The Manoir de Brion, also known today as Château de Brion, is the former Benedictine priory of Le Mont St-Michel Abbey.  It was founded in 1137 by the Abbott Bernard du Bec, and King Charles VI in 1393, Louis XI in 1462, and François I in 1532 all stayed at the priory on the way to Le Mont St-Michel.  Today, it offers 4 guest rooms and travelers can enjoy lovely bed and breakfast accommodations in this historic château.

Le Mont St-Michel was originally known as Mont Tombe and located on the now famous island in La Manche.  Christianity spread to this region around the fourth century, and by the mid-sixth century it had a strong presence in the area.  By that time, Mont Tombe was populated by religious devotees: hermits ~ probably some Celtic monks.  Benedictine monks were installed at the Abbey in 966, and today Le Mont St-Michel is the second most visited tourist attraction in France and a UNESCO World Heritage site.

Again in Normandy, Abbey of Saint Peter (Abbaye de Saint-Pierre), the Jumièges Abbaye, is today an impressive ruin.  Founded in 654, it prospered and housed nearly 1000 monks, but in the 9th century it was pillaged and burned to the ground by the Vikings.  It was rebuilt in the 10th century, and a new church was consecrated on the site in 1067, and the consecration was attended by William the Conqueror.  It suffered through several wars, and the French Revolution brought an end to its life as a monastery.  Today all that remain are portions of the cloisters and library (the contents of which were removed to Rouen for safekeeping), the twin towers and the western façade.  However, it is a wonderful place to visit, very near the River Seine in the Seine-Maritime département.  Jumièges is an example of Merovingian architecture ~ in vogue between 500 and 750 ~ of which there are at least another 35  in France alone.  The Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris is one of those.

Abbey of Saint Peter, Jumièges

In Auxerre in Burgundy is the Abbaye St-Germain.  The abbey has a rich history that began in the 5th century; the Bishop of Auxerre, Saint Germain, was honored by the Queen for converting France to Catholicism.  As a result, she had a basilica built in his name.  Later a college was founded, and construction and reconstruction of the monastery continued off and on from the 12th through the 19th centuries.  Don't miss the 11th century (Carolingian era) French frescoes, one of which depicts the martyr, Saint Etienne, being stoned at the wall of Jerusalem.

Cistercians 

Soon after the death of his mother when he was 19 years old, Bernard of Clairvaux decided to join the Cistercian Abbey at Cîteaux. His inspiration was to live his life with purity in keeping with the monastic reform movement of the time.  In the preceding centuries, the prelates were not known for being morally pure causing the Church to lose its credibility.  He believed that the Rule of Saint Benedict was not being adhered to in proper fashion and that reform was needed to bring the monasteries back to stricter adherence to their original values.  He spread the word throughout France, and promoted the growth of Cistercian abbeys and monasteries. 

Bernard was a very charismatic man who convinced almost everyone he knew to join the monastery.  Although he kept women out of the Cistercian life, he placed love at the heart of his theology putting his monasteries under the protection of Our Lady.  Love of God and love of the Church were the themes of his prolific writings, and he believed that political and religious actions were joined as one, obliging him to get involved in issues outside of monastic life.  He was even put in the position of deciding between two popes who had been elected at the same time: Innocent II and Anacletus II.  He was asked to choose the one who was the most worthy, a task that took him years of negotiations, and he selected Innocent II.

Senanque Abbey, Provence

The Cistercian abbeys and monasteries survive to this day in France.  The most prominent ones being the Abbey de Fontenay in Montbard in Burgundy's Côte d'Or (shown in this drawing and in photos below), Notre Dame de Senanque in Provence, and Saint-Nicolas les Cîteaux just south of Dijon, France, considered the mother house of the Cistercian monastic order.  Cistercian architecture was also different from that of the Benedictine monasteries.  They were initially very modest. Bernard first built Clairvaux, and Cîteaux was begun five years later in 1140.  It was the feeling of Bernard and the Cistercian monks that Benedictine abbeys such as Cluny were too opulent.  They had to adhere strictly to the Rule of Saint Benedict.  The Cistercians built some 750 abbeys and other buildings such as barns, mills and forges.  It was important to them that the monasteries be strong, built with discipline and control, and that the monasteries were reflective of their spiritual, simple, monastic life. 

