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Abbaye Sainte Marie de Maumont

    History

    817 : Pépin of Aquitaine founds a monastery on the site of the future city of St. Jean d'Angély.

    1776 : The Benedictine Prior at St. Jean d'Angély directs Gertrude Coullaud to the monastery of Saint-Maixent, where she receives the habit in 1777.

    1792 : During the French Revolution, the Benedictine Abbey at St. Jean d'Angély is confiscated by the government, and the monks go into exile. At the same time, Mother Gertrude Collaud, now novice mistress at Saint-Maixent, is forced to return to her family in St. Jean d'Angély. The monks, as they leave St. Jean, give her a sum of money "to relight the torch."
    1816 : Mother Gertrude gathers several nuns and buys a modest house in St. Jean, with the money left to her by the monks.

    1827 : The monastery is officially founded under the name of Notre Dame des Anges (Our Lady of the Angels). Abbey of Pradines sends nuns to help out, and the community flourishes.
    croquis maumont
    1957 : St. Jean d'Angély has grown so much that the monastery is in the center of town, surrounded by buildings. The community begins to think about moving to a quieter location.

    1959 : The community moves east, to the château of Maumont, nestled among rolling hills in the bucolic Charente countryside. They take a new name to go with their new home: Sainte Marie de Maumont.

    1996 : Foundation of the Monastery Sainte Croix (Holy Cross) in Guinea.