Early period The 9th century Life of Saint Maximin records that
Euspicius, the archpriest of Verdun, went to meet
Clovis I, who had come to punish the city for its revolt. After Euspicius obtained the royal pardon, the king attached himself to both him and his nephew
Mesmin. While seeking a retreat in 508, Euspicius discovered an unoccupied royal villa named Micy near Orleans, situated at the confluence of the Loire and Loiret rivers. He received the domain of Micy from Clovis in order to establish a monastery there. The king added other domains and a piece of land inside the walls of Orléans, called Alleu de Saint-Mesmin, to serve as a refuge in case of troubles. The donation diplomas attributed to Clovis are forgeries. The monastery was built by the monks inside an enclosure, including cells of cenobites and two large buildings. The church was dedicated to Saint Stephen. From Micy Abbey, monastic life spread within and around the
diocese of Orleans. Among the monks who lived in the monastery and who are registered in its menologe since the beginning of the establishment, Jean Mabillon noted twenty-six of them recognized as saints by the Church. Besides
Euspicius and
Mesmin, the first and second abbots, there were: •
Liphardus and Urbicius who founded the Abbey of
Meung-sur-Loire; •
Lyé who became a hermit in the forest of Orléans; likewise Viatre, who sought solitude in
Sologne; and
Doulchard who retired to the forest of Ambly near Bourges. •
Leonard of Noblac introduced the monastic life into the territory of
Limoges; Almir, Ulphacius and
Saint Bomer († c.560) in the vicinity of
Montmirail. • Avitus († about 527) was active in the district of Chartres; Leonard of Vendœuvre († c.570) in the valley of the
Sarthe; • Fraimbault de Lassay and Constantine set up hermitages in the
Javron forest; Leonard of Dunois, Alva and Ernier in
Perche. •
Calais († 541) founded the monastery of Aniole; Laumer († c.590) became Abbot of Corbion. •
Leobinus became
Bishop of Chartres. • Theodemir, Senard, Amatre, and Pavas were recognized as holy monks.
Agilus, Viscount of Orléans, was a protector of Micy.
Carolingian era In the early days, the rule followed was that of the Eastern hermits observed by the followers of
St. Anthony and
St. Basil. These rules had been brought to the West by
John Cassian and
Martin of Tours. In 788, Charlemagne appointed the
Bishop of Orléans,
Theodulf, as abbot of Fleury-Saint-Benoît, abbot of Micy, abbot of Saint-Aignan of Orleans and of Saint-Liphard of Meung-sur-Loire. Sacked and abandoned during the wars of the eighth century, Micy was refounded by Théodulf, who was not a regular abbot of Micy but a beneficiary abbot. Noting the state of the abbey, he undertook to improve it by introducing the
Benedictine rule. To introduce the rule, he asked
Benedict of Aniane for monks to teach it. Twelve monks under the leadership of a superior, were sent to the abbey of Micy.
Later period François III de La Rochefoucauld,
Bishop of Clermont, received the abbey of Micy in 1598. He undertook to complete the restoration of the buildings in 1606. The Benedictine monks of the abbey were criticized for their conduct. So the abbot decided to expel them from the abbey and to put in their place monks from the congregation of reformed Cistercians, called
Feuillants. This congregation had been created in 1583 at the Feuillants monastery in Toulouse. He obtained the approval of Pope Paul V after being in Rome in 1607 when he was appointed cardinal. The pope sent a brief to this effect to the bishop of Orleans,
Gabriel de L'Aubespine, on October 12, 1607. After a period of contestation by the Benedictine monks of the abbey who were ordered to leave, the Feuillants were solemnly installed on December 10, 1608. The abbey was suppressed during the
French Revolution and the buildings demolished. The last abbot of Micy, Chapt de Rastignac, was one of the victims of the "
September Massacres", at Paris, 1792, in the prison of L'Abbaye. ==Carmel of Orléans==