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Origin and history

The Abbey of Chaise-Dieu-du-Theil came into being around 1120-1125, when the hermit Hugues du Désert and his disciples received gifts from Robert de Meulan, Count of Leicester and Breteuil. Their hermitage, originally named Notre-Dame du Désert, was transferred in 1128 near Iton under the name Casa Dei (House of God), thanks to Richer II of Ligle. The church was consecrated in 1132 by the bishops of Evreux and York, marking the foundation of a double monastery under the rule of Fontevraud, unique in Normandy.

In 1135 Henry I Beauclerc placed the community under his protection, and in 1137-1138 Pope Innocent II confirmed the gifts of Richer II, including the church of St. Vandrille. The priory benefited from land in England (Vinburn, Eaton) thanks to Robert de Meulan (1150) and saw Julienne de L The nuns also participated in the foundation of the Priory of Eaton in England (1154), at the request of the Count of Leicester. In 1235, the family of the original patron, Ligle, passed on his property to the Duke of Brittany.

In the 15th century, after the Hundred Years War (1460), the priory had five nuns and four monks, with an income of 2,000 pounds. Marie de Bretagne, abbess of Fontevraud, introduced a reform there in 1476 under the Pregent Prioress of Blaye, restoring the fence and restoring the buildings. The Wars of Religion (16th century) forced the nuns to leave temporarily, while in the 17th century work was carried out, such as the repair of the nave in 1722 under Angélique d'Osmont.

The abbey gradually declined: in 1788 it had only eight nuns. The French Revolution sounded its bell in 1790, when the priory was sold as a national good for 38,000 pounds. Today, the church of St John remains, the convent buildings (pavillons of the 16th-17th centuries), and the remains of the old church, classified as historical monuments in 1971.

The order of Fontevraud, to which the abbey was attached, was distinguished by its mixed organization (men and women) under a female authority. Chaire-Dieu-du-Theil illustrates this particularity, with notable prioresses such as Julienne de L'Aigle or Geneviève de Bernières, who had the relics of Saint Juvence translated in 1665. The arms of Jeanne-Baptiste de Bourbon, abbesse de Fontevraud, still adorn some buildings, testimonies of his passage in 1663.

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