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Origin and history

Saint-Pierre de Baume-les-Messieurs Abbey, located in the Jura department in Burgundy-Franche-Comté, finds its origins in the ninth century. The first written mentions date from 869, when it is cited as a cella (monastic dependence) attached to the female abbey of Château-Chalon. In 890, King Louis III the Blind entrusted her to this same abbey, before Abbé Bernon, coming from Gigny, restored her according to the Benedictine rule. Bernon left Baume in 909-910 to found Cluny, making this Jurassian abbey the "mother of Cluny", although later conflicts temporarily reduced it to the rank of priory in the 12th century.

The abbey experienced a major boom in the 11th and 12th centuries, under the protection of the Counts of Burgundy. It then controls eight priories and sixty-five churches, drawing its wealth from the vineyards, the salines of Lons-le-Saunier and the mills. Despite tensions with Cluny and the archdiocese of Besançon, she obtained the title of imperial abbey between 1157 and 1186. Ruined in 1336 during the War of the Comtian Barons, it was rebuilt by Abbés Amé de Chalon (1389-1431) and Henri de Salins (1440-1450), who added Gothic elements and reinforced its prestige.

From the 15th century onwards, the abbey fell into a commende, then was secularized in 1759: Benedictine monks became canons living "in the century". The village, formerly named Baume-les-Moines, was renamed Baume-les-Messeurs in 1763. The Revolution abolished the chapter in 1793, and the buildings, sold as national goods, were partially demolished (cloister, abbatial staircase). The Saint-Pierre church, classified in 1862, houses exceptional furniture, including a 16th century Flemish altarpiece and Burgundy sculptures attributed to Claus de Werve.

Today, the abbey consists of three courtyards surrounded by buildings from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries: the revamped Romanesque church, the abbey house, the justice tower, and canonical houses. The site, a property shared between the municipality and individuals, attracts 17,000 annual visitors (2015). Its architecture reflects the successive transformations, from the Merovingian origins to secularizations, in a spectacular natural setting of remote Jurassian.

Archaeological excavations revealed Merovingian remains in the church choir, confirming an ancient occupation. The abbey, first linked to Gigny, played a key role in monastic reform before becoming a symbol of the struggles of influence between Cluny, the Empire and the diocese of Besançon. Its decline began with commende, then secularization, before its disappearance at the Revolution. The protections for historical monuments (1862 to 2023) have preserved this heritage, now valued for its history and landscape.

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