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Heritage classified

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Origin and history

The priory of Flavigny-sur-Moselle, founded in the 10th century by Bérenger, bishop of Verdun, is one of the oldest cenobitic monuments in Lorraine. Born from a monastic barn created in 952, it enjoyed seigneurial rights (justice, mill, toll on the Moselle) and housed a Benedictine community. The inhabitants of Flavigny enjoyed privileges such as the "free milling". Over the centuries, the priory passed under the authority of noble families (Haraucourt, Pulligny) and in 1650 the young Prince Charles of Lorraine, appointed prior at the age of nine.

In the 15th century, Barthélémy de Lucy rebuilt the church, inspired by the Chapel of the Cordeliers of Nancy, after its destruction by the Bourguignons in 1477. His successor, Vary de Lucy (1509–1667), adorns the stained glass building, now dispersed (Metropolitan Museum, private collections). The 17th and 18th centuries saw the beautification of the site: Dom Charles Noirel erected the cloister (1692–10), while Dom Rémy Ceillier (1733–61), a renowned theologian, preserved the relics of Saint Emeritus offered by a Roman cardinal.

The Revolution marks a violent turning point. In 1789, the inhabitants demanded the abolition of the priory's seigneurial rights, causing bloody repression: two leaders were hanged in Nancy. The property was confiscated in 1790, and the eleven monks expelled. Purchased by an individual concerned with its preservation, the site became in 1824 a boarding school for young girls run by Benedictines of Vergaville. These nuns, expelled in 1904, gave way to secular vocations: prevention for TB children (1925), and rehabilitation centre for disabled people after the Second World War.

Ranked a historic monument in 1990, the priory retains its church, cloister, vaulted rooms (refectory, kitchen, library) and two protected stairs since 1986. His medieval stained glass, works by Valentin Bousch, illustrate biblical scenes such as The Creation of the World. Today, associative property, the site bears witness to nine centuries of religious, social and architectural history, from Benedictine origins to its contemporary uses.

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