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Origin and history

The abbey of the Sainte-Trinité de Morigny-Champigny was first a priory dependent on the abbey of Saint-Germer-de-Fly, installed in Etréchy in 1082 before being transferred to Morigny around 1095-1096 thanks to the donation of Anseau, son of Arembert. The monastery became an autonomous abbey in 1106 under Abbé Renaud (1099-1109), and grew rapidly, marked by the consecration of its church in 1119 by Pope Calixte II in the presence of King Louis VI and the court. The Chronicle of Morigny and the preserved charters bear witness to the early conflicts with the canons of Etampes, especially for the collegiate Saint-Martin, finally attributed to Morigny after decades of litigation.

Under Abbé Thomas (1110-1140), in 1131 the abbey welcomed Pope Innocent II, who consecrated an altar there in the presence of Bernard de Clairvaux and Peter Abélard. The quarrels with the canons of Etampes, especially on the right of burial, continued despite pontifical interventions. The abbey prospered until the 16th century, during which period the Gothic choir and the collaterals were rebuilt (1525-1540) under the abbots John of Salazar and John Hurault II. However, the partial collapse of the nave in 1575 and the beginning of 1560 marked its decline, culminating in its closure in 1743.

Today, the ancient abbey church, classified as a Historical Monument in 1862, serves as a parish church. There remains only an original Romanesque span, Gothic elements of the 16th century (chœur, apse, buttress), and a 14th century tower. The nave collapsed in 1575 was replaced by a public square, and no vestiges of the conventual buildings or the abbey house survived. Funeral slabs, such as Galéas de Salazar (†1522), recall its monastic past.

The list of the abbots, from the first regulars (Renaud, Thomas, Macaire) to the commedataires (from 1560), illustrates its institutional evolution. Among them, Jean de Salazar and Jean Hurault II marked the architectural climax in the 16th century, while figures such as Theodore de Berziau (1599-1623), president of the Paris Parliament, embodied the period of decline under the beginning. Historical sources, such as the Chronique de Morigny and the work of Dom Basile Fleureau (1668), remain essential to reconstruct its history.

The site also preserves a post-medieval "castle" (late 16th-early 17th century), possibly built on the site of the Abbatial Palace, as well as the communes rebuilt in the 19th century after the destruction of the farm of the lower yard in 1838. These elements, although after the monastic period, testify to the re-use of the estate after the suppression of the abbey in 1743.

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