Even before the tolerance edict of
Emperor Constantine,
Saint Piatus is said to have come to preach in
Tornacum. From the 4th century, there was a Christian presence in the city. A new evangelization began in the 7th century with
Saint-Éloi, bishop of Noyon and Tournai. During this operation, according to tradition, he founded a monastery dedicated to
Martin of Tours in Tournai. The Norman raids put an end to monastic life.
Odo of Orléans was appointed at the cathedral school of Tournai in 1087. When this cultivated man decided to retire to lead a more intense spiritual life, Bishop Radbod II and the canons tried to keep him in the city by donating to him, on May 2, 1092, the remains of the ruined Convent of St. Martin, where, with a few disciples, Odo founded first a canonical and soon a monastic community. The transition from the Rule of Augustine to the Regula Benedicti occurred in 1095 on the advice of
Aymericus, abbot of Anchin. Odo was again elected abbot.
Herman of Tournai, a pupil of Odo, became abbot and historian. Rodulphus directed a workshop with twelve copyists, who handed down many works of antiquity. The abbey also prospered on a secular level. At the end of the 13th century, it had about a hundred monks who managed a vast estate and had founded no less than forty priories. It owned forests, some twenty mills and jurisdiction over several towns. The early 14th century was a time of great crisis. Poor management and large expenditures led Pope John XXII to investigate in 1332. He is documented to have blessed the abbey on October 25, 1332. The abbot and several monks were excommunicated. A new abbot, the chronicler
Gilles Li Muisis (Le Muisit), was appointed and soon began to play a part in temporarlily restoring some of the secular prestige of the abbey. The
Siege of Tournai during the
Hundred Years' War devastated the abbey and the harvest of the monks in 1340 and made it impossible to continue. Under Abbot
Robert Delezenne, St. Martin's Abbey was radically rebuilt, designed by renowned architect
Laurent-Benoît Dewez. The construction of the palace commenced in 1763. The
French Revolution and its excesses led to the dissolution of the monastery in 1796. The buildings were largely demolished, though the luxurious abbot's residence was spared. The city council of Tournai moved there provisionally in 1809, to be permanently installed in 1830, when Belgium became independent. The building and surrounding buildings suffered greatly from the bombing of May 1940. ==Notable people==