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Origin and history

The abbey Saint-Florentin-et-Saint-Hilaire, founded in 857 by the Knight Foulques under the patronage of Charles de Provence, was originally dedicated to Saints Peter and Marcellin. She adopted the name of Saint-Florentin after the transfer of the relics of Saints Florentin and Hilaire, martyred in Burgundy, in recognition of the services rendered by his monks to Abbé Aurélien of Ainay. This transfer, marked by miracles, popularized the saints and renamed the abbey.

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the abbey reached its peak, notably under Abbé Arnaud de Bonneval, a biographer by Bernard de Clairvaux. Destroyed by the Normans in 911, it was rebuilt by Eudes I of Blois. Louis VI the Gros placed her under his protection in 1110. The Hundred Years' War (1420) and the Wars of Religion (1568) caused looting and fires, requiring reconstruction, notably by the Congregation of Saint-Maur from 1660.

At the time of the Revolution, the abbey became a national good, transformed into a spinning and then a carpet factory. In 1828, the General Council of Eure-et-Loir established an agricultural colony for abandoned children, replaced in 1861 by an asylum of alienated persons. The 15th century abbey house, restored in the 19th century, and the fortified entrance gate remain. Ranked a historic monument in 1883, it now houses a psychiatric hospital.

The outbuildings included the priories of Cormainville (with its Saint-Pierre church and tithe barn) and Courbehaye-Ormoy. The Maurists, beginning in 1715, rebuilt part of the convent buildings and raised the cloisters in 1735, perpetuating Benedictine architectural tradition.

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