St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier
| Imperial Abbey of St Maximin, Trier | ||||||||||
| Reichsabtei Sankt Maximin in Trier | ||||||||||
| Imperial Abbey of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||||
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_mit_Stadtmauer.jpg) St. Maximin's Abbey (centre) with St. Paulinus' church (left) and city wall of Trier. Engraving by Merian, c. 1646
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| Capital | St. Maximin's Abbey | |||||||||
| Government | Theocracy | |||||||||
| Historical era | Middle Ages | |||||||||
| • | Founded | 4th century | ||||||||
| • | Refounded by Benedictines |
6th century |
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| • | Refounded after Norman destruction |
899 |
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| • | Imperial immediacy | before early 12th century | ||||||||
| • | Papal immunity confirmed | 1140 | ||||||||
| • | Surrendered to Trier | 1669 | ||||||||
| • | Secularised | 1802 | ||||||||
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| Today part of |
 Germany
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St. Maximin's Abbey (German: Reichsabtei St. Maximin) was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been founded by Saint Maximin of Trier in the 4th century. Maximin (died 346) and other early bishops of Trier were buried in the crypt of the church on the site, an early Christian cemetery, and the church, at first dedicated to Saint John the Evangelist, was later renamed after Maximin. A Benedictine monastery was established here in the 6th century, possibly replacing an earlier community. It was destroyed by the Normans in 882 and re-built from 942 to 952. In the 13th century it was destroyed by a fire and re-built again on the plan of the previous buildings.
Albero de Montreuil failed to subject the abbey to Trier's jurisdiction in the early 12th century, but the question of the abbey's Imperial immediacy (German: Reichsunmittelbarkeit) was for centuries a matter of conflict, contested by Trier, to whom in 1669 the abbot formally renounced all claim to the status, making submission to the archbishop in his capacity as Prince-elector.
In 1674 the abbey was completely destroyed by French troops. It was rebuilt between 1680 and 1684 but, unusually for the period, still in a Gothic form.
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