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Origin and history

The Priory of the Haie-aux-Bonshommes, founded around 1177 in Avrillé (Maine-et-Loire) by the lords Raoul and Étienne de Veo with the support of Henri II Plantagenet, is one of the greatmontanes destined to treat the leper monks. The king granted privileges (tax exemption, asylum) and donations (vignes, Montreuil mill), confirmed in 1304 by Philip III the Hardi. The 12th century church, classified, preserves an apse in cul-de-four and 14th century murals commissioned under the Priorate of Roger de Beaufort, future Pope Gregory XI (1370–1378), the last pope of Avignon.

In the Middle Ages, the Priory houses a dozen monks dedicated to prayer and care, with a lateral chapel reserved for lepers. In 1317 he became priory by joining the one of Craon. The frescoes, dating from the second half of the 14th century, illustrate biblical scenes such as Jacob and the scale or Adam naming animals. The attired leprosy disappeared in 1440, but the site remained a place of charity.

In the 16th-17th centuries, the priory was partially rebuilt: the west wing adopted a classical facade, and the south wing was redesigned, while the east wing, destroyed during the Revolution, was rebuilt in the 19th century by Dominicans. In 1600, the comandate prior Claude Ligier, a royal chaplain, erected a private residence 300 metres from the monastery. Deleted in 1772 with the order of Grandmont, the priory was sold as national property in 1791, becoming firm and then holiday colony in the 20th century.

In the 20th century, the site was purchased in 1974 by the Movement of Catholic Youth, then in 1979 by the Saint-Dominic Brotherhood, which established a traditionalist community there. The buildings, protected as early as 1947 (classification of the chapel, inscription of the convent façades), were restored. The Dominicans of Avrilé, initially close to the FSSPX, were distancilet in 2014. The frescoes, the carpented cloister and the Oratory Chapel (12th century) bear witness to its medieval and hospitable heritage.

The architecture mixes Romanesque elements (chamber vaulted nave, triplet of windows) and classical (scaling of the seventeenth century). The stained glass in Cistercian grey and the murals, attributed to Gregory XI, underline his spiritual and artistic role. The priory also illustrates the tensions between religious heritage and secular reassignments, from the Revolution to the present day.

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