Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Saint-Sauveur Abbey of Redon was founded in 832 by Conwoïon, an archdeacon of Vannes, with five companions, including Gerfroi and Fivetein. Supported by Nominoë, Breton chief, and despite the initial opposition of Emperor Louis le Pieux, in 834 she obtained a concession charter for her lands. The Gesta sanctorum Rotonensium (late 9th century) describe its foundation, its miracles, and its role as a place of pilgrimage thanks to the relics, including those of Pope St. Marcellin reported from Rome in 848. The abbey adopted the Benedictine rule under the influence of Gerfroi, a monk trained at Saint-Maur-sur-Loire.

In the 11th and 12th centuries, the abbey reached its peak, controlling 27 priories and 12 parishes in Brittany. It benefited from the Gregorian reform (bul of Pope Gregory VII in 1073–1084) and confirmation of his possessions by Eugene III in 1147. The abbey was rebuilt, with a Romanesque nave and an iconic cross tower. The gifts of the machtierns (local teachers) and nobles, like Draolius in 1050, financed its expansion. Threatened by the Viking raids (860s), the community temporarily fled to Maxent, where Conwoïon died in 868.

From the 13th century, the abbey declined in the face of the rise of Ducal power. The Romanesque bedside was replaced by a Gothic bedside (11th century), and a bell tower was added in the 14th century. In 1461 Louis XI granted him 600 ECU to extend his influence. In the 17th century, Richelieu, a trading abbot, launched a total reconstruction of the convent buildings by architect Dom Denys Plouvier, integrating the abbey with the congregation of Saint-Maur. A fire in 1780 damaged the nave, subsequently shortened. Transformed into a college in 1804, then into a high school by the Eudists in 1839, it now retains its 17th century cloister, medieval frescoes and contemporary stained glass windows.

The cloister, decorated with the arms of France, Brittany and the Saint-Maur congregation, was renovated between 2009 and 2016. The abbey mixes Romanesque (crossing tower) and Gothic (chevet) styles, while seals and a cartular from the 9th to the 12th century, preserved at the Rennes Archives, testify to its radiance. Classified as a Historical Monument since 1862 (church) and 1990 (conventual buildings), the Abbey illustrates the links between religious power, Breton politics and monastic architecture.

Gesta sanctorum Rotonensium and Vita Conuoionis (XI century) remain the major sources of its origins. The author of the Gesta, perhaps Ratvili (Bishop of Aleth), describes a godly community dedicated to the poor and pilgrims. The abbey also symbolizes tensions between Franks and Bretons, Nominoë playing a key role in freeing the monastery from Carolingian authority. His cartular (391 acts) and his burrows reveal a rigorous management of his vast domains, including priories such as Notre-Dame de la Chaume (1055).

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