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Concept
Soleilmont Abbey
Summary
Soleilmont Abbey (Abbaye Notre-Dame de Soleilmont) is an abbey of Trappistine nuns (O.C.S.O., or Order of Cistercians of the Strict Obervance) situated in the forest and commune of Fleurus, at Gilly near Charleroi, Belgium, founded, according to tradition, in the 11th century, which became Cistercian in 1237. The nuns were expelled as a consequence of the French Revolution in 1796, but soon re-established themselves in 1802. The community became Bernardine in 1837, and Trappist in 1919.
According to the foundation tradition, of which there is no confirmation, Soleilmont Abbey was founded in 1088 by Albert III, Count of Namur, and the earliest community supposedly consisted of women whose husbands had joined Godfrey of Bouillon on the First Crusade. It was possibly founded as a Benedictine monastery, but the women might simply have lived as secular canonesses and thus been free to resume their married lives, upon the safe return of their husbands. The first recorded reference to a religious house here, however, is in a charter of 1185.
In a document dated 11 January 1237, Baldwin II of Courtenay, Count of Namur, requested that the Cistercian Order accept Soleilmont Abbey, which they duly did, as a dependency of Aulne Abbey. On 23 March 1238 Pope Gregory IX placed the abbey under papal protection, and, at the same time, confirmed the deed of transfer of the abbey to the Cistercians.
To support his request Baldwin confirmed the gift made by his mother, Yolande of Hainaut, to the abbey of a fishpond, a mill and a meadow, and although some further gifts later increased the monastic endowments, the abbey never became wealthy. On account of their lack of resources the nuns were exempted in 1640, for example, from their dues to the Cistercian Order, and their poverty was often mentioned in the assessments of goods that were customarily made at the elections of an abbess.
Soleilmont was affected by the general decadence of monastic life that took place throughout the 14th century, to the extent that by 1414 it had been decided that the only option was to close the monastery.
Official source
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