View source for Abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons

[[File:Soissons Krypta1.jpg|thumb|Abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons]]
The '''Abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons''' was a [[Rule of St. Benedict|Benedictine]] monastery, at one time held to be the greatest in [[France]].<ref name=goyau>[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14130c.htm Goyau, Georges. "Soissons." The Catholic Encyclopedia] Vol. 14. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 25 September 2022 {{PD-notice}}</ref>
==History==
The abbey was founded in 557 by [[Clotaire I]] on his manor of Crouy, near the villa of [[Syagrius]], just outside the then boundaries of [[Soissons]] to house the remains of [[Medardus|Saint Medard]],<ref name=goyau/> the legend being that during the funeral procession the bier came to a standstill at Crouy and was impossible to move until the king had made a gift of the whole estate for the foundation of the abbey.
Besides Saint Medard, kings Clotaire I and [[Sigebert I]] were also buried here. In 751 [[Childeric III]] was deposed here, and [[Pippin the Short]] crowned. Richard Gerberding, the modern editor of ''[[Liber Historiae Francorum]]'' places its anonymous author here, ca 727.<ref>Richard Arthur Gerberding, ''The rise of the Carolingians and the Liber historiae Francorum'', Oxford: Clarendon Press. (1993 [1987]).</ref>
[[Hilduin of Saint-Denis|Hilduin]], abbot from 822 to 830, obtained in 826 from [[Pope Eugene II]] relics of [[Saint Sebastian]] and [[Saint Gregory the Great]], and also succeeded in obtaining the transfer to the abbey of the relics of [[Saint Gildard]] and [[Saint Remigius]]. He rebuilt the church, which was consecrated on 27 August 841, in the presence of [[Charles the Bald]] and seventy-two prelates; the king himself assisted in carrying the body of Saint Medard into the new church.<ref name=goyau/>
In 804, [[Pope Leo III]] stayed at Saint-Médard, having celebrated Christmas with [[Charlemagne]] at Quierzy.<ref>[http://www.saint-medard-soissons.fr/images/documents/Saint-Medard-booklet.pdf "The Royal Abbey of Saint Médard in Soissons", Association for the Royal Abbey of Saint Médard in Soissons]</ref> In 833 [[Louis the Pious]] was imprisoned and underwent a public penance here.
In 1121, after a council at [[Soissons]] where he was accused of heresy, [[Peter Abelard]] was, as punishment, confined to the convent of Saint Medard.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Letters of Abelard and Heloise with a Particular Account of Their Lives, Amours, and Misfortunes: Extracted Chiefly From Monsieur Bayle by John Hughes, Esq., to Which Are Added, Four Poems, By Mr. Pope, and Other Hands |last=Hughes |first=John |publisher=Printed for Joseph Wenman, No. 144, Fleet-Street |year=1787 |location=London |page=35}}</ref> In 1131 [[Pope Innocent II]] reconsecrated the rebuilt church and granted those visiting it [[indulgence]]s known as "Saint Medard's pardons".
The wealth of the abbey was immense. In the 12th century the community owned about two hundred and twenty [[fief]]s. The abbey also minted coins.
Its wealth remained into the 16th century but the abbey was destroyed in 1567 during the [[French Wars of Religion|Wars of Religion]],<ref>[https://religiana.com/saint-medard-abbey-crypt "Saint Médard Abbey Crypt", Religiana]</ref> and although it was restored in 1637, it never regained its former stature. The abbey was dissolved in the [[French Revolution]].
The buildings had disappeared by the beginning of the 20th century, except for the still extant but almost forgotten crypt of about 840.<ref>[http://home.eckerd.edu/~oberhot/visitor-north.htm Pictures of the crypt]</ref>
==Abbots==
The abbots of St. Medard's included:
* [[Arnold of Soissons|Saint Arnold of Soissons]], who in 1081 became [[Bishop of Soissons]];
* [[Gerald of Sauve-Majeure|Saint Gerald of Sauve-Majeure]], late 11th century;
* [[Cardinal de Bernis]], [[commendatory abbot]] from 1756
==Burials==
*[[Chlothar I]]
*[[Eadgifu of Wessex]]
==References==
<references/>
==Sources==
*{{cite CE1913  |last=Goyau  |first=Pierre-Louis-Théophile-Georges |wstitle=Soissons |volume=14}}
*{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Soissons |volume=25 |page=352}}
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[[Category:Benedictine monasteries in France]]
[[Category:557 establishments]]
[[Category:6th-century establishments in Francia]]
[[Category:18th-century disestablishments in France]]
[[Category:Monasteries dissolved during the French Revolution]]
[[Category:Christian monasteries established in the 6th century]]
[[Category:Merovingian architecture]]
[[Category:Burial sites of the Merovingian dynasty]]