Context During the late seventh and early ninth centuries,
Charlemagne's troops succeeded in driving back the
Saracens (
Muslims) south of the
Pyrenees. To reinforce the newly conquered territories, Charlemagne founded the
Spanish March, a group of counties linked to the emperor. In the Catalan counties to the east of the Pyrenees, numerous monasteries were founded to clear, populate and manage these new territories under
Frankish rule, and to propagate and strengthen the Christian faith. These monasteries grew, when they could, thanks to donations, land purchases, and the
privileges granted to them by the
Carolingian kings in texts known as diplomas. Seventeen Catalan monasteries received royal diplomas during the ninth century.
Family foundation The first text to mention Saint-André d'Eixalda dates back to 840 or 841, when a group of fourteen people from the same family donated an inheritance of a farm (
vilar) named
Paulià, which they had inherited from their grandparents or earlier (the land may have been in the family for over a hundred years). In its early days, the monastery of Saint Andrew of Eixalada was essentially a family enterprise, living modestly, its only possessions being the
Vilar Paulià and some scattered lands. This situation hardly changed until 854. Recesvind (or Recceswindus) Donations of land, money, tools and livestock were substantial. The richest donor was Protasius. He obtained the status of
conversus, which set him apart from the other occupants of the monastery. He kept in his personal estate a sum of money and a piece of land at Cuxa, further down the valley, as well as great freedom in the use of his possessions. Protasius' role became central to the monastery's development: right up to the end, he was the one who appeared in all the acquisition texts, whether because the land was purchased with his money, or because his influence played a decisive role. From the time of his arrival, the monastery was under two-headed management: it was run jointly by the incumbent abbot and Protasius, who never held the title of abbot at Eixalada..
First Bible of Charles the Bald, circa 845. The first text to mention Protasius in the
Conflent region dates back to 845, already in Cuxa. Before settling in Eixalada, he acquired several new possessions and gained influence in the region around Cuxa (
Taurinya, le
Llech and
Codalet). Protasius founded a church dedicated to Saint Germain on his Cuxa estate, in 866 or earlier, as indicated by a donation text dated that year. Monks reside here.
Royal Abbey In 871, the new
Count of Conflent,
Miro, traveled to
Douzy (now in the
Ardennes department, on the other side of France) to present himself to the Frankish king
Charles the Bald. He obtained a diploma from the king, granting the monastery the title of royal abbey. As a result, the monastery came under the Count's protection, and the management of the monastery, previously in the hands of the abbot and Protasius, was supplemented by a third head in the person of the Count. In 874, Baro, one of Protasius' companions from
Urgell, became abbot. This probably means that Witiza had died. In 878, Miron,
Count of Conflent, became
Count of Roussillon, with the spiritual and logistical support of the monastery, which provided him with both men and the resources of its extensive domain during a conquest that required the use of force. The flood washed away the monastery's buildings and possessions. The church was destroyed, as were the archives. The monks managed to save only the most precious documents, including the royal diploma and
cartulary. After the destruction of Eixalada, Baro was dismissed as a monk in favor of Protasius. It was decided not to rebuild the monastery, but to move it to Cuxa, on Protasius' private land. This brought the community closer to
Prades, a rapidly developing town, and to
Ria, the birthplace of Count Miron's family. The days of the isolated monastery in the canyons were over, and the abbey took on a growing political role. In 879, Protasius died. In his will dated 13 September 879, he mentions an abbey of fifty monks accompanied by twenty servants. A later text counts thirty-five monks in the new Cuxa abbey, giving a death toll for the flood of around fifteen monks. The number of other people living in and around the Eixalda monastery is unknown. After the monastery's destruction, a
hamlet remained on the site until the 14th century, when it disappeared. In 1860, the
Thuès-les-Bains spa was built. == Possessions ==