Abbaye de Fontenay at the entrance gate and one of its gardens

At Abbaye de Fontenay, for example, you can visit the dormitory, the cloister, the abbey church and the forge.  It is a World Heritage Site and has retained almost all of its original buildings built in the Romanesque and Early Gothic styles of architecture.  Fontenay provides a unique picture of a Cistercian monastery and monastic life in the 12th century. 

Bernard strongly opposed extravagant church decoration, writing, "The walls of the church are ablaze with riches, while the poor go hungry; its stones are covered in gold and its children go naked; the money for feeding the poor is spent on embellishments to charm the eyes of the rich;. . . "  He despised gargoyles saying, "What is the meaning [of] . . . these horrible beauties, the beautiful horrors? ...If we are not ashamed of such frivolities, we should at least regret what they cost!"

Trappists 

The Trappists took the reform movement of the Cistercians even further: in 1664 in Normandy they came together and called themselves the Cistercians of the Strict Observance.  Although they do not take a vow of silence, they speak only when absolutely necessary.  Trappists wear grey habits, distinguishing them from the other two.  They have monasteries and convents around the world, and there are 29 in France ~ the most well-known being the Abbey de Cîteaux in Saint-Nicolas-les-Cîteaux (also known as Abbaye de Notre Dame de Cîteaux) , once the Cistercian monastery of Bernard of Clairvaux and now Trappist.  Visitors are welcomed to stay as guests.  Each Monday and Tuesday about 300 cheeses are produced in the Abbey creamery ~ it is a semi-soft artisanal cheese made from the milk of Montbéliarde cows that graze in the surrounding meadow for about six months a year.  The cheese is sold primarily in the Abbey shop.

Abbaye de Cîteaux, St-Nicolas-les-Cîteaux

Friars

And, of course, there was the friar (meaning 'brother' from the French word frère).  As monks withdrew from society, the friars, who took a vow of poverty and didn't own property, relied on society for their survival.  The mendicant (begging) friars of the Middle Ages, the Dominicans and the Franciscans,  were established in 1216 and 1223 respectively, and were seen as an instrument of the papacy.  St Francis of Assisi is the most well-known of the Franciscan friars. They were also educated, spoke at public gatherings, and worked among the townspeople.  The third much larger order was the Jesuits who did not take a vow of poverty and worked among the more influential people of society.

In the late 18th century, there was an anti-clerical attitude followed by the violent hostility of the French Revolution, and the monasteries ~ even in the most Catholic of countries ~ lost their economic power and status.  The orders of monks and friars lost the influence that they once had.  But, in the 19th century there was a return to a more religious society and the rediscovery of the great centuries of the Middle Ages when monasticism played an important role in Christian society.

Today, some abbeys and convents from the Middle Ages are still functioning.  One very special one that comes to mind is the Abbaye de Solesmes. A monumental structure, the Abbey has become world famous for its Gregorian chants.  Chants originated with the Romans and appealed to Gallican musicians who transformed them, calling them Gregorien chants.   They were first taught by ear and committed to memory, and the written text was used only to prompt for correct performance.  After losing popularity during the Middle Ages when it was thought the changes were corrupted, along came the Renaissance, and the music and vocals were 'corrected', resulting in what was referred to as 'plainsong' ~ an even further corruption of the original music.  This lasted for about two hundred years, until 1833 when a priest from Le Mans, Dom Prosper Guéranger, undertook the task of restoring Benedictine musical life on the site of an old priory ~  in this lovely small village of Solesmes.  Listen here to part of one chant from Solesmes.