Timeline

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Origin and history

The Abbey of Saint-Jouin de Marnes came into being in the fourth century, when Jovinus (or Jouin), from a wealthy family of Silly near Loudun, settled with disciples in the forests of Ensio (now Saint-Jouin-de-Marnes). He founded an oratory around 342, then a monastery that became one of the first Christian homes in Poitou, after Ligugé Abbey. Its relics, preserved on site, attract pilgrims and radiate the site as a spiritual and cultural centre.

In the sixth century Bishop Felix de Nantes sent Martin de Vertou to evangelize the region. The latter imposes the Benedictine rule on Ension, structuring monastic life. Despite the troubles of the 8th and 6th centuries (Carolingian wars, Viking invasions), the abbey, spared thanks to its distance from the river axes, welcomes fugitive monks and their relics, strengthening its prestige. In 878, the reconstruction of the Carolingian church and the influx of donations transformed Saint-Jouin into a major step on Via Turonensis, the road of Compostela.

The abbey's prosperity culminated in the 11th and 11th centuries. The Romanesque church, built between 1095 and 1130 under the direction of Raoul de La Futaie, embodies this golden age: its imposing dimensions and carved decoration make it a jewel of poitevin art. At its peak in 1179, the abbey administered 127 churches and founded several priories, including that of Saint-Nicolas aux Moutiers-en-Retz. The Romanesque vaults, later replaced by Angelian Gothic vaults, bear witness to architectural adaptations.

Conflicts are lasting on the site. During the Hundred Years War (1356-1422), the English occupied the area: the abbey was fortified (mâchicoulis, defence towers) and resisted, but suffered damage. The wars of Religion (1562-1598) were devastating: in 1568 the Protestant troops of Coligny looted and burned the monastery, making the relics of Saint Jouin disappear. In the 17th century, the Maurists briefly revived its activity, before an irreversible decline.

The French Revolution (1789) rings the bell of monastic life. The abbey, sold as a national property, is partially preserved thanks to the intervention of Prosper Mérimée in the 19th century. Ranked a historical monument in 1862, the Abbatial Church — with its carved facade, southern cloister and constitutive elements — today remains as a vestige of an exceptional religious and artistic heritage, linked to the history of the Upper Poitou and medieval pilgrimages.

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