Saint-Valery-sur-Somme, Abbey of

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SAINT-VALERY-SUR-SOMME, ABBEY OF

Former benedictine monastery at the mouth of the Somme River, arrondissement of Abbeville, Somme, France. The monastic foundation dates back to the time of St. walarich (valÉry), a disciple of columban, who settled there in 611 on land donated by King Clothair II. The monastery took its original title from the contemporary name of that area, Legonacum. It suffered much from the normans in the 9th century and much from secular abbots in the 10th century who replaced the monks with secular clerics. The abbey was restored in 981 by Hugh Capet before he ascended the French throne. He reinstated there Benedictine monks from Saint-Lucien in Beauvais and returned the body of St. Valéry from Sithiu (saint-bertin). Henceforth, the abbey was called Saint-Valéry. It suffered during the late Middle Ages from the Hundred Years' War and from the ravages of the Calvinists. The abbey was affiliated with the maurist congregation in 1644; it was destroyed during the French Revolution.

Bibliography: Gallia Christiana, v.113 (Paris 171585),v.1416 (Paris 185665) 10:123141. l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 193539) 2:291112.

[h. platelle]

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