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Boissière (La)

Boissière (La) - Abbaye La Boissière was founded in 1131 by monks of abbey of Savigny in Normandy. Of the original building survive the west wing and the choir of the monastic church. In 1735, the east and south wings were rebuilt as they are today. The abbey owes his fame to the gift in 1244 by Jean d'Alluye of an important piece of the True Cross, in the shape of a double cross, he brought back from a pilgrimage in Jerusalem. The chapel on the highter ground was built in 1246 so that the pilgrims could venerate the relics. Effigies of two benefactors can still be seen in the monastic church. That of Jean d'Alluye is now in the Cloisters Museum in New-York. During the Hundred Years War the relic was transferred to the Chateau d'Angers for safe keeping. The dukes of Anjou included it in their coat of arms. Following the marriage in 1420 of the Roi René, Duke of Anjou, to the heiress of Duchy of Lorraine the symbol was incorporated in the coat of arms of the province. In 1940 it was chosen as the symbol of the French Free Forces. Partially burned by the English who occupied it, La Boissière was rebuilt and the relic returned to it in 1456. But traditional respect for monastic life declined with the advent of the Renaissance and the Reformation. By the eve of the Revolution they were only three monks. In 1790 the contents were dispersed, the True Cross bought by the founder of the Hospice for Incurables in Baugé and the abbey sold. Since then it has been a private property of the family of the present owners.

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