Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The church of Sainte-Austereberte de Montreuil-sur-Mer found its origins in the eighth century, when Saint Austereberthe, born in Marconne, founded a monastery in Normandy before becoming an abbess of Pavilly. After the Viking invasions in 880, the nuns of Pavilly and Marconne took refuge in Montreuil, bringing the relics of the Saints Austreberte and Julienne. A first church, dedicated to Our Lady of the Assumption, is erected, and the abbey becomes more important under the abbey of Hildeburge (daughter of Count William I of Ponthieu) in the 11th century. The relics of Saint Austreberte were solemnly transferred in 1080 under the impulse of the Duke of Normandy, Robert I.

In the Middle Ages, the abbey prospered thanks to papal protections (like the bubble of Alexander III in 1170) and welcomed noble figures, including Marie de Boulogne, daughter of King Stephen of England, who retired there in 1169 before being buried there. However, the buildings suffered repeated destruction: fire in 1537, collapse of the bell tower in 1622, and a new fire in 1733. A major reconstruction began in 1734 under the abbess Marguerite Le Boucher d'Orsay, then under Agathe-Madeleine d'Orléans de La Motte, with the laying of the first stone of the present church in 1756 by the bishop of Amiens.

The French Revolution marked a turning point: the abbey was closed in 1792, the nuns expelled, and the places successively became a prison (1793-1794), a military store, and then a hospital under Napoleon. A fire in 1804 almost completely destroyed the church, reduced to its walls. In the 19th century, the buildings housed a college (now Eugène-Woillez High School), a barracks, and warehouses. Only the façade, classified in 1942, remains as evidence of this complex religious and historical heritage, linked to nearly a thousand years of monacal and local history.

The abbey of Sainte-Autreberte illustrates the political and religious upheavals of France, from its medieval spiritual role to its secular reconversion. The relics of the saints, transferred in 1757 in new shawls, symbolize his heritage, while his 18th-century architecture (the work of the brothers Le Mercier) reflects the Baroque climax before the revolutionary destructions.

Among the notable abbesses are Hildeburge (XI century), daughter of the Count of Ponthieu, who consolidates the abbey, or Ida de Ponthieu (XI century), organizer of the solemn transfer of relics. In the 18th century, Marguerite Le Boucher d'Orsay and Agathe-Madeleine d'Orléans de La Motte supervised the reconstruction, while Anne de Jouenne d'Esgrigny completed the ornamentation of the church before the Revolution. Their management reflects the close links between the abbey, the local nobility, and the episcopal power of Amiens.

Today, the former Abbey, partially preserved, houses the Eugène-Woillez High School. Its history, from the monacal refuges of the ninth century to modern military and educational uses, makes it an emblematic monument of the Hauts-de-France, witness to social and political changes throughout the centuries.

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