Conservatoire
du Patrimoine
des Abbayes

Saint-Maur

The Maurist sources

A guide to the archives, manuscripts and libraries of the Congregation.

The Congregation of Saint-Maur wrote a great deal, and first of all about itself. Each house had to inventory its archives, keep its book of memorable things and answer the questionnaires sent from Saint-Germain-des-Prés; the scholars copied the charters of the whole kingdom for the great histories of the order and of the provinces. At the dispersal of 1790, these papers were seized together with the libraries. The greater part passed to the Bibliothèque nationale, the rest to the Archives nationales, to the departmental record offices and, by various routes, abroad.

This guide follows the path they took. For each repository it points out the collections that concern the Congregation and its works, and gives the address of the online finding aid. It forms the fifth book of the Conservatoire’s classified bibliography.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France: Saint-Germain-des-Prés

The manuscripts of Saint-Germain-des-Prés entered the Bibliothèque nationale in 1795 and 1796, after the fire that had destroyed, in the summer of 1794, a large part of the abbey’s printed books. There they form two groups: the Latin manuscripts 11504 to 14231 and the French manuscripts 15370 to 20064. They contain the ancient manuscripts the Maurists had gathered, coming notably from Corbie, and the papers of their own work: the correspondence of dom Luc d’Achery, dom Jean Mabillon, dom Bernard de Montfaucon, dom Edmond Martène and dom Thierry Ruinart, the forty-seven volumes of the Monasticon Benedictinum, the registers of the general chapters, the projects for editions. The unbound papers, long known as the “résidu Saint-Germain”, have since been distributed among the fonds latin and fonds français.

  1. V.A.1
    Saint-Germain (Latin 11504-14231): overview of the collectionBibliothèque nationale de France, Department of Manuscripts, 6th-18th c.; acquired 1795-1796

    Online inventory of the some 2,700 Latin manuscripts from the library of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, the heart of the Maurist workshop; each record points, where it exists, to the digitisation.

  2. V.A.2
    Pouillés (registers of benefices) or materials for pouillés of the monasteries (BnF, Latin 11814)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 17th c.

    Lists of Benedictine monasteries by diocese, prepared for the Monasticon; Mas-Garnier appears in them.

  3. V.A.3
    Monasticon Benedictinum (BnF, Latin 12658-12704)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 17th-18th c.

    Forty-seven volumes of memoirs, copies and notes on the history of each Benedictine monastery, gathered by the Maurists; inventory by house (analysis by L. Delisle in NAF 11157).

  4. V.A.4
    Miscellanea on the Congregation of Saint-Maur; projects for scholarly works (BnF, Français 15789) and Français 15790Bibliothèque nationale de France, 17th-18th c.

    Papers on the organisation of the congregation’s scholarly work and its editorial projects; the following volume (Fr. 15790, ark cc46078r) gathers the controversies it aroused.

  5. V.A.5
    Correspondence of various Benedictines, chiefly of d’Achery and Mabillon (Français 17678-17681)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 17th c.

    Letters received by d’Achery and Mabillon, arranged by correspondent; the four volumes are digitised.

  6. V.A.6
    Correspondence of Luc d’Achery (Français 17682-17689)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1630-1685

    Eight volumes of letters from and to Dom Luc d’Achery, librarian of Saint-Germain: Bollandists, Benedictines of Belgium, Cistercians, Paris scholars.

  7. V.A.7
    Correspondence of Bernard de Montfaucon (Français 17701-17713)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1680-1741

    Drafts of his letters and correspondence received, arranged alphabetically, from Italian scholars to German Benedictines; a detailed item-by-item inventory.

  8. V.A.8
    Correspondence of Louis Bulteau (Français 19643) and letters of Claude Estiennot (Français 19644)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1660-1699

    Letters of Louis Bulteau, clerk of the congregation, and (Fr. 19644, ark cc51287g) those of Claude Estiennot, procurator general in Rome, on the research carried out in Italy for the Maurist editions.

  9. V.A.9
    Correspondence of Jean Mabillon (Français 19649-19659)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1650-1707 see also: gallica.bnf.fr

    Eleven volumes of letters received by Mabillon, fully digitised: the best witness to the place of Saint-Germain in the Republic of Letters.

  10. V.A.10
    Correspondence of Dom Edmond Martène (Français 19662)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1690-1739

    A digitised volume of letters of Dom Martène, companion of the Voyages littéraires and editor of the Thesaurus novus anecdotorum.

  11. V.A.11
    Correspondence of Dom Thierry Ruinart (Français 19665-19666)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1680-1709

    Letters of Mabillon’s disciple and biographer, editor of the Acta primorum martyrum sincera.

  12. V.A.12
    Correspondence of the Benedictines (NAF 6198)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 17th-18th c.

    A collection of letters of Benedictines of Saint-Maur, returned to the nouvelles acquisitions françaises.

  13. V.A.13
    Inventaire des manuscrits de Saint-Germain-des-Prés conservés sous les numéros 11504-14231 du fonds latin (L. Delisle)Internet Archive; Paris, A. Durand, 1868 public domain

    The standard summary inventory of the Latin manuscripts of Saint-Germain, still used to find the papers of the Maurists by shelfmark.

  14. V.A.14
    Catalogue général des manuscrits français : ancien Saint-Germain français, vol. III (Fr. 18677-20064) (H. Omont)Internet Archive; Bibliothèque nationale, 1900 public domain

    A volume that describes in particular the correspondence of Mabillon, Martène, Ruinart and other Maurists (Fr. 19643-19666).

  15. V.A.15
    Alphabetical catalogue of the Saint-Germain remainder (BnF, Archives modernes 668)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 19th c.

