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Origin and history

The Notre-Dame des Fontenelles Abbey was founded in 1210 by Guillaume de Mauléon, lord of Talmont, and his wife Béatrice de Machecoul, lady of La Roche-sur-Yon, on a wooded land near a ferruginous spring. The regular canons of Saint Augustine, who were dependent on the Abbey of Chancelade in Périgord, built a monastery dedicated to the Virgin. The will of Beatrice (1235) and letters of 1225 revealed initial tensions with the Benedictines of Marmoutier, leading to the definitive adoption of the Augustinian rule. The high altar was consecrated in 1248 by the bishop of Poitiers, Jean de Melun.

During the Hundred Years' War, the English damaged the nave of the abbey. In the 16th century the wars of Religion ravaged the abbey: in 1562 the Protestants burned the monastery, saving only the cloister, and killed the monks. Despite attempts to rebuild (sleeping in 1622), the destruction continued, requiring a century of work from 1669 under the impulse of the canons of the Congregation of France. The lords of La Roche-sur-Yon, including King René in 1448, regularly confirmed his privileges in exchange for prayers.

The abbey gradually declined: only three monks lived there during the Revolution. Sold as a national property in 1791, it became an agricultural holding, suffering collapses (southward in 1935) and the disappearance of many buildings (cloister, hotel). Ranked a historical monument in 1948, it now preserves a mutilated nave church, angevin Gothic vaults, and the carved tomb of Beatrice de Machecoul or her daughter Jeanne de Thouars. The nearby iron sources, mentioned in 1777 for medical use, were never exploited.

The remaining granite buildings include the south arm of the transept and a low vaulted capitular hall, reflecting 17th century reconstructions. The site, privately owned, illustrates the architectural and religious transitions between the Middle Ages and the modern era, as well as the vicissitudes of conflicts and regime changes. The archives also mention disputes with the abbey of Marmoutier and a shared management between comandataires and chanceladins from 1632 onwards.

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