page_title: Chartreuse du Liget
section_title: Foundation
hierarchical_section_title: Chartreuse du Liget / History of Chartreuse / Foundation
caption_attribution_description: Vue de la porte forte de la Corroirie
context_page_description: Chartreuse of Liget was a monastery of hermit-monks of the Carthusians order in France, founded in 1178 in Touraine by Henry II, Count of Anjou and King of England, in atonement for the murder of Thomas Becket committed on his command.
  The Liget is one of five Carthusian outposts founded before the 15th century in Western Europe. There are only a few remains of the medieval monastery ruined by the Hundred Years War and the French Wars of Religion. Rebuilt at the end of the Ancien Régime, it was largely demolished in the French Revolution.
  Many relics of the monastery itself are part of the inventory of Monument historique under the designation "listed monument" or as a "registered monument"; In all cases, this level of protection was gained on March 13, 1972.
  The Corroirie, the fortified gate, the chapel and the old prison were the subjects of an entry in the inventory of historical monuments from the 7 September 1926.
  The Chapel of St. John the Liget is a historic monument by the list of 1862.
context_section_description: From its inception in 1151, Henry II, Count of Anjou and King of England, confirmed his authority and Touraine became the center of the Plantagenet empire stretching from the Scottish border to the Pyrenees. The empire made Chinon its capital and encouraged the founding of new monasteries of the Gregorian reform.
  It is in this context that in 1153 Henry II allowed four Carthusian hermits from Grande Chartreuse (Grande Chartreuse was founded in 1084 by Saint Bruno), to settle in a place called Ligetum bought from Hervé,  Abbey of Villeloin, to found a monastery. The name "Ligetum", of Germanic origin, refers to a barren place, mostly wooded. The founding deed was dated 1178, was confirmed in 1199 by King John of England and in 1234 by Louis IX of France.
  Is the reason behind creation of this monastery to make atonement for the murder of Thomas Becket? No mention of this is made in contemporary documents and the legend seems to rely on an inscription, now lost, which adorned the main gate of the Chartreuse.
caption: Fortified gate of Corroirie of Liget
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