THE ABBEY OF FONTEVRAULT

• Location :   ANJOU, NW FRANCE
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•  Brief History :

•  Founder - Blessed Robert d'Arbrissel  

Contemporaries hailed the preacher and reformer Robert of Arbrissel (ca. 1045-1116) as a thunderclap of holy eloquence that lit up the Church—or they castigated him as a sponsor of sexual license. Robert has remained a controversial figure ever since, seen as a missionary to all manner of Christians, a heretic, a feminist, a founder of the ideal of courtly love, or a libertine. His preaching was so renowned that he was invited to speak before Pope Urban II; many were inspired to take up religious life after exposure to his charismatic asceticism and evangelical gifts. Best known as the founder of Fontevraud, a monastery for women and men in Western France that became the prosperous head of an order of nearly 100 religious houses, Robert of Arbrissel never became a saint.

•  Famous resident - Eleanor of Aquitaine -

Eleanor of Aquitaine (1122-1204) was queen to two kings and mother of two others. Her grandfather was  Guillaume  IX of Aquitaine (1070-1127), who was one of the first troubadours and a member of the First Crusade. His son Guillaume X  was noted for having a brilliant court that was a major center of culture.  Eleanor received an excellent education.   In 1137, her father died, leaving her as heiress of the duchy of Aquitaine,  the richest province in Southern France.  Eleanor was married to Louis VII King of France in 1137 at age 15.  A few years later Eleanor accompanied her husband  on Second Crusade.  In  1152 her  marriage was annulled for consanguinity  though the real reason was probably the incompatibility of personality- Eleanor was lively and educated, Louis was grave and pious. Also, their children had all been female.  Eleanor soon married Henry of Anjou, who became King Henry II of England in 1154. Eleanor bore Henry five sons and three daughters. In 1169,  disgusted by Henry's numerous infidelities, she set up her own court in  Poitiers,  which soon became a center of culture with many troubadours, musicians and scholars in residence. She backed her sons when they revolted against their father in 1173. On their defeat, she  was imprisoned by Henry until his death in 1189.  Eleanor's favorite son, Richard I Lionheart became king- he appreciated Eleanor's advice and named her as regent when he want on crusade.  After  Richard died  in 1199, he was succeeded by his youngest brother, John Lackland (1166-1216). Eleanor  retired in the abbey of Fontevrault where she died in 1204.

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