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Origin and history

The Abbey Saint-Antoine, located in Saint-Antoine-l-Abbaye in Isère, has its origins in the 11th century. According to tradition, the knight Jocelin de Châteauneuf, miraculously healed by Saint Anthony, began about 1074 a pilgrimage to the Holy Land to bring back his relics. Upon his return, he began the construction of a church, completed by his brother-in-law Guigues Didier. In 1083 Benedictine monks from the Abbey of Montmajour settled there, founding a priory. The Romanesque church was consecrated in 1119 by Pope Calixte II, sheltering the relics of St.Antoine, attracting pilgrims and sick suffering from the "evil of the ardent" (ergotism).

In the 12th century, tensions between Benedictines and Antonins (a hospital community dedicated to the sick) intensified. In 1209, the Antonins obtained permission to build their own church, marking their progressive emancipation. In 1297, the priory was erected as a chief abbey by Pope Boniface VIII, becoming the spiritual and administrative center of the hospital order of Saint Anthony. The works of the great Gothic church, which began in the 13th century, stowed until the 15th century, financed by the commanding offices of order and marked by conflicts with Benedictines, finally expelled in 1289.

The 14th and 15th centuries saw the completion of the abbey, despite interruptions due to financial difficulties and wars. The façade, the retaining wall and the large staircase were built between the 15th and 18th centuries. The wars of Religion (1562, 1567, 1580) caused significant damage: looting, destruction of the statuary, burning of the roof and the bell tower. The restorations, undertaken from 1593 onwards, continued in the 17th and 18th centuries, with particular attention to interior decoration and conventual buildings.

In the 18th century, the order of the Antonins, in decline, was gathered in 1777 at the order of St John of Jerusalem (Hospitaliers) by decision of the Pope and King Louis XV. The Hospitallers sold some of the property and entrusted the hospitals to the city. The French Revolution led to the dispersion of relics and works of art, although the treasure was partially preserved. Ranked a Historic Monument in 1840, the abbey was completely restored in the 19th century. Today, it houses a departmental museum and retains an exceptional treasure of 350 objects, including reliquaries, paintings and goldsmith's pieces.

The abbey played a major role in the care of the sick, especially those suffering from the "evil of the ardent", an epidemic of ergotism ravaging medieval Europe. Its radiation extended thanks to a network of commands in Dauphiné and beyond, as in Hungary. The tau, symbol of the order adopted around 1160, and the imperial eagle granted in 1502 by Maximilian I, illustrate its prestige. The cabinet of curiosities, created in the 18th century by Abbé Étienne Galland, contained an Egyptian collection later studied by Champollion, testifying to its cultural role.

The sacristies, adorned with Louis XV woodwork, still house the treasure of the Antonins, including the shawl of Saint Anthony offered in 1648. The departmental museum, housed in the former novitiate, traces the history of the abbey and exhibits works by painter Jean Vinay. The architectural ensemble, classified in 1981 and 1993, remains a major testimony of the medieval religious and hospital heritage in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes.

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