Hersende of Champagne

Hersende of Champagné (1060 – 1 December 1114) was the founder and first Abbess of Fontevraud Abbey.

Hersende of Champagné
Born	1060 Anjou
Died	1 December 1114(1114-12-01) (aged 53–54) Fontevraud Abbey
Nationality	Kingdom of France
Other names	Hersende de Champagné; Hersende of Champagne; Hersend of Montsoreau; Hersend of Champagne; Hersende of Fontevrault

Biography

Hersende was born in Anjou to a noble French family in or after 1060. Hersende had been married twice and widowed twice. She became a disciple of Robert of Arbrissel. Hersende persuaded her step-son, Gautier of Montsoreau, to provide her with the land to found the abbey. Robert was a believer in double monasteries, which considered of separate quarters of men and women under the management of the Abbess. Hersende became the first Abbess of the Abbey of Fontevraud, overseeing the construction of the abbey herself. This was the Motherhouse of the Order of Fontevraud. Hersende died in Fontevraud Abbey.^[1][2]>^[3][4][5]

It has been postulated that Hersande may be the mother of Héloïse, wife and lover of Abelard.^[6][7][8]

Sources

1. "Hersende of Champagne (fl. 12th c.)". www.encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com.
2. Venarde, Bruce L. (31 May 2018). Women's Monasticism and Medieval Society: Nunneries in France and England, 890–1215. Cornell University Press. ISBN 978-1-5017-1724-6.
3. Esperdy, Gabrielle (14 January 2013). "The Royal Abbey of Fontevrault: Religious Women & the Shaping of Gendered Space". Journal of International Women's Studies. 6 (2): 59–80. ISSN 1539-8706.
4. Müller, Annalena (10 September 2021). From the Cloister to the State: Fontevraud and the Making of Bourbon France, 1642-1100. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-43629-7.
5. Crozet, René (1936). "L'église abbatiale de Fontevrauld. Ses rapports avec les églises à coupoles d'Aquitaine et avec les églises de la région de la Loire". Annales du Midi. 48 (190): 113–150. doi:10.3406/anami.1936.5320.
6. Mews, Constant J. (23 September 2016). The Lost Love Letters of Heloise and Abelard: Perceptions of Dialogue in Twelfth-Century France. Springer. ISBN 978-1-137-05921-5.
7. Jones, Sherry (7 October 2014). The Sharp Hook of Love. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4516-8479-7.
8. "Constant J. Mews. Robert d'Arbrissel, Roscelin et Abélard. Robert d'Arbrissel, entre philologie et histoire. Robert d'Arbrissel, entre philologie et histoire". elec.enc.sorbonne.fr.