Origin and history
Notre-Dame de l'Eau Abbey, founded in 1226 by Elizabeth Ire, Countess of Chartres, and her husband Jean de Montmirail, was a female Cistercian abbey. Installed on a fief named Pentoison in the parish of Ver-lès-Chartres, it was endowed with land, income and rights of justice by its founders. From its creation it was placed under the protection of the Bishop of Chartres and affiliated with the order of Cîteaux, although the establishment of origin of the nuns remains unknown.
During the thirteenth century, the abbey developed thanks to donations from local nobles, such as John I of Châtillon and Peter II of Alençon. However, the Hundred Years' War (14th century) forced the nuns to take refuge in Chartres, where they suffered conflicts with the cathedral chapter. Their return in 1361 revealed a devastated abbey, requiring a long and costly reconstruction, completed only in 1530 for the abbey church, consecrated in 1534. The Wars of Religion in the 16th century led to further destruction, followed by a restoration completed in 1603.
The abbey was sold as a national property in 1793 after the French Revolution. The nuns, expelled in 1792, dispersed, and the buildings were partly dismantled by the buyer, the merchant Gosset. Today, only remains of the 13th century remains (the entrance door, the eastern wing of the cloister) and the 18th century Abbey Palace, classified as Historical Monuments in 2014. The abbey remains a private property, silent witness of eight centuries of religious and social history.
The abbey organization was based on an abbess, often from the nobility, assisted by dignitaries such as the prioress or the celery. The nuns, divided into professes (issues of the aristocracy) and converses (manual work), lived according to the Cistercian rule. The abbey also welcomed boarders, schoolgirls, and data (seculars helping converses). Two chaplains provided religious services. Revenues came from farms, mills (such as La Fosse, acquired in 1236), and vineyards, operated by farmers under strict contracts.
The abbey church, dedicated to the Virgin Mary, served both nuns and parishioners in neighbouring hamlets. It housed relics, including a head of Saint Clement offered in 1714, and served as a necropolis for local nuns and lords, such as the Brilhac of Tachainville. Destroyed after the Revolution, it was searched in 1900, revealing foundations, tombs and liturgical objects (calices, chasubles). His furniture, like the Renaissance woodwork, was partly transferred to the church of Fontenay-sur-Eure.
Conventual buildings were organized around a 13th century cloister, with a capitular hall, a refectory, and a dormitory. The Abbatial Palace, built in 1740 by Abbesse Denise-Françoise des Moustiers, housed its apartments and those of its guests. A farm built into the enclosure, separated by a wall, ensured food self-sufficiency. The Boisseau Canal, dug in the 17th century, fed the abbey with water. The outbuildings included mills (La Fosse, Boisseau), farms (Ermenonville, Rosay), and vineyards in Luisant, exploited until the Revolution.
Daily life was rhythmic by religious offices, manual work (for converses), and domain management. The nuns, dressed in white with a scarlet scapular, followed a strict rule of silence and prayer. The abbey also played a social role, welcoming sick people, retired widows, and educating young girls from noble families. Conflicts with neighbouring lords (such as Robert de Chartres in 1294) or financial difficulties (especially after the wars) marked his history, reflecting tensions between religious and secular power.
The current remains are limited to the fortified entrance door (XIIIth century), part of the nuns building (capitular room and dormitory), and the Abbey Palace (XVIIIth century). These elements, classified in 2014, recall the past importance of the abbey, now reduced to private property. Recent excavations and studies (like those of archaeologist Franck Tournadre in 2011) have contributed to a better understanding of his architecture and spatial organization, despite the disappearance of most buildings after the Revolution.
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