page_title: Bèze Abbey
section_title: Feudalism, decline and ruin (1200–1662)
hierarchical_section_title: Bèze Abbey / Feudalism, decline and ruin (1200–1662)
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Tour des Chaux, Bèze, Côte d'Or, Bourgogne, FRANCE
context_page_description: The Bèze Abbey, was a monastery founded in 629 AD in Burgundy, France.
  It was destroyed several times during the next three centuries by Frankish warlords, Saracens, Normans and Hungarians.
  At the end of the 10th century the abbey was re-founded and entered a golden age for the next two centuries.
  By the 13th century the spiritual life of the abbey had declined and the monks were mainly concerned with temporal matters.
  The abbey lost most of its monks during the Hundred Years' War and the Black Death of the 14th century.
  In 1429 it was fortified with stone walls, a moat and towers, two of which have survived.
  The abbey was again devastated by feuds in 1513, by the French Wars of Religion and by the Thirty Years' War.
  In 1662 a final revival began when the monastery came under the Congregation of Saint Maur.
  Most of the surviving buildings date from the reconstruction by this congregation in the 18th century.
  At the start of the French Revolution in 1789 the monastery was dissolved and the property taken over by the state.
  It was sold, and the church and main buildings demolished so the stone could be used for building.
context_section_description: In 1215 the abbot Albert received a letter from Pope Innocent III on the subject of damages caused by a fire which had forced the abbot to send the monks to Cluny.
  In 1219 the abbey finally accepted an offer that had first been made in 1049 and sold its Clos de Bèze vineyard to the canons of Langres. 
  Over time the rule was relaxed and the monks became more concerned with temporal than spiritual matters.
  In 1253 the abbot Geoffroy II was the first to hold the feudal title "Baron de Bèze".
  Around 1280 the abbot Girard III built a school outside the village for children who were not destined for the church.
  The building on the Place de Verdun still stands.
  The archives tell of disputes between the abbot and the bishop of Langres, disputes between the monks and the people of Bèze, disputes with the local lords, disputes over feudal dues and rights of use.
  In 1307 a dispute between the Bèze Abbey and some burgesses of the abbey was heard first by the Jours de Troyes, then escalated to the king's Parlement.
  The Hundred Years' War began in 1337.
  The Black Death appeared in Marseille, then spread throughout France in 1348–49.
  Some thought the world was ending, and others thought God was punishing France for her sins.Guillaume de Chanac became abbot in 1352. 
  He later became bishop of Chartres and a cardinal.
  In 1389 a complaint was lodged by 15 officers and monks of the abbey against the abbot Thiéry de Charmes concerning maladministration of the neighboring school. 
  The award, issued by the court of Langes on the Saturday before Pentecost, meticulously itemized the rights and duties of the abbot.
  These included the requirement to supply wine to the master and clerics of Bèze to drink after vigils.
  Simon de Torcenay was abbot from 1423 until his death in 1444.
  He repaired the buildings and strengthened the fortifications.
  In 1425 he built the first forges on the Bèze.
  He was a "warrior monk" and fortified the abbey with walls surrounded by a moat and accessed over a drawbridge
  He built a second line of walls to fortify the village.
  Around 1428 Claus de Werve made a polychromed limestone statue of the Virgin and Child for the abbey, which was installed in the Church of Saint-Martin at Bézouotte and has survived.
  Construction of the fortified enclosure began in 1429.
  The Chaux tower in the south and the Oysel tower in the north still stand, and carry the arms of Simon de Torcenay.
  In 1433 there was a risk of rebellion by the lords of Château-Vilain, Grancey and Vergy against the Duke of Burgundy.
  On 10 May 1433 the duke addressed letters patent to the monks and people of Bèze telling them to remain faithful to the king of France and refuse entry to any stranger or enemy. 
  That year he invited the abbot Simon de Torcenay, his  councilor and chamberlain, to attend a solemn ceremony of a chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece.
  Bèze was devastated by the war between the Duchy of Burgundy and Franche-Comté, in which the Swiss invaded in 1513.
  During the French Wars of Religion the Bishop of Langres supported Henry IV of France but Bèze was occupied by forces of the Catholic League.
  In 1592 there were only six monks and two novices left.
  With the introduction of the "commende" system the abbot was appointed by the king and had sole responsibility for managing the property.
  Abbots, living outside the abbey, kept most of the income and granted the monks the bare minimum.
  In 1615 the lay lord Charles de Ferrières was appointed abbot.
  In 1636, as a precaution, the relics of the Abbey of Bèze were deposited with the Abbey of Saint-Bénigne in Dijon.
  They were brought back from there 22 years later.
  During the Thirty Years' War in 1636 the Austrian army of Matthias Gallas ravaged the Vingeanne valley.
  Swedish mercenaries, nominally allies of France, destroyed what was left.
  The abbey was ruined, with only a few monks left, each living in a small house they had built for themselves.
caption: Chaix Tower in the south
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