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Origin and history

The Tortoir is a Benedictine fortified priory founded in the 14th century in Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois, in the forest of Saint-Gobain (Aisne). Originally dependent on the abbey of Saint-Nicolas-aux-Bois (created around 1080 by Philip I), it was located near a primitive chapel and a parish church today disappeared. The site, mentioned in 1139 as the villa of Tortorium, was then a farm or agricultural estate ceded to the abbey by Guy, treasurer of the chapter of Laon, against an annual fee.

In the 13th century, residential buildings were added, as evidenced by the withdrawal in 1285 of a former prior with his chaplain and three servants. The Tortoir was built around a square courtyard, with a chapel with two vaulted bays (south side) and a large building 28 meters long, dated from the first quarter of the 14th century. The latter, whose functions were debated (maladry, abbatial homes, refectory), would have been built under the abbatiate of Thierry II de Suisy (1328–1360), whose uncle Stephen was Chancellor of Philip IV and then Cardinal.

Ravaged during the Wars of Religion in 1567, the priory was rented to farmers from 1604 onwards. In 1660 restoration work remained incomplete due to lack of funds. Secularized in 1791, the Tortoir became a farm until 1883, before being acquired in 1925 by a Belgian industrialist for agricultural experiments. Turned into a farm (stable, house), it was classified as a Historic Monument in 1912. Now private property, it retains medieval elements despite its overhauls.

The architecture of the Tortoir reflects its evolution: the Gothic chapel, the girdle bays of the prioral house, and the large building is – perhaps inspired by the galleries of the Royal Palace of Paris – illustrating its dual religious and agricultural role. Archaeological sources and charters (like Bishop Barthélemy of Laon in 1139) document his history, linked to the mother abbey and monastic networks of the region.

The hypotheses about the large building are emphasising its originality: Viollet-le-Duc saw it as a maladry, while recent historians lean for an abbey house or a place to welcome guests. Its square plan, its north and west walls, as well as the traces of a western house (mentioned in 1646) reveal a defensive and functional organization, typical of the rural priories of the late Middle Ages.

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