Former command of Beaugy à Planquery dans le Calvados

Timeline

Heritage classified

Key figures

Origin and history

The Templar Commandery of Beaugy, located in Planquery in Calvados, was founded in the 12th century by the Bacon family, notably Roger III Bacon, lord of Molay-Bacon, accompanied by Mathilde his mother, Geoffroy de Malherbe, Jean de Magneville, Henri de Vaubadon and Guillaume de Louvel. This military monastery, typical of the Templar settlements, combined religious functions and agricultural activities, as evidenced by the inventories of 1307 revealing a prosperous estate (180 sheep, 14 cows, 98 pigs, etc.) and a large labour force (labourers, shepherds, servants).

The Notre-Dame-du-Temple chapel, built in the 13th century, is the most remarkable vestige of the site. Sober and austere, it was distinguished by a three-piece western door decorated with carved columns and a tympanum representing the Lamb of Christ under a cross. Inside, there was the gissant of Richard d'Harcourt (XII century), a knight templar in sts under the white robe of the Order, holding a shield with two-sided mouths of gold. Today, this mutilated layr illustrates medieval funeral art linked to military orders.

The commandary experienced local tensions, as in 1258, during a conflict with the religious of the Plessis-Grimult for the tithes of Planquery, resolved by apostolic arrangements. His decline began with the arrest of the Templars in 1307: the baili of Caen, Jean de Verretot, had the last three brothers of Beaugy (Albin Langlois, Guillaume le Raure, Raoul de Peruise) incarcerated in Caen, among other Norman commanderies. The inventories prepared then describe a flourishing farm, with cattle, servants and tools, reflecting the wealth of the Templars before they fell.

Classified as a Historical Monument in 1995 (inscription of the chapel), the command office is now a private property. Its history thus combines religious heritage, seigneurial power and memory of military orders, in a Normandy rural setting marked by medieval heritage. The current remains — partial chapel and foundations of the mansion — offer a rare testimony of Templar architecture in Lower Normandy.

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