Abbaye de La Sauve-Majeure

The monastery was founded in 1079 by the monk Gérard of Corbie on the site of a former hermitage. With the support of William of Aquitaine and its location on the Way of St. James, the abbey experienced rapid growth. By 1095, the year of its founder Gérard's death, it already counted over 300 monks and had twenty priories under its control. Gérard's tomb became a pilgrimage site after his canonization in 1197. The church dedicated to him was consecrated in 1231, and donations allowed for continuous expansion and outfitting of the monastic buildings over the next two centuries. With the onset of the Hundred Years' War, a slow decline began, but even after its end, from 1456, new construction projects were initiated repeatedly until the 17th century.