Abbey of Payerne

Payerne Priory (also known as Payerne Abbey, Abbey of Our Lady of Payerne or Peterlingen Priory) was a Cluniac monastery at Payerne, in Vaud, Switzerland. The monastery is a Swiss heritage site of national significance.

It was founded between 950 and 960 by the Burgundy royal family and especially by Queen Bertha of Burgundy. In 965, the Empress Adelaide placed the priory under Cluny Abbey.

On 2 February 1033, Emperor Conrad II held an assembly, was elected, and crowned King of Burgundy at the abbey.

In the first half of the 12th century, the monks falsified a number of documents as "Testament of Queen Bertha". With the fake documents they appropriated a number rights that they were not entitled to exercise.

The priory was first directly managed by the two abbots from Cluny, Odilo and Maiolus, both of whom lived several times in Payerne. Starting in 1050, Cluny pulled back slightly from directly administering the priory, and the local prior led the monastery with increasing independence. The monks tried, based on the forged documents to gain the freedom to choose their own priors. Although this project failed, they loosened their ties to Cluny Abbey.

The reforming Cluniac, Saint Ulrich of Zell, was prior here in the later 11th century.

From the end of the 13th century, the monastery was in conflict with the city. While the city formally recognized the sovereignty of the prior after the receipt of the town charter in 1348, in fact, he possessed no real power.

Beginning in 1444, the antipope Felix V raised the priory to an abbey. However, this new status was only recognized at the local level and not by their religious superiors or the Roman Curia. This elevation brought no benefits to the monastery. Starting in 1445, it was administered by the Commandry Abbot, who was under the vicar general of Payerne. In 1512 it was brought under the dean of the monastery of Sainte-Chapelle in Chambéry.

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