le Thoronet, Abbey of
LE THORONET, ABBEY OF
Former Cistercian abbey of Provence, France, founded in 1136 in the Diocese of Fréjus by Raymond Bérenger, count of Barcelona and marquis of Provence. The monks came from Mazan in the region of Viviers and settled first in Tourtour. The abbey took the name of Florège and was later transferred to nearby Thoronet. On the island of Porquerolles an abbey founded from Thoronet was destroyed by the Saracens in 1160. During the 16th-century thirty years' war the monks temporarily left the abbey. During the French Revolution the monastery was suppressed and the buildings were sold. The most famous abbot was Bl. Fulk, a former troubadour, who became bishop of Toulouse in 1205. In 1854 the French government purchased the buildings and restored them.
Bibliography: l. rostan, "Étude d'archéologie comparée: trois abbayes de l'Ordre de Cîteaux, Silvacane, Thoronet, Senanque," Bulletin monumental, 18 (1852) 111–121. m. aubert, "L'Abbaye du Thoronet," Congrès archéologique de France 95 (1932) 224–243. r. bÉrenguier, L'Abbaye cistercienne du Thoronet (Lille 1955). m. a. dimier and j. porcher, L'Art cistercien (Paris 1962).
[m. a. dimier]