Abbey of Honau

The Abbey of Honau was a monastic foundation in Northern Alsace which flourished from the 8th century until 1290, when it succumbed to the flood-waters of the Rhine.

The Abbey was founded by Irish and Scottish monks at the beginning of the 8th century, on an island in the Rhine close to the present day village of La Wantzenau, which was later built on Abbey lands. The first abbot was Benedict (alias Benoît).

In 721, Duke Adalbert of Alsace, the brother of Saint Odile, built a new abbey for the monks, just four years after he had built the Abbey of St Stephen in Strasbourg. The Abbey was dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, a popular saint at the time, as can be testified by the establishment of the abbeys of Mont St Michel in Normandy and Saint Mihiel in Lorraine in the same period.

On Adalbert's death in 723, the abbey passed to King Theuderic IV. The abbey continued to benefit from numerous generous donations. Benedict, who was still living in 726, eventually resigned as abbot and chose Tuban as his successor. Tuban is mentioned in several records of donations to the Abbey (Grandidier, op.cit.).

The subsequent abbots were Etienne, followed by Beatus. In 776 the Abbot Beatus is mentioned in a Charter from Charlemagne, referring to him as bishop and confirming that the Abbey would continue to be administered by Irish monks (Grandidier, op.cit.). According to Grandidier, the number of monks increased considerably during the time of Beatus and monks were sent out to found other churches and monasteries, including those at Luttenbach, in Alsace Aschaffenburg in Germany and Munster in Switzerland, all of which depended on Honau. Beatus was succeeded as Abbot by Edigan, who in turn was succeeded by Thomas. The first five abbots were all referred to as saints in the calendar of Saint Pierre le Vieux in Strasbourg, which, at the time of Grandidier, still claimed to hold relics of all five.

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