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Abbaye Aux Hommes

 
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The Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey") is a former abbey
Abbey

An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
 church in the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 city of Caen
Caen

Caen is a commune in France in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados Departments of France and the capital of the Basse-Normandie r?gion in France....
, Normandy
Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coast of France south of the English Channel between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands....
. Dedicated to Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen , known as the Protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
 ("Saint Etienne"), it is considered, along with the neighbouring Abbaye aux Dames
Abbaye aux Dames

The ?glise de la Saint Trinit? is a church in Caen, Normandy, northern France. It is part of what once was the Abbaye aux Dames, one of Caen's two abbeys....
, to be one of the most notable Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
 buildings in Normandy. Like all the major abbeys in Normandy, it was Benedictine.






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Chevet Abbhommes
The Abbaye aux Hommes ("Men's Abbey") is a former abbey
Abbey

An abbey , is a Christianity monastery or convent, under the government of an Abbot or an Abbess, who serves as the spiritual father or mother of the community....
 church in the French
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 city of Caen
Caen

Caen is a commune in France in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados Departments of France and the capital of the Basse-Normandie r?gion in France....
, Normandy
Normandy

Normandy is a geographical region corresponding to the former Duchy of Normandy. It is situated along the coast of France south of the English Channel between Brittany and Picardy and comprises territory in northern France and the Channel Islands....
. Dedicated to Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen

Saint Stephen , known as the Protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
 ("Saint Etienne"), it is considered, along with the neighbouring Abbaye aux Dames
Abbaye aux Dames

The ?glise de la Saint Trinit? is a church in Caen, Normandy, northern France. It is part of what once was the Abbaye aux Dames, one of Caen's two abbeys....
, to be one of the most notable Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
 buildings in Normandy. Like all the major abbeys in Normandy, it was Benedictine. Lanfranc
Lanfranc

Lanfranc was Archbishop of Canterbury, and a Lombards by extraction....
, before being archbishop of Canterbury, was the abbot of Saint-Etienne.

Built in Caen stone
Caen stone

Caen stone or Pierre de Caen, is a light creamy-yellow Jurassic limestone quarried in northwestern France near the city of Caen.It was used in the construction of the late eleventh century austere Norman Romanesque Church of Saint-?tienne, at the Abbaye-aux-Hommes , that was founded by William the Conqueror....
 during the 11th century, the two semi-completed churches stood for many decades in competition. An important feature added to both churches in about 1120 was the ribbed vault, used for the first time in France. The two abbey churches are considered forerunners of the Gothic
Gothic architecture

Gothic architecture is a style of architecture which flourished during the high and late Middle Ages. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
. The original Romanesque
Romanesque architecture

Romanesque architecture is the term that is used to describe the architecture of Middle Ages Europe which evolved into the Gothic architecture style beginning in the 12th century....
 apse
Apse

In architecture, the apse is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical Vault . In Romanesque architecture, Byzantine architecture and Gothic architecture Christian abbey, cathedral and church architecture, the term is applied to the semi-circular or polygonal section of the sanctuary at the liturgical east end beyond the altar....
 was replaced in 1166 by an early Gothic chevet, complete with rosette windows and flying buttresses. Nine towers and spires were added in the 13th century. The interior vaulting shows a similar progression, beginning with early sexpartite vault
Sexpartite vault

Sexpartite vault, in architecture, is a rib vault divided into six bay s by two diagonal ribs and three transerse ribs. The principal examples are those in the Abbaye-aux-Hommes and Abbaye-aux-Dames at Caen , Notre Dame de Paris, and the cathedrals of Cath?drale Saint-?tienne de Bourges, Notre-Dame of Laon, Noyon Cathedral, Senlis, Oise a...
ing (using circular ribs) in the nave and progressing to quadipartite vaults (using pointed ribs) in the sanctuary.

The two monasteries were finally donated by William the Conqueror and his wife, Matilda of Flanders
Matilda of Flanders

Matilda of Flanders was Queen consort of the Kingdom of England and the wife of William I of England.She was the daughter of Baldwin V, Count of Flanders, and Adela of France, Countess of Flanders , daughter of Robert II of France....
, as penalty for their marriage against the Pope's ruling. William was buried here; Matilda was buried in the Abbaye aux Dames
Abbaye aux Dames

The ?glise de la Saint Trinit? is a church in Caen, Normandy, northern France. It is part of what once was the Abbaye aux Dames, one of Caen's two abbeys....
. Unfortunately William's original tombstone of black marble, the same kind as Matilda's in the Abbaye aux Dames, was destroyed by the Calvinist iconoclasts in the 16th century and his bones scattered.

As a consequence of the Wars of Religion
French Wars of Religion

The French Wars of Religion is the name given to a period of civil war and military operations, primarily between France Roman Catholic Church and Protestantism , which also involved the factional struggles between the aristocratic houses of France such as the House of Bourbon and House of Guise ....
, the high lantern tower in the middle of the church collapsed and was never rebuilt.

The Benedictine abbey was suppressed during the French Revolution
French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of political and social upheaval and radical change in the history of France, during which the French governmental structure, previously an absolute monarchy with feudalism for the aristocracy and Roman Catholic Church clergy, underwent radical change to forms based on Age of Enlightenment principles of cit...
 and the abbey church became a parish church.

From 1804 to 1961, the abbey buildings accommodated a prestigious high school, the Lycée Malberbe. During the Normandy Landings, inhabitants of Caen found refuge in the church; on the rooftop there was a red cross, made with blood on a sheet, to show that it was a hospital (to avoid bombings).