In 1091, Pierre de l'Étoile founded a Benedictine monastery on the banks of the
Creuse, near the spring or "fount" of Gombaud. In the 12th and 13th centuries, the abbey experienced vigorous growth and established about twenty priories. In the 15th century, the abbots of Fontgombault had numerous ponds dug, as was also done at the abbeys of
Saint-Cyran and
Méobecq, thus contributing to fish husbandry in the Brenne region of the
Berry province. The abbey was sacked and laid waste by the
Calvinists in 1569. It was not restored until the end of the 17th century, when Dom Andrieu accomplished the task. In 1741, the Benedictine community, reduced to five members, was replaced by a community of
Lazarists, who established a seminary and used it as a center for missions in the region. The buildings were partly destroyed during the
French Revolution, when the monastery was nationalised and sold off. It was eventually bought back for religious uses in 1849 by the
Trappists, who re-established it as a viable community by redeveloping its agriculture and setting up a
kirsch distillery. In 1905, the Trappists were expelled from France under the
Association Laws and the monastery was secularised and sold a second time. The purchaser was Louis Bonjean, who set up a button factory in the premises. At his death in 1914, the buildings were put to use as a military hospital for wounded soldiers of the
Belgian army, which it remained until 1918. The expelled Trappists went on to form the
Monastery of Our Lady of Jordan, Oregon in the
United States. From 1919 to 1948, the buildings were used as a diocesan seminary, which eventually closed for lack of vocations. ==Present foundation==