Notre Dame du Val des Écoliers was a monastery of Augustinian canons regular in the city of Mons, Belgium, founded as a priory in 1252 at the invitation of Margaret, Countess of Hainaut.[1] It became an abbey in 1617 and was suppressed in 1796, during the French period.[2] The buildings were later used as an arsenal, a meeting hall, a warehouse, a factory, and a hospital, but were allowed to decay into considerable disrepair.[2] Most of the old buildings were demolished in 1876, but one tower remained and was restored in 1892. It was classified as a monument in 1955 and is now a landmark.[2] The monastic ruins were investigated by archaeologists in 2021 prior to being cleared to make way for an underground carpark and office space.[3] Initially expected to last a month, the dig would ultimately run from March to July, and exhumed about sixty sets of human remains dating from the 14th and 15th centuries.[1]
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Notable members
editReferences
edit- ^ a b Corentin Massart and Cécile Ansieau, "Mons: campagne de fouille sur le site de l'abbaye du Val des Écoliers", Chronique de l'Archéologie wallonne, vol. 30 (2022), pp. 114-119.
- ^ a b c Frédéric Marchesani (2014). "Val écoliers Mons". Connaître la Wallonie.
- ^ Pierre Wuidart (28 April 2021). "Mons: un mois de fouilles au lieu de deux dans les ruines de l'abbaye du Val des Écoliers". RTBF.
Further reading
edit- Gonzalès Decamps, "Notre-Dame du Val-des-Écoliers, prieuré, ensuite abbaye de chanoines réguliers de l'Ordre de Saint-Augustin, à Mons: Monographie archéo-historique", Annales du Cercle archéologique de Mons, vol. 19 (1886), pp. 1-384.