{"id":6791,"date":"2026-01-12T16:06:19","date_gmt":"2026-01-12T15:06:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/our-history\/a-medieval-foundation\/"},"modified":"2026-08-28T17:44:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T15:44:16","slug":"a-medieval-foundation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/en\/our-history\/a-medieval-foundation\/","title":{"rendered":"A medieval foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-page\" data-elementor-id=\"6791\" class=\"elementor elementor-6791 elementor-3842\" data-elementor-post-type=\"page\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b0d793f e-con-full e-flex e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b0d793f\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;gradient&quot;}\">\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-f3534df e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"f3534df\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4592dac elementor-widget elementor-widget-heading\" data-id=\"4592dac\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"heading.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"elementor-heading-title elementor-size-default\">a medieval foundation<\/p>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-51eacb0 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"51eacb0\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>Around the year 1010, Geoffroy, Lord of Sabl\u00e9, donated the church of Solesmes, together with the associated farm, to the monks of La Couture Abbey in Le Mans. This marked the founding of our monastery. <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-efedecb e-con-full e-flex e-con e-child\" data-id=\"efedecb\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\" data-settings=\"{&quot;background_background&quot;:&quot;classic&quot;}\">\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e0edffe e-con-full e-grid e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"e0edffe\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-8e705f2 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"8e705f2\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>We possess a 15th-century copy of the charter in which Geoffroy solemnly attests to this donation (photo above), having it signed by the bishops of Le Mans and Angers, and later by King William the Conqueror of England. We read the text of this charter every year in the refectory on 12 October, the anniversary, according to oral tradition, of the dedication of our abbey church. <\/p><p>Before the monastery was founded, there was a parish in Solesmes, possibly established in the 5th century, but more likely in the 6th or 7th century. This church was surrounded by a vast cemetery. We still preserve sarcophagi that may date back to the Merovingian period.  <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2574e33 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"2574e33\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>During the 12th century, a lord of Sabl\u00e9 who had taken part in the Crusades brought back from the Holy Land a thorn from Christ\u2019s Crown of Thorns. He entrusted its safekeeping to the monastery of Solesmes. The presence of this distinguished relic of the Lord\u2019s Passion was to prove decisive for the monastery\u2019s subsequent history, and it is no coincidence that it features at the centre of its coat of arms. Indeed, the relic attracted crowds and ensured the monastery\u2019s renown and prosperity.   <\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e23938a elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e23938a\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p>The Hundred Years\u2019 War, however, put an end to this prosperity: in 1425, the monastery was burnt down by the English and the village lay in ruins. The monks rebuilt their church, but on a more modest scale than the original building: the side aisles and the first bay of the nave were not rebuilt. The current fa\u00e7ade of our abbey church dates from this reconstruction.  <\/p><p> <\/p><p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3922 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/solesmes.frederiqueviviand.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-1024x771.webp\" alt=\"Portail-abbatiale-solesmes\" width=\"800\" height=\"602\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-1024x771.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-scaled-600x452.webp 600w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-300x226.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-768x578.webp 768w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-1536x1156.webp 1536w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-2048x1542.webp 2048w, https:\/\/www.abbayedesolesmes.fr\/wp-content\/uploads\/portail-abbatiale-solesmes-scaled.webp 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><\/p><h6>Le portail de l\u2019\u00e9glise abbatiale datant du XV<sup>e<\/sup> si\u00e8cle \u00a9ASPS<\/h6>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>a medieval foundation Around the year 1010, Geoffroy, Lord of Sabl\u00e9, donated the church of Solesmes, together with the associated farm, to the monks of La Couture Abbey in Le Mans. This marked the founding of our monastery. We possess a 15th-century copy of the charter in which Geoffroy solemnly attests to this donation (photo [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":6789,"menu_order":17,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-6791","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Medieval Founding of Solesmes | Solesmes Abbey<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Around 1010, Geoffroy de Sabl\u00e9 gave the church to the monks: this was the medieval founding of Solesmes, later struck by the fire of 1425.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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