abbey of pontigny by Yvonne Blokland

The Pontigny abbey is a former Cistercian abbey located in the municipality of Pontigny in the Yonne department in Burgundy, France. The Latin name of Pontigny is Pontiniacum. The abbey was founded in 1114 as the second daughter monastery of the Cîteaux abbey. She soon became rich. A few farms were founded by the monks of Pontigny, who produced grain and wine, among other things. 43 daughter abbeys would be founded from Pontigny.

The abbey was a popular retreat for the persecuted. Thomas Becket stayed in Pontigny from 1164 to 1166, for example. He had fled here because of his opposition to the English king Henry II. Stephen Langton stayed there from 1208 to 1213. Edmund Rich, Archbishop of Canterbury, stayed in Pontigny in 1240. His tomb is in the monastery church.

The abbey suffered much during the religious wars. In 1560 the abbey buildings were set on fire by the Huguenots. The relics of Saint Edmund were secured by the monks.

Almost all abbey buildings were destroyed in the French Revolution. The church, spared because of the pilgrimage cult around St. Edmund, was made a parish church.

In 1901 the buildings were purchased by the philosopher Paul Desjardins. He founded a cultural center there. A philosophical and literary decade (ten-day) was held every summer, bringing together important European intellectuals. André Gide, André Malraux, and Gaston Bachelard, among others, were present. Desjardins is buried in the cemetery next to the abbey church.

Since th