The golden age of a royal abbey : History

In 1234, Blanche of Castile, Queen of France, founded the Abbey of Notre-Dame-la-Royale on the fiefdom of Maubuisson. Blanche was none other than the widow of Louis VIII, who was called upon to administer the kingdom for more than ten years while awaiting the coming of age of her son, Louis IX, known as Saint Louis. Maubuisson was a Cistercian abbey for women, founded on the outskirts of Pontoise, where the royal family regularly stayed. Born of royal design, in a society where religion played an essential role, the abbey would live through the centuries, constantly at the forefront of ‘great history’, for better and sometimes for worse…

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  • An abbey under the protection of the crown

    The first nuns settled in Maubuisson in 1242, after a programme of construction work carried out with great skill. On an estate that the abbesses continued to consolidate over time, the abbey became a spiritual refuge for women, most of whom were from the nobility. It was also a royal residence and a necropolis for the monarchy until the end of the 14th century. When Blanche of Castile died in 1252, her solemn funeral was celebrated in Maubuisson.   The kings of France regularly stayed in Maubuisson, sometimes to deal with matters of the utmost importance: Philip the Fair signed the arrest warrant for the Knights Templar there in 1307 and met Edward III, King of England, on the estate in 1313. Charles VII established his headquarters in Maubuisson in 1441 before besieging the town of Pontoise to expel the English.

This proximity to power meant that Maubuisson Abbey found itself on the front line of the Hundred Years’ War from 1328 onwards, then of the Wars of Religion in the 16th century. During these turbulent times, the abbey had to withstand the darkest events: it did not escape the arrival of the Great Plague in 1348, the social unrest that shook the countryside, the devastating waves of conflict on its doorstep, or the succession of famines in the 16th century. It was pillaged many times, but the nuns never stopped rebuilding the abbey and consolidating its land holdings.

  • A period of prosperity  

    Peace returned in 1589. The abbey grounds could then be renovated and enhanced: fountains and grand avenues were laid out, the stream was transformed into an elegant reflecting pool, the surrounding walls were reinforced, the farms were renovated, a mill was built… A period of prosperity followed, during which the abbey continued to welcome ladies of the court who wished to “retreat”.  The abbey also continued to forge close ties with the ruling powers. At certain times, the king assumed the prerogative of appointing the abbess at the head of the institution, as did Francis I and then Henry IV. Wishing to visit his favourite, Gabrielle d’Estrées, who was staying at the abbey at the time, he appointed his sister Angélique d’Estrées as abbess in 1596.

At its peak in the late 17th century, Maubuisson Abbey had around 50 nuns, 20 lay sisters and novices, as well as a boarding school for girls and numerous servants. 

  • Towards a new vocation 

    From the 18th century onwards, the abbey benefited from new building programmes, but the number of nuns began to decline steadily, revealing a moral crisis: by 1790, there were only 18 nuns left. The French Revolution dealt the final blow to the institution with the auction of its movable property in 1793.  From then on, the future of the abbey became highly uncertain: it was used as a military hospital until 1797, then as a ‘quarry’ for its building materials, a farm and then a spinning mill during the first half of the 19th century. The railway network passed by the edge of the estate and urbanisation led to the subdivision of the surrounding land. After initial restoration attempts in the mid-19th century, part of the estate was acquired in 1926 by the Rothschild Foundation. However, it was not until the second half of the 20th century that the abbey was given a new lease of life. 

A major heritage site in the heart of the Île-de-France region, its classification as a historic monument in 1947, the excavations carried out and the acquisition of the estate by the Val d’Oise Department in 1979 paved the way for a major restoration project.  

Now a contemporary art centre since 2001, Maubuisson Abbey welcomes visitors to its vast landscaped grounds.