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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame Abbey of Mount Watten was founded in 1072 by the priest Olfride, under the rule of the regular canons of St Augustine. The first Augustinian monastery in Flanders County, it became a symbol of the Gregorian reform. Olfride, supported by Count Robert I of Flanders and Countess Adèle, obtained the protection of Pope Gregory VII in 1077. The monastery, dedicated to Notre-Dame, Saint-Nicolas and Saint-Riquier, was endowed with land by the Counts of Flanders and played a key role in the polderization of the Flemish Maritime Plain.

In the Middle Ages, the abbey experienced several crises: a fire in 1081, conflicts with the bishop of Thérouanne, and territorial disputes with local lords or other monasteries (such as Bourbourg in 1173). It housed prestigious relics, including the hair of the Virgin and the bones of saints, reported by Count Robert II of Jerusalem after the first crusade. The Counts of Flanders, like Thierry of Alsace (buried at Watten in 1168), granted him tax protections and exemptions, strengthening his regional influence.

In modern times, the abbey was destroyed by Protestant iconoclasts in 1566 and rebuilt by the bishop of Saint-Omer. From 1623 to 1765, it housed an English Jesuit novitiate, before being partially demolished in 1769. Sold as a national property in 1789, only its tower, used as a maritime landmark, was preserved. Ranked a historic monument in 1909, it was occupied by the Germans during World War II before being returned to Watten in 2008.

The abbey's heritage extended to land acquired by donations (Holque, Looberghe, Cappelle-Brouck) or exchanges, with seigneurial rights confirmed by the Counts. Its decline began with the suppression of the Jesuits and the Revolution. Today, there is only the medieval tower and scattered elements, like pieces of furniture in the church of St.Gilles of Watten. The Abbey illustrates the links between Comtal power, religious reform and territorial management in medieval Flanders.

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