Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Notre-Dame de Bonnecombe, located in Comps-la-Grand-Ville in Aveyron, is founded in 1162 by Raymond V, Count of Rouergue, and Hugues, Bishop of Rodez. Consecrated on 3 January 1167 by Abbé Gausbert de Candeil, she welcomed from the beginning Cistercian monks led by Abbé Matfred. From the beginning, tensions appeared with Bonneval Abbey, resolved in 1217 by an agreement on the Gramond pastures. The abbey then radiates on the western Rouergue, the Albigeois and the canton of Cassagnes, led by thirty regular abbots until its beginning in 1470, marking the beginning of its decline.

During the French Revolution, the abbey suffered significant degradation. It was restored in 1876-1877 by Trappist monks from Aiguebelle, who re-established it as an abbey in 1895. Trappists left in 1965 for lack of vocations. The site then houses an Orthodox community (1965-1968), then a rehabilitation centre, before being entrusted to the Arche community in 1980 and then to the Beatitudes in 1998. Since 2017, the abbey, private property, is closed to the public.

The architecture of Bonnecombe combines elements of the 12th century (chœur, nave, transept) and defensive additions such as the Saint Bernard Tower, built during the Hundred Years War. The choir houses the burial of Hugues, bishop of Rodez (died 1212), as well as local noble families (Landorre, Roquecézière, Scorailles). A baroque altarpiece of 1660, dismembered in 1806, bears witness to its artistic heritage. The abbey, daughter of Our Lady of Aiguebelle, illustrates the Cistercian influence in the southwest.

Economically, the Abbé de Bonnecombe had accumulated civil and religious powers, collecting tithes (lou deyme), fieldart (lou quint) and taxes on crops and livestock. This system, typical of medieval abbeys, structured local life until the Revolution. After 1791, the Cistercians disappeared, but the site retained a spiritual or social vocation until today.

External links