the powerful Lords of La Haye-du-Puits, Thurston Haldup and son Eudes au Capel, apparently of the ducal family. A copy of the assets of the abbey serving as a reproduction (the original document dated 1080 was destroyed in 1944 during destruction of the archives department) lists the considerable grants and benefits given to the monastery from the wealth of neighboring noblemen. It carries the signatures of the Duke/King William the Conqueror, of Queen Mathilde, of their son Robert (a future Duke of Normandy), Henry and William (future Kings of England, and many prominent ecclesiastic and lay Anglo-Norman royal personages. Later on, new records and Papal Bills confirm the abbey in its rights and privileges or added to its concessions.
The construction of the edifice, dedicated to Sainte Trinity, was commenced in 1064 after the Priest of Coutances, Geoffroy de Monteray, had accorded authorization. The work, already well advanced, it appears, to the death of Eudes in 1098, was accomplished early in the 12th century, but it was only in 1178 that the Archbishop of Rouen, assisted by Richard de Bohon, Bishop of Coutances, dedicated the church. Up until 1790 thirty-nine Abbots succeeded to the head of the abbey. The first, Roger, a monk from the celebrated Abbey of Bec, directed the monastery for almost fifty years and to that point recruited seventy monks. But the number declined rapidly in the following centuries; dropping to thirty six monks in 1250, from the time of the visit of Eudes Rigaud, the Archbishop of Rouen, to fifteen monk towards the end of the 14th century.
It is during the 12th century that the Abbey of Lessay reached its zenith, both in material and spirit. Its power and its revenues were then considerable. In 1460 the "Liber of Beneficis" mentioned profits provided from forty-four localities, the jurisdiction of the abbey extending up to the Diocese of Bayeux, to Jersey, and even England where it had the patronage of ten churches.
At the beginning of the long Hundred Years War, June 11, 1356, the monastery, directed by Guillaume d' Aste, was devastated by the Anglo-Navarre troops of Philip De Navarre who had already, a short time earlier, shared in destroying the Abbey of Saint-Sauver-Le-Vicomte. The nave and tower were badly damaged in the course of a violent fighting which even spread into the convent buildings. Philippe De Navarre, brother of Charles the Bad, himself acknowledged his misdeed several years later, and to ease his conscience would address to Bricquebec, the Abbot of Lessay, on January 25, 1368, a sum of one hundred thousand francs earmarked for the founding of a chapel and the celebration of masses for the peace of his soul.
The restoration work, impeded throughout the thirty years, could only be started in 1385 through the initiative of Dom Pierre LeRoy, the future Abbot of Mont-Sainte-Michel. Continued through the balance of the 14th century, these efforts were accomplished under Guillaume GueHebert, who died in1447, with the greatest respect for the original style of the abbey. The religious wars of the 16th century, which desolated the Cotentin throughout more than thirty years, did not spare the Abbey of Lessay, but the depredations from which it suffered were happily less grave than those committed during the Hundred Years War.
In the year 1574, four or five hundred Huguenots of the army of Count de Montgomery, originally from the Isle of Wright, landed some several days later at Lessay, and installed themselves in the monastery vacated by the monks. During the more than three months of occupation, the Protestants commanded by Captain Pre' d' Auge were allowed to pillage and undertake systematic destruction of the abbey. The ornaments of the church were burned, the charts and books destroyed or carried away. Stripped of their rights, the abbey appealed to the Parliament of Rouen which issued a decree in its favor, ordering that " the account registers, papers, journals, deeds, ordinary lessons, and receipts serve the rights and possessions of the monks and nuns of Lessay by whose charts and lessons they have lived during disturbances, devastation and pillage." The premises having equally suffered, if one believes the same decree of 1585 which mentions that " The said abbey has been pillaged and ravaged, and the church, and celestial edifices demolished and ruined. The troubles which continued to ravage the country during the balance of the 16th century left the abbey in the worst state of abandon, so much so that the Abbacy seat remained vacant from 1588 to 1619.
Since putting an end to the disorder involved more material than moral help that prevailed in Lessay, a visit was arranged by the Normandy Parliament in 1598. The two clergymen saddled with the Reformation, could only on their arrival establish that the state of the monastery was no longer suitable for prayer. The buildings neglected during the years were in a bad state, and there was need to repair numerous windows, and the church roof had fallen in ruins. The reparations were equally necessary in the convent, in the dormitory, and the abbey lodgings. But all of the judgments imposed by the visitors, in particular those which had to do with religious life and regard for the Benedictine rule, were only poorly executed, and it would require the introduction of the monks and nuns of the congregation of Sainte-Mauro in 1707 to put an end to the lamentable situation in which the abbey found itself.
The restoration work, impeded throughout the thirty years, could only be started in 1385 through the initiative of Dom Pierre LeRoy, the future Abbot of Mont-Sainte-Michel. Continued through the balance of the 14th century, these efforts were accomplished under Guillaume GueHebert, who died in1447, with the greatest respect for the original style of the abbey. The religious wars of the 16th century, which desolated the Cotentin throughout more than thirty years, did not spare the Abbey of Lessay, but the depredations from which it suffered were happily less grave than those committed during the Hundred Years War.
In the year 1574, four or five hundred Huguenots of the army of Count de Montgomery, originally from the Isle of Wright, landed some several days later at Lessay, and installed themselves in the monastery vacated by the monks. During the more than three months of occupation, the Protestants commanded by Captain Pre' d' Auge were allowed to pillage and undertake systematic destruction of the abbey. The ornaments of the church were burned, the charts and books destroyed or carried away. Stripped of their rights, the abbey appealed to the Parliament of Rouen which issued a decree in its favor, ordering that " the account registers, papers, journals, deeds, ordinary lessons, and receipts serve the rights and possessions of the monks and nuns of Lessay by whose charts and lessons they have lived during disturbances, devastation and pillage." The premises having equally suffered, if one believes the same decree of 1585 which mentions that " The said abbey has been pillaged and ravaged, and the church, and celestial edifices demolished and ruined. The troubles which continued to ravage the country during the balance of the 16th century left the abbey in the worst state of abandon, so much so that the Abbacy seat remained vacant from 1588 to 1619.
Since putting an end to the disorder involved more material than moral help that prevailed in Lessay, a visit was arranged by the Normandy Parliament in 1598. The two clergymen saddled with the Reformation, could only on their arrival establish that the state of the monastery was no longer suitable for prayer. The buildings neglected during the years were in a bad state, and there was need to repair numerous windows, and the church roof had fallen in ruins. The reparations were equally necessary in the convent, in the dormitory, and the abbey lodgings. But all of the judgments imposed by the visitors, in particular those which had to do with religious life and regard for the Benedictine rule, were only poorly executed, and it would require the introduction of the monks and nuns of the congregation of Sainte-Mauro in 1707 to put an end to the lamentable situation in which the abbey found itself.