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Origin and history

The Priory Notre-Dame and Saint-Étienne de Villiers, located in Villeloin-Coulangé near Loches, was founded in 1162 by Henry II Plantagenet, king of England and Count of Touraine. This monastery belonged to the order of Grandmont, a hermitical order born in Limousin at the beginning of the twelfth century under the impulse of Saint Stephen of Muret. Henry II, raised in the veneration of the founder, installed twelve hermits there in 1157 before confirming his gifts in 1162: an annual annuity and land. The buildings, built around 1170, followed the traditional grandmontain plan, with a church, a wooden cloister (later destroyed), and community spaces.

In the Middle Ages, the priory experienced periods of prosperity and decline. In 1189 Richard Cœur de Lion confirmed the paternal gifts before going on a crusade. By 1295 the community had about 20 brothers, but the black plague and wars (including the Anglo-Navarrais raids in 1358-1360) reduced its strength. Despite the visit of Charles IV the Bel in 1323, the priory suffered from the beginning of 1495, a system which emptied the monasteries of their substance to the benefit of noble secularists. In 1772 his income was transferred to the seminary of Tours, and the last monks left the site in 1780 after the partial destruction of the buildings by the merchant Louis-Jacques de Baraudin.

Sold as a national property in 1792, the priory became a farm before being bought in 1851 by the Branicki family, owners of the Château de Montrésor. Abandoned after 1963, he was praised in 1980 to a greatmontan hermit community, reviving his spiritual vocation. Today, the site, partially restored, houses a small monastic community and visits some Sundays. The south wing, preserved, serves as a residence, while the chapel hosts offices. The priory remains a place of prayer and recollection, faithful to the rule of silence advocated by Saint Stephen of Muret.

Architecture, marked by successive destructions (cloister ruined in 1650, nave collapsed in 1902), preserves 12th century Romanesque elements. The east wing housed the monks' dormitory, while the south wing combined refectory (ground floor) and cells (floor). Transformations took place in the 15th and 17th centuries, but the forest isolation of the site, characteristic of the Grandmontan settlements, preserved its contemplative atmosphere. Ranked a historical monument in 1988, the priory illustrates the turbulent history of monastic orders in Touraine.

The spiritual rebirth of the priory in the 20th century was linked to Philippe-Étienne Permentier, ordained a priest in 1979 by Bishop Alix (Bishop of Mans). First settled in Sarthe, in 1980 he obtained permission to re-establish a community in Villiers, with two companions. The brothers, living from the exploitation of a small estate, partially restored the chapel and south wing. Their lives follow the Grandmont Rule, focusing on prayer, silence and manual work. Each year, they take part in the pilgrimage of Ambazac (Limousin) to the places of life of St Stephen of Muret.

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