Origin and history
The abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Nid-au-Merle, also known as the abbey of Saint-Sulpice-des-Bois, was founded in 1112 by Raoul de La Futaie, former companion of Robert d'Arbrissel, in the current forest of Rennes. According to legend, her name would come from a statuette of the Virgin discovered by a shepherd in a hake nest, and miraculously returned to her original location after being moved. The monastery, dedicated to Sulpice le Pieux, bishop of Bourges, was initially a double monastery, welcoming monks and nuns under the authority of an abbess, following the rule of Fontevraud.
The abbey enjoyed a rapid rise, with the foundation of some thirty priories in Brittany, Anjou, Maine, Poitou and England. She had high rights of justice, had prisons, halls, and a dovecote, and was directly under the authority of the Holy See. However, its decline began after Brittany joined France, marked by fires (1556, 1651, 1701), epidemics such as plague (1583), and destruction related to the wars of Religion (1595). Despite restorations, notably under the abbess Marguerite d'Angennes (1609-1662), the abbey was sold as a national property in 1796 after the Revolution and partially demolished between 1835 and 1902.
Today's remains include the 12th-century Romanesque transept of the Abbey, the Notre-Dame-sur-l'Eau chapel (reconstructed in the 15th century), the portery (1423), the lodge of the Abbey, and the mill (circa 1400). The abbey, Romanesque architecture, was distinguished by its "Berrichons passages", rare in Brittany, allowing access to the lateral chapels without crossing the cross, reserved for nuns. The site also housed a sepulchral chapel, the chapel of Saint-Roul, where the founders Raoul de La Futaie and Aubert were once resting. Today, the ruins of the abbey and some convent buildings, such as the 17th century infirmary, are protected as historical monuments.
The abbey was a double monastery, a characteristic inherited from Eastern and Celtic traditions, where monks and nuns lived separately under the authority of an abbess. The nuns managed the temporal, while the monks performed the religious services. Priests did not have access to the living space of nuns, even for sacraments, forcing the dying to move in the church choir. The male community, located 200 metres away (the Butte-aux-Moines), disappeared, probably in the seventeenth century. The abbey was a place of power, with extensive possessions and a notable influence, before perishing in modern times.
Among the notable abbesses, Marie de Blois, daughter of Stephen of England, was mentioned until 1156, although her journey was not well known. She was said to have founded a monastery in England after leaving Saint Sulpice. Marguerite Dangennes, abbess from 1609 to 1662, is famous for restoring some of the buildings after the fires. The last abbess, Marie Le Maistre de La Garlais, left in 1792 with 26 nuns, marking the end of monastic life on the site. Today, the remains are shared between private, departmental and associative properties, and some spaces are open to the public.
The miraculous statuette of the Virgin, at the origin of the legend of the Nid-au-Merle, has disappeared. In 1792 the nuns carried a wooden statuette of the 15th century, now preserved in the parish church. The Abbey, classified as a historical monument, remains a major testimony of Breton Romanesque architecture and medieval monastic history. Archaeological excavations and restoration campaigns have preserved part of this heritage, while revealing elements such as the sarcophagi of the founders or traces of polychromy in the transept.
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