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Origin and history

The Priory Saint-Michel-des-Anges, located in Saint-Angel en Corrèze (Nouvelle-Aquitaine), finds its origins in a charter of 783 or 785, where Count Roger de Limoges and his wife Euphrasie yield the church dedicated to Saint Michel and his castrum adjacent to the Abbey of Charroux. Although this charter is contested for its anachronisms (some of the mentioned dependencies date from the 9th or 11th century), it attests to an ancient foundation, perhaps linked to a donation by Charles Martel to finance military campaigns against the Sarrazins. Under the protection of the Holy See from 1050 to 1211, Saint Angel evolved from a monastery led by an abbot to a priory dependent on Charroux after 1243, following conflicts with the lords of Mirabel.

In the Middle Ages, the priory suffered two major crises: in 1180 he was attacked by mercenaries of Ebles IV of Ventadour, then in 1375, ravaged by the troops of Louis II of Bourbon during the Hundred Years War. The fires of 1412 and 1425, as well as the looting of the Wars of Religion (especially in 1594 under Protestant Prior René de L-Age), marked its decline. Despite these destructions, partial reconstructions took place, such as that of the bedside before 1450 by the priors Martin and Jean de Mauriac, or the vault of the nave at the end of the 15th century, decorated with coat of arms of the Ventadour and Plas families.

In the 17th century, Benedictines of the St Maur congregation restored the monastery from 1657, despite the opposition of the Abbé de Charroux. Seven Maurist monks settled there in 1664, rearranging the conventual buildings (south wing, stable) and the western facade. Conflicts with local lords, such as the Rocheforts (converted to Protestantism) or the Clarys (which seized feudal symbols such as the girouettes in 1656), lasted until the 18th century. At the Revolution, five monks still reside there.

The architecture of the priory reflects these successive phases: the Romanesque nave (late 12th century) preserves remodeled exterior walls, while the five-sided bedside, the capitular hall (15th century), and the vaults of the nave (late 15th century) bear witness to Gothic reconstructions. Maurists in the 17th century added a south wing with infirmary and a square tower, now extinct. Ranked as a Historic Monument in 1840, the site benefits from restorations, such as that of Baudot's Anatole, which replaces shingles with a Darde roof.

The excavations and architectural studies (especially in 1998) identified six construction campaigns between 1100 and the 16th century, including a possible roundabout of neo-corinthian columns around 1100. The capitals, the bays similar to those of the Meymac Abbey, and the coats of arms of the arch keys (Armories of France, Ventadour, Plas) illustrate these stylistic influences. The round tower, perhaps prior to the 15th century, and the remains of the cloister (without galleries) complete this complex, partially destroyed before 1811.

The priory houses relics attributed to Saint Gaudence de Brescia and Saint Aubin d'Angers, probably transferred during the Norman invasions. Its history is also marked by local seigneurial families: the Mirabels (protectors and then usurpators in the 13th century), the Rocheforts (teachers of Saint-Angel from the 14th to the 17th century, including Charles, converted to Calvinism), and the Clarys (in conflict with the monks until 1752). These dynamics reflect the tensions between secular and religious power in Limousin.

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