Timeline

Key figures

Origin and history

The Abbey of Andlau, founded in 880 by Empress Richarde, wife of Charles III le Gros, is a Benedictine abbey located in the Eleon Valley in Andlau (Bas-Rhin). According to legend, Richarde, falsely accused of misconduct, proved his innocence by the fire test before founding the monastery at the location indicated by a bear, symbol still associated with the abbey. Beatified in 1049 by Pope Leo IX, she lived there for her last years after her repudiation.

The abbey, dedicated to the Saint-Sauveur and then to Notre-Dame, enjoyed an exceptional status: its abbesses, named princesses of the Empire, had the right to vote in the Diets of the Holy Empire as early as 1288. The canonesses, coming from the nobility, could leave the convent to get married, the only abbess making perpetual vows. This privilege was confirmed by Louis XIV in 1686, despite the French annexation of Alsace, thanks to the resistance of the nuns.

The abbey church, rebuilt after a fire in 1160, mixes Romanesque and Gothic influences. His portal and frieze, commissioned around 1130 by Hadewitz, testify to his artistic influence. The crypt, dedicated to Notre-Dame, hosted a daily Marian pilgrimage. The abbey had estates in Alsace (Marlenheim, Wagenbourg) and France (Abbey of Etival), and kept papal bubbles at the Archives du Bas-Rhin.

The Revolution ended its prestige in 1789. Today, only the abbey church, classified as Historic Monument from 1846, and some buildings like the porch remain. The abbey illustrates the independence of women's ecclesiastical institutions from secular powers, as well as the Carolingian heritage in Alsace.

Among the 40 princess-abbesses recorded, some marked history, such as Brigitte of Bavaria (sister of Emperor Henry II) or Mathilde of Carinthia (sister of Conrad II the Salica). Their title as Princess of Empire reflected the political autonomy of the abbey, even after its attachment to France under Louis XIV.

External links