Abbey of Notre-Dame de La Couronne
Abbaye de La Couronne / Coronelle / Corona
(La Couronne, Charente)
Around the year 1110, a canonical community gathered at the parish church of Saint-Jean de La Palud, at the initiative of the cleric Lambert, who is said to have been a follower of Robert of Arbrissel (c. 1117). This group later became an Augustinian community, and in 1118 the foundation stone was laid for a new church built in a marshy area, where the community moved in 1122. Lambert became its first abbot.
That initial church soon proved too small, and in 1171 construction began on a new building, which was consecrated in 1201. The other monastic buildings were erected during the first quarter of the 13th century. Alongside this construction activity, the house received significant donations of various kinds, especially from the counts of Angoulême. This prosperous period was cut short by the Hundred Years’ War, which caused partial ruin to the abbey itself and damaged its many properties across the region, which had supported it economically.
The canonry was rebuilt in the second half of the 15th century and continued into the next, but it was once again affected by warfare. This time, the Wars of Religion left the place plundered and burned (1562–1568). After the community returned, a new phase of reconstruction began. While the new church—completed in 1609—was being built, the canons used the parish church. These works strained the abbey’s finances, and in 1626 the Jesuits took charge of La Couronne. Later, in 1644, it was united with the Congregation of Sainte-Geneviève, which gave it new vitality and allowed the final building work of the monastic complex to be completed.
Seal of Abbot Guillaume Singulier (1232-1254)
Illustration published in Chronique latine de l'abbaye de La Couronne (1864)
The abbey was dissolved during the Revolution and sold in 1807. It passed through various private owners, leading to its dismantling. The impressive ruins of the church still stand, preserving elements from the various stages of construction and reconstruction. Remains of other medieval monastic structures, such as the cloister and chapter house, also survive. The abbatial palace and substantial 17th-century constructions are also worth mentioning.
Old postcard. Private collection.
Old postcard. Private collection.
Illustration from Statistique monumentale de la Charente (1844)
Unknown author (1819)
Bibliothèque nationale de France
- BEAUNIER, Dom (1910). Abbayes et prieurés de l'ancienne France. Vol. 3: Auch, Bordeaux. Abbaye de Ligugé
- BLANCHET, Abbé (1888-89). Histoire de l’Abbaye Royale de N.-D. de la Couronne en Angumois. Bulletin de la Société archéologique et historique de la Charente, vol. IX-X
- CASTAIGNE, Eusèbe; ed. (1864). Chronique latine de l'abbaye de La Couronne. Documents Historiques de l’Angumois. Paris: Auguste Aubry
- MICHON, Jean Hippolyte (1844). Statistique monumentale de la Charente. París: Derache
- NANGLARD, Jean (1893). Pouillé historique du diocèse d'Angoulême, 2. Bulletin et mémoires de la Société archéologique et historique de la Charente, vol. 3
- ORTIZ, Marylise (1999). L'abbaye Notre-Dame de la Couronne. Les parties médiévales. Congrès archéologique de France, 153 ss. , 1995. Société française d'archéologie
- SAINT-MAUR, Congregació de (1720). Gallia Christiana in provincias ecclesiasticas distributa. Vol. 2. París: Typographia Regia
- TAILLARD, Christian (1999). Les bâtiments monastiques de l'abbaye de la Couronne. Congrès archéologique de France, 153 ss. , 1995. Société française d'archéologie
The abbey is located in the commune of La Couronne, near Angoulême, to the southwest of the city