This is the history of the Prieuré de Bray sur Aunette  

The history of the priory was marked by three main periods. The buildings, the yards, the woods reveal the transformations due to historical events and the activity of man.

The beginning

The priory was founded in 1249 by Guy le Bouteiller, Lord of Senlis, in a will that he drewup in  1248, before setting off with King Louis IX for the seventh crusade, in the course of which he died in 1249 while disembarking in Damiette in Egypt.

A clause in the will specified that " on-fifth of the estate of the said lord shall be used to found in Bray, near Senlis, an abbey of brothers of the order of Saint Augustine as a dependency of the monastery of Saint Victor in Paris "

 

Abbaye St Victor of Paris on the 12th century

As this one-fifth was an inadaquate sum for the foundation of an abbey, the bishops of Paris and Senlis and the abbot of St Victor in Paris reduced the foundation to just a priory consisting of six monks.   This decision was confirmed in a letter patent by King St Louis in 1255, but the building could not be started until confirmation was received from Pope Alexander IV in 1259.

On Christmas Eve 1263, the first prior, Raoul de Crécy, accompanied by five monks, took up residence in the nex buildings. After him came a succession of about forty priors up until the late 18 th century.

  

The Prieuré original set up

Five  centuries of religious life and a few adventures

Among them, were :

  • Gérard Marescot ( 1445 ), who later became abbot of La Victoire;

  • Jean III de Nicolai ( 1456 ) and Germain Le Moyne (1462) who both went on to become abbot of St Victor in Paris;

  • Jean IV Petit ( 1483 ) who was buried  in the chapel in 1505;

  •  Robert Barthe ( 1539 ) who lived to be 100;

  • Henri Bauld, who was renowned for his sermons;

  •  Benoit Faure ( 1632 ) who brought the spiritual renewal of the community and who enhanced the beauty of the chapel and teh priory as never before.

  •  Jean-Louis Hardy ( 1740 ) to whom ther is a memorial slab in the chapel

  •  and finally Jean-Baptist Cassenet ( 1763 ), former prior of St Victor in Paris, who was the last prior of Bray and died en 1773.

 

The end

1773 Death of the last prior, Jean-Baptist Cassenet.

At this date, the grand prior of the royal abbey of St Victor in Paris, decided to let the whole of the priory estate "so that the abbey might to be relieved of th burden of administering the property; however, the tenant is to ensure that only honest folk dwell on the estate and that the chapel be decently maintained.

1791 During the French Revolution, the prieuré was declared the property of the nation and confiscated before being sold off in 1791, to Nicolas Philippe Louis Charles Desprez de la Rézière, Parisian "jurist" whose family will keep the property during almost one century. Then, for the next 200 years, it functionned as a farm, with the chapel used as a barn.

Since 1926, it has been on Monuments Historique list of protected sites.

 

 

        beginning of the century                                                                            seen current after repair of the roof

 

The flourish

1926 Prieuré de Bray (ancient): nearby cellars and vestiges situated in the North of the chapel are registered on the supplementary inventory of ancient memorials from 1925 till 1970. Registration by order of April 8th, 1926. (J.O N 31 of February 6th, 1999) NOR: MCCE9800916K on: http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/WAspad/UnTexteDeJorf?numjo=MCCE9800916K)

1943 The chapel, the dovecote and the cellar situated in the North of the ancient monastic complex are classified in conformance with ancient memorials.

1970 - 1980 Christiane and Charles de la Bédoyère, owners since 1943, restore roofs and masonries of the farm building.

1981 - 1997 New owner of the prieuré, the Delacharlery family begins very important works on the whole site and mobilizes to engage the decisive stages which will put the chapel out of water.

1992 Realization of a preliminary study by Yves Boiret (ACMH) for the restoration of the chapel classified in conformance with Ancient memorials.

1996 the Restoration of coverages and skeletons of the chapel by Vincent Brunelle ( ACMH) These works end in 1996 after the acquisition of the prieuré by Patrick and Sylvie Warin Thibault.

1998 Acquisition of the prieuré by the family Sirot Saunier.

1998 Beginning of the rehabilitation on buildings surrounding the chapel.

2003 Organisation of a team "project and organization" during a first seminar gathering around thirty experimented persons willing to get involve in the program of rehabilitation.

A new breath is given to return to the Prieuré de Bray its past brilliance.

  

This is the chantier !  

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