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Origin and history

The Saint-Étienne Abbey of Baignes-Sainte-Radegonde, located in the Charente, is a former Benedictine abbey founded in the late 10th or early 11th century. Although the legend attributed to Charlemagne in 769, his consecration was attested between 1060 and 1066. Initially flourishing thanks to the gifts of the local lords, she was placed under the invocation of St Stephen and attached to the archiarchic priesthood. The oldest preserved charter, dated 1083, mentions it as Sanctus Stephanus.

The abbey experienced a gradual decline from the 14th century, accentuated by the wars of Religion in the 16th century. After this period, she counted only abbots who were often absent. At the Revolution, his last religious were dispersed, and his buildings, sold as national property, disappeared almost entirely — with the exception of the church, transformed into a parish. It preserves traces of its medieval past, such as a vaulted chapel and murals.

The architecture of the abbey reflects its many transformations: the choir, with a flat bedside with external archatures, dates from the end of the 12th century, while foothills were added in the 15th and 17th centuries to stabilize the building. Major restorations took place in the 19th century, notably in 1827 and between 1889 and 1890, modifying the vault, roof and bell tower. Today, the abbey has been partially classified as a historical monument since 1992, with its southern chapel and its preserved medieval elements.

The abbey played a central role in the region, controlling about fifty priories and cures before the Revolution. Its decline is explained by the repeated conflicts (English invasions, Wars of Religion) and the progressive secularization of its abbots. Despite its reduction to a parish church, it remains a testimony of the influence of Benedictine abbeys in medieval Aquitaine.

Historical sources, such as the 1868 cartular or architectural studies, confirm its past importance. Its inscription as historic monuments in 1992 allowed to protect the remains of this once powerful abbey, now integrated into the local heritage.

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