Feastday: April 17
Death: 1067
Benedictine abbot and founder. Born in Auvergne, France, he was originally known as Robert de Turlande. After becoming a priest and canon of St. Julian's in Brioude, he founded a hospice, earning distinction for his care of the poor. He then gave himself over to the spiritual direction of St. Odilo at Cluny, France. After making a pilgrimage to Rome, he was moved to give up his life at Cluny and to settle near Brioude, Auvergne, with a fellow hermit, a former knight named Stephen.. There he attracted followers and built the abbey of Casa Dei to house the burgeoning community of three hundred monks.
For the village in the Eure department, see Chaise-Dieu-du-Theil. | This article needs additional citations for verification. (January 2017) |
La Chaise-Dieu (Auvergnat: La Chasa Dieu) is a commune in the Haute-Loire department in south-central France. Its inhabitants are called Casadéens, from the Latin name of the city.
Geography
La Chaise-Dieu occupies a 1082 m butte which dominates a plain between the mounts of Livradois and Velay. The closest cities are Brioude, Ambert, and Le Puy-en-Velay.
The Senouire forms most of the commune's eastern and western borders.
History
La Chaise-Dieu means "the House of God" in French (from the Occitan "Chasa Dieu") and is a reference to the Benedictine abbey which was founded on the site in 1043 by Robert de Turlande, a kinsman of Gerald of Aurillac and canon of Saint Julian's church at Brioude, nearby. Robert served an apprenticeship at Cluny under Abbot Odilo, then served as abbot in the community he founded in the wilderness here, initially in the company of a repentant knight, Stephen. The traditional date of the founding is 28 December 1043. The abbey had over 300 monks and 42 outlying priories depending on it when Robert de Turlande died, probably in 1067. After his death, Robert was quickly canonized (1095) as Saint Robert de Turlande (also known as Saint Robert of Chaise-Dieu). The Chaise-Dieu continued to grow throughout the Middle Ages, becoming the motherhouse of further congregations of Black Monks. Pope Clement VI began his vocation as a monk at Chaise Dieu and was the patron of the vast abbey church (built 1344–1350), a suitable setting for his tomb.
The abbey church
The monks were driven out and the abbey secularized during the French Revolution. Clement's vast abbey church, his tomb and the abbey cloister remain. The fresco of the Dance of Death (ca 1470) is a famous example of this motif, which gained wide currency following the visitations of the Black Death. The partners of the figures are skeletons and the parade strictly follows precedence of contemporary society, with Adam and Eve preceding all: the pope then the emperor, the legate, the prince, the cardinal, the High Constable, the patriarch, the knight, then the abbot, the townsman, the merchant, the lady, ending with the lawyer, the minstrel, the clerk, the ploughman, the monk, the innocent child and the pilgrim.
Between 1727 and 1740, the Jansenist bishop Jean Soanen was exiled to the abbey.
Population
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Culture
French pianist Georges Cziffra started an annual festival of sacred music in La Chaise-Dieu in 1966.
References
- ^ "Répertoire national des élus: les maires". data.gouv.fr, Plateforme ouverte des données publiques françaises (in French). 2 December 2020.
- ^ "Populations légales 2018". INSEE. 28 December 2020.
- ^ La Chaise-Dieu Abbey website(in French)
- ^ Saint of the Day
External links
- Visit La Chaise Dieu - Official website for tourism
- (in Polish) Photos of La Chaise-Dieu
