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Origin and history

The Abbey of Notre-Dame d'Ivry, founded around 1071 by Roger d'Ivry, Count Anglo-Norman and close to William the Conqueror, was a Benedictine monastery located away from the enclosed city of Ivry-la-Battle. From the family of the lords of Ivry, Roger d'Ivry made it a place of power, marked by family arms: of gold to three gules. The abbey was burned in 1087, then looted in 1563 by the Calvinists during the Wars of Religion, losing its abbey church under the abbatiate of Philibert Delorme.

In the 17th century, the abbey was reformed by the congregation of Saint-Maur, which engaged major reconstructions from 1668 under the Abbé Commendataire Philippe de Vendôme. Like other Norman monasteries, it benefited from work aimed at restoring monastic discipline and architectural heritage. However, its decline accelerated with the Revolution: the abbey was abolished in 1791 and sold as a national property, marking the end of its religious role.

After 1791, the site was converted into a cotton mill in 1805, before a fire ravaged the site in 1869. Today, only the 12th century portal — decorated with a column statue similar to Chartres — and a Romanesque arcade, classified as historical monuments in 1932 remain. The remains bear witness to its prestigious past, while substructions and foothills are still visible in neighbouring properties. The abbey's works of art, like wooden statues and paintings, were transferred to Saint Martin's church in Ivry after the Revolution.

The iconography of the abbey is documented by the Monasticon Gallicanum (plank XXII, 1687) and an engraving of the original plan, offered to the town hall by Gustave de Reiset. These sources, combined with local archives, allow to trace partially its history, from its medieval foundation to its progressive disappearance. The weapons of the lords of Ivry, always associated with the monument, recall its link with the Norman aristocracy of the 11th and 12th centuries.

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