Soleilmont, une abbaye oubliée : une histoire cistercienne en namurois (XIIIe-XVe siècle)

Details

Supervisors

Bertrand, Paul

Faculty

Faculté de philosophie, arts et lettres

Degree label

Master [120] en histoire, à finalité spécialisée: histoire et archives

Abstract

enThe medieval history of the Cistercian abbey of Soleilmont is more speculation than fact, as most of its primary sources, essential to retrace its past, have gone missing throughout the years. Only a few edited documents remain, such as an obituary, a charter or some wills. A few acts belonging to other religious institutions or figures can be added to this meagre corpus. The collected data have been completed with testimonies passed on by some local scholars of the 18th century. The abbey’s past could only be revealed through the prism of the context of its creation. Its founding takes place in a stir that affects the whole county of Namur and, in an even wider way, the diocese of Liège itself. Therefrom emerge a multitude of Cistercian communities, their destinies bound for the centuries to come. From its entrance in the Cistercian order in the 13th century to the monastic reform of the 15th century, the abbey Soleilmont developed despite the hazards of time.