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Pentemont Abbey
Pentemont Abbey (French: Abbaye de Penthemont, Pentemont, Panthemont or Pantemont) is a set of 18th and 19th-century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The complex had originally been a Cistercian nunnery. The abbey was founded near Beauvais in 1217 and moved to its current site in Paris in 1672 at the behest of King Louis XIV. A reconstruction of the abbey was initiated in 1745 by the Abbess Marie-Catherine Béthisy de Mézières and work was completed in 1783. In the late 18th century, the abbey was one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Paris for daughters of the elite, including Thomas Jefferson's daughters Martha and Mary. The abbey also provided rooms for ladies of good standing who were in search of rest, including Joséphine de Beauharnais when the case of her separation from her first husband was heard.
The abbey was disestablished during the French Revolution and the buildings were turned over to military use, first as the home of the National Guard, then the Imperial Guard, and later the Cent-gardes. It continues to be occupied by the Ministère de la Défense with the exception of the former chapel, which since 1844 has been a Protestant church, the Temple de Pentemont. In August 2014 the Ministry of Defence, facing budget cuts due to austerity policies, sold the buildings to a real estate investment trust, Foncière des 6ème et 7ème Arrondissements de Paris, with plans to move all ministry offices out of the abbey by the end of October, 2016.
Philip of Dreux, the famed crusader bishop of Beauvais, wished to found a convent of the Cistercian order. In 1217 he set aside an orchard southwest of Beauvais, on which were traced out the plans for construction, as well as seven arpents (6-7 acres) of vines. Philip died before the project was completed and his successor, Bishop Milo of Nanteuil, raised the rest of the funds, and it was completed in 1218. Pope Gregory IX issued a bull from the Lateran Palace on the 8 June 1230 which sanctioned the new abbey and declared the funds raised for its endowment protected. The abbey took its name, meaning mountain slope, from its location at the foot of the Montagne de St-Symphorien.
In 1554 the abbey provided refuge to Charlotte I de Monceaux, the abbess of the neighboring Abbey of Saint-Paul, whose election as abbess was opposed by Henry II. She fled to Pentemont after the arrival of the king's soldiers at her own abbey. However, they followed her to Pentemont and demanded by force that she renounce her position, a request to which she was compelled to accede.
In 1671, after the abbey was damaged in a flood, and for economic and geographical reasons, the abbess Hélène de Tourville moved the abbey to Paris. At the time, the convent had twelve sisters. The previous building was demolished and returned to agricultural work as part of the Pentemont farm.
In Paris the abbey took up residence in a former convent, recently suppressed, of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, located on Rue de Grenelle at the current site of the abbey. The sisters dedicated themselves to the education of young women and later added rooms in which women of good standing could find rest. The abbey quickly acquired a distinguished reputation and by the time of its dissolution in 1790 had revenues of 58,000 livres, a great sum for the era.
The final abbess, Marie III Catherine de Béthisy de Mézières, spent 45 years and a great deal of money rebuilding and expanding the abbey. A competition for plans for a reconstruction attracted multiple proposals including one from the royal architect, François II Franque, which drew praise from Denis Diderot in the Encyclopédie for its combination of grandeur and simplicity. The winning proposal, however, was from Pierre Contant d'Ivry.
The many famous students educated at the abbey included the noted abbess and princess Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon, and Louise d'Esparbès de Lussan, the mistress of the Count of Artois, the future King Charles X. Thomas Jefferson's daughters Martha and Mary were both educated at the Pentemont Abbey while he was Minister to France. Their entry into the school was sponsored by the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. The future first lady Abigail Adams was shocked that Jefferson would send his girls to a Catholic school but he assured her that there were many Protestants at the abbey. Conditions were austere for the students, despite the presence of three princesses, with no fires until the water froze and a prohibition on speaking outside of class and recreation. Her time at the school led Martha, nicknamed Patsy, to write a letter to her father expressing her desire to become a nun. Jefferson quickly removed his daughters from the care of the convent.
