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Origin and history

The Abbey of Cagnotte, founded in the 9th century by Benedictines, is first a monastery dedicated to the custody of the tomb of Maria Corfedia, established by Salvius and his servant Mauricius around 780. temporarily moved to Pouillon after Norman raids, the community returned to Cagnotte in the 11th century and adopted the Cistercian rule in 1141. The Viscounts of Aspremont then built a flat bedside abbey, vaulted with warheads around 1180, while a second monastic church was consecrated in 1217 by Bishop Gaillard of Aspremont. The abbey, prosperous thanks to its position on a road of Compostela, has hospitals, schools and priories.

The decadence began in the 16th to 18th centuries: the abbey was looted during the Wars of Religion (circa 1570), with only 14 monks in 1629 and 5 in 1739, housed outside the walls due to the dilapidation. In 1756, the inhabitants seized the ruins, and Louis XV authorized its demolition in 1776. Today, there is still a part of the abbey house transformed into a barn, as well as elements of the abbey Notre-Dame de Corheta: sanctuary, choir span, side chapels and cross of the transept, sheltering the tombs of the Viscounts of Orthe and Adelaides of Anjou.

The architecture reveals Romanesque and Gothic influences: the 12th century flat bedside, the 13th century warhead vaults, and an crypt under the choir containing vicomtal sarcophagus. The transept, vaulted and adorned with carved capitals, opens on Romanesque berries remodeled in the fourteenth and seventeenth centuries. The remains of an adjacent convent building preserve 13th-century geminate bays. The church, partly rebuilt in the 19th century (nef and low side in 1861), has been classified as a Historic Monument since 1970.

The abbey, linked to the family of Aspremont, saw two of its members become abbots: Guillaume Raimond d'Aspremont (1177–180), former Viscount of Orthe nicknamed Lourde-Épée, and his son Loup-Garsie II, elected abbot shortly before his death. Nearly sixty abbots succeeded each other, although some had worn only the title. The power of Cagnotte rests on its role as a stage for the pilgrims of Compostela, its agricultural resources and its spiritual influence until its early decline.

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