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Origin and history

The Sainte-Marie Abbey of Saint-Jean-le-Grand, located in Autun (Saône-et-Loire), is a female Benedictine abbey founded between 560 and 592 by Bishop Syagre of Autun, according to a letter from Pope Gregory the Great (602). Brunehilde, Queen of Austrasia, would also have contributed to its construction in 592 on the ruins of a pagan temple. Gregory of Tours already mentions his existence in 589 as a female monastery.

The abbey, looted by the Saracens (732) and the Normans (852), was rebuilt by Charlemagne and renamed Saint John. In the Middle Ages, it played a central role in the religious life of Autun, sheltering relics and organizing processions, such as the Palms connecting several shrines of the city. The Benedictine nuns, reformed in the 18th century, managed wine estates, including a plot of the prestigious Montrachet.

The current buildings date from the 17th to 18th centuries (4th quarter of the 17th and 1st quarter of the 18th). Only the facades and roofs remain, protected since 1944. Excavations revealed ancient foundations under the 12th century Romanesque church. The abbey also kept medieval archives, including books of accounts and acts related to the often disputed elections of abbesses.

A gate, registered in 1942, and a brick tower (now disappeared) marked its location. The nuns had seigneurial rights, such as lodging in their estates, and maintained links with other abbeys, such as Maizières near Beaune. Their influence declined after the Revolution, although traces of their heritage (reused sculptures, controversial gold currency) remain.

Oral tradition and written sources, such as the Gregorii Registry or the work of Benedictine Martène and Durand (1717-1724), underline its spiritual and economic importance. The abbey was a place of power, where abbesses were elected by nuns before episcopal confirmation, according to a ritual attested from the sixteenth century.

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