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Pentemont Abbey
Pentemont Abbey (French: Abbaye de Penthemont, Pentemont, Panthemont or Pantemont) is a set of 18th and 19th-century buildings at the corner of Rue de Grenelle and Rue de Bellechasse in the 7th arrondissement of Paris. The complex had originally been a Cistercian nunnery. The abbey was founded near Beauvais in 1217 and moved to its current site in Paris in 1672 at the behest of King Louis XIV. A reconstruction of the abbey was initiated in 1745 by the Abbess Marie-Catherine Béthisy de Mézières and work was completed in 1783. In the late 18th century, the abbey was one of the most prestigious educational institutions in Paris for daughters of the elite, including Thomas Jefferson's daughters Martha and Mary. The abbey also provided rooms for ladies of good standing who were in search of rest, including Joséphine de Beauharnais when the case of her separation from her first husband was heard.
The abbey was disestablished during the French Revolution and the buildings were turned over to military use, first as the home of the National Guard, then the Imperial Guard, and later the Cent-gardes. It continues to be occupied by the Ministère de la Défense with the exception of the former chapel, which since 1844 has been a Protestant church, the Temple de Pentemont. In August 2014 the Ministry of Defence, facing budget cuts due to austerity policies, sold the buildings to a real estate investment trust, Foncière des 6ème et 7ème Arrondissements de Paris, with plans to move all ministry offices out of the abbey by the end of October, 2016.
Philip of Dreux, the famed crusader bishop of Beauvais, wished to found a convent of the Cistercian order. In 1217 he set aside an orchard southwest of Beauvais, on which were traced out the plans for construction, as well as seven arpents (6-7 acres) of vines. Philip died before the project was completed and his successor, Bishop Milo of Nanteuil, raised the rest of the funds, and it was completed in 1218. Pope Gregory IX issued a bull from the Lateran Palace on the 8 June 1230 which sanctioned the new abbey and declared the funds raised for its endowment protected. The abbey took its name, meaning mountain slope, from its location at the foot of the Montagne de St-Symphorien.
In 1554 the abbey provided refuge to Charlotte I de Monceaux, the abbess of the neighboring Abbey of Saint-Paul, whose election as abbess was opposed by Henry II. She fled to Pentemont after the arrival of the king's soldiers at her own abbey. However, they followed her to Pentemont and demanded by force that she renounce her position, a request to which she was compelled to accede.
In 1671, after the abbey was damaged in a flood, and for economic and geographical reasons, the abbess Hélène de Tourville moved the abbey to Paris. At the time, the convent had twelve sisters. The previous building was demolished and returned to agricultural work as part of the Pentemont farm.
In Paris the abbey took up residence in a former convent, recently suppressed, of the Sisters of the Incarnate Word, located on Rue de Grenelle at the current site of the abbey. The sisters dedicated themselves to the education of young women and later added rooms in which women of good standing could find rest. The abbey quickly acquired a distinguished reputation and by the time of its dissolution in 1790 had revenues of 58,000 livres, a great sum for the era.
The final abbess, Marie III Catherine de Béthisy de Mézières, spent 45 years and a great deal of money rebuilding and expanding the abbey. A competition for plans for a reconstruction attracted multiple proposals including one from the royal architect, François II Franque, which drew praise from Denis Diderot in the Encyclopédie for its combination of grandeur and simplicity. The winning proposal, however, was from Pierre Contant d'Ivry.
The many famous students educated at the abbey included the noted abbess and princess Louise Adélaïde de Bourbon, and Louise d'Esparbès de Lussan, the mistress of the Count of Artois, the future King Charles X. Thomas Jefferson's daughters Martha and Mary were both educated at the Pentemont Abbey while he was Minister to France. Their entry into the school was sponsored by the wife of the Marquis de Lafayette. The future first lady Abigail Adams was shocked that Jefferson would send his girls to a Catholic school but he assured her that there were many Protestants at the abbey. Conditions were austere for the students, despite the presence of three princesses, with no fires until the water froze and a prohibition on speaking outside of class and recreation. Her time at the school led Martha, nicknamed Patsy, to write a letter to her father expressing her desire to become a nun. Jefferson quickly removed his daughters from the care of the convent.
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