Nivelles Abbey

Abbey of Nivelles

Abbaye de Nivelles
View of the Collegiate Church
Location within Belgium
Monastery information
Order	Benedictine nuns; Canonesses Regular
Established	649
Disestablished	1794
Dedicated to	St. Gertrude of Nivelles
Diocese	Liège
People
Founder(s)	St. Itta of Metz
Important associated figures	St. Gertrude of Nivelles, St. Amandus, St. Foillan
Architecture
Status	destroyed
Functional Status	heritage site
Completion date	1049 (abbey church)
Site
Coordinates	50°35′51″N 4°19′24″E / 50.59750°N 4.32333°E / 50.59750; 4.32333Coordinates: 50°35′51″N 4°19′24″E / 50.59750°N 4.32333°E / 50.59750; 4.32333

The Abbey of Nivelles, is a former Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire founded about 650. It is located in the town of Nivelles in Province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium.

The abbey was founded by Itta of Metz, the widow of Pepin of Landen, Mayor of the Palace of the Kingdom of Austrasia, with their daughter, Gertrude of Nivelles. Christianity was not at all widespread in that place and time. It was only the development of cities and the initiative of bishops that led to a vast movement of evangelism, which led to the flowering of monasteries everywhere in the seventh and eighth centuries.

Gertrude's Vita describes how Bishop Amandus came to Itta's home, "preaching the word of God. At the Lord's bidding, he asked whether she would build a monastery for herself and Christ's handmaid, Gertrude". Itta founded Nivelles as a Benedictine monastery of nuns. It later became a double monastery, with one section for monks and another for nuns. However, after they entered the monastic life, Gertrude and her mother suffered, "no small opposition" from the royal family. During this period, trials for the family are mentioned involving the usurper Otto's bid to replace the Pippinids at the side of the king.

There is some precedent for Gertrude and Itta's withdrawal to Nivelles with the intention of founding a monastery. According to Wemple, "during the second half of the 7th century, women in Neustrian-Burgundian families concentrated on the creation of a network of monasteries rather than on the conclusion of politically advantageous unions, while families whose holdings were in the northeastern parts of the kingdom, centering around the city of Metz, were more concerned with the acquisition of power through carefully arranged marriages." Itta's move to start a monastery was thus not completely out of the ordinary, and may have in fact been the norm for a widowed noblewoman.