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Origin and history

The abbey of Cercanceaux, founded in 1181 by the monks of the abbey of the Cour-Dieu, settled on land offered by Henri I Clément, Marshal of France. Built in white limestone, it quickly received the support of Philippe Auguste, becoming a "royal" abbey. The Cistercian monks cleared the Loing Valley, and the abbey prospered until the Renaissance, despite crises such as the Hundred Years War.

In the Middle Ages, the abbey grew under the impulse of influential abbots, like Eudes, sent to the embassy in Rome by Philippe Auguste in 1185. In 1201 the abbot even participated in the fourth crusade. However, scandals, such as the witchcraft affair in 1323 involving an abbot and a black cat, as well as looting during the Hundred Years' War, weakened the abbey. At the end of the 15th century, an abbot fought alongside Jeanne d'Arc during the siege of Orleans in 1429.

From 1514, the institution of the commende marked the decline of the abbey: the abbots, appointed by the king and not elected by the monks, managed incomes without respecting the monastic rule. Despite reparations under humanist Antoine Heroët (1538-1567), the wars of Religion ravaged the place. In 1567, the Protestant Chevalier du Boulay looted the abbey, which also served as a negotiating place in 1576 during the Wars of Religion. In the 17th century, the poverty of the abbey discourages even Jean-Jacques Olier, founder of Saint-Sulpice, who resigned in 1649.

The French Revolution rang the abbey: closed in 1792, its buildings were sold as national goods and transformed into stationery by Henry Théodore Dupont. Industrial activity continued until the 20th century, while the remains were partially protected in 1926. From 1995, a restoration allowed the abbey to be converted into a place of reception and tourism, retaining only the abbey chapel as a witness to its religious past.

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