Abbaye Notre-Dame de Bernay

Bernay Abbey (abbaye Notre-Dame de Bernay) was a Benedictine abbey in Bernay, Eure, France. The designers of its abbey church were ahead of their time, making it one of the first examples of Romanesque architecture in Normandy. It shows the early evolution of that style, its decorative elements and its building techniques.

Founded in the 11th century by Judith of Brittany, daughter of Conan I of Rennes and wife of Richard II, Duke of Normandy, the abbey church was listed as a historic monument in 1862, the other abbey buildings in 1965 and the archaeological remains on the site in 1999..

When Judith married Richard II of Normany, she received a dowry of her father's lands in Cotentin, Cinglais and Lieuvin. Bernay or 'Bernayum' was the centre of these lands, comprising 13 'charruées' (around 800 acres) of land, 18 mills and 21 churches. Judith decided to devote Bernay to the foundation of a Benedictine monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary.

Construction began in 1010, but Judith died in 1017 before work was completed.. In 1025 Richard II had a charter witnessed by the young princes Richard and Robert (the future Richard III and Robert I), the bishops of the province and most of the nobility of Normandy - it granted the abbey a vast estate stretching from Giverville to Courtonne and from Cernières to Beaumont. He also made the new monastery a satellite of Fécamp Abbey, resumed construction and put the Italian architect Guillaume de Volpiano in charge of the building work. The abbot had been a monk at Cluny Abbey and a longtime abbot of Dijon Abbey and was renowned for his work towards the completion of the abbeys at Fécamp, Jumièges and Troarn. After his trip back to Italy around 995, he studied the plans for Dijon Abbey and amended them in collaboration with Upper Italian workers and master masons who were going to work in Burgundy and Normandy. He died in 1031.

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