    An old BnF finding aid for the “résidu”: the unbound Maurist papers from Saint-Germain, now distributed among the fonds français and fonds latin.

  16. V.A.16
    Jérémy Delmulle, « Léopold Delisle à l’école des mauristes ? Les archives personnelles des érudits bénédictins dans Le Cabinet des manuscrits »Jérémy Delmulle, Bulletin du bibliophile (open-access deposit on HAL), 2019

    Open-access article on how the great nineteenth-century librarian described and reused the papers of the Maurists.

  17. V.A.17
    Jérémy Delmulle, « Les archives mauristes, de la bibliothèque de Saint-Germain-des-Prés à la Bibliothèque nationale de France »Jérémy Delmulle, in E. Chapron and F. Henryot (eds), Archives en bibliothèques, ENS Éditions, 2023

    Open-access chapter tracing the path of the Maurists’ working papers and correspondence from Saint-Germain-des-Prés to the present collections of the BnF.

The Bibliothèque nationale de France: the provincial collections

In the eighteenth century, the Congregation undertook the history of the provinces of the kingdom. For each of them, one or more monks copied the charters of abbeys, chapters and towns, often before they were lost. These working files now form the “collections de province” of the Département des Manuscrits: Bourgogne, Languedoc, Picardie, Champagne, Touraine-Anjou, Périgord, Bretagne. The Maurists also supplied a large share of the copies gathered by the Cabinet des chartes of Jacob-Nicolas Moreau, and worked with Bréquigny on the table of diplomas.

  1. Burgundy
  2. V.B.1
    French provinces collections: Burgundy, overview (Bourgogne 1-129)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Working papers of Dom Plancher and his confreres for the Histoire de Bourgogne, and unpublished notes by Dom Aubrée on the Chambre des comptes of Dijon; inventory volume by volume.

  3. Languedoc
  4. V.B.2
    Languedoc Bénédictins (collection of Dom Vaissète and Dom Devic)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Copies, extracts and notes gathered by the Maurists for the Histoire générale de Languedoc; the direct source of the work presented on the site.

  5. Picardy
  6. V.B.3
    Picardie collection (Dom Grenier)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Several hundred volumes of copies and notes by Dom Pierre-Nicolas Grenier and his predecessors for the history of Picardy, inventoried item by item (link to Picardie 1-2, the entry point of the collection).

  7. Champagne
  8. V.B.4
    Champagne collection (Champagne 1-111ter and following)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Materials gathered for a history of Champagne that was never published; one volume keeps the Benedictines’ correspondence on this project (letters of Dom Maur Audren).

  9. Touraine-Anjou
  10. V.B.5
    Touraine-Anjou collection (Dom Housseau)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Copies of Loire valley charters assembled by Dom Housseau for a history of Touraine, Anjou and Maine; often the only trace of lost archives.

  11. Brittany
  12. V.B.6
    Dom Morice’s papers for the Histoire de Bretagne (BnF, Français 22327 and neighbouring volumes, 22308-22359)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Drafts and papers of Dom Hyacinthe Morice, with the memoirs of Dom Briant (Fr. 22308) and the extracts from Breton archives gathered at the Blancs-Manteaux for the history of Brittany.

  13. Périgord
  14. V.B.7
    Périgord collection (Doms Leydet, Prunis, Lespine)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Materials gathered by the Benedictines charged with a history of Périgord, later enriched by the Abbé de Lespine.

  15. Moreau (Cabinet des chartes)
  16. V.B.8
    Moreau collection (Cabinet des chartes)Bibliothèque nationale de France, 1762-1790

    Copies of charters assembled by J.-N. Moreau’s Cabinet des chartes, for which the Maurists supplied a large share of the provincial transcriptions (link: first file, Moreau 1-284).

  17. Bréquigny
  18. V.B.9
    Bréquigny collectionBibliothèque nationale de France, 18th c.

    Papers of Bréquigny, lay collaborator of the Maurists for the Table des diplômes and the Recueil des ordonnances; inventory volume by volume.

The Archives nationales

The Archives nationales keep the archives of the suppressed Paris establishments: the boxes and registers of Saint-Germain-des-Prés and of the Blancs-Manteaux, the abbey’s great estate archives, the inventories drawn up before 1790. They also hold the papers of the Commission des réguliers, which inquired into the religious orders after 1766, and, in the series of maps and plans, the plans of provincial houses sent to Paris: those of Mas-Garnier are among them.

  1. V.C.1
    Bulls and briefs of popes and cardinals of the Renaissance and early modern period (L 319-370)Archives nationales, 15th-18th c.

    Item-by-item inventory of papal acts, including the briefs regulating the general chapters of Saint-Maur and the union of Saint-Germain with the congregation.

  2. V.C.2
    « Monuments ecclésiastiques » (boxes), title VII: monastic orders (L 747-1084)Archives nationales, 615-1794

    Finding aid for the L boxes devoted to the abbeys of the diocese of Paris, including Saint-Germain-des-Prés and the Blancs-Manteaux (history, internal regime, papers of the congregation); part of it is digitised.

  3. V.C.3
    « Monuments ecclésiastiques »: registers (LL 1-1729)Archives nationales, 528-1794

    Bound registers of the suppressed Paris establishments: cartularies, deliberations and registers of Saint-Germain-des-Prés, seat of the superior general.

  4. V.C.4
    Early inventories of ecclesiastical archives (Paris, Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Saint-Denis)Archives nationales, 1320-1794

    Inventories drawn up before 1790 by the archivists of the abbeys, including those of Saint-Germain and Saint-Denis, two Maurist houses; useful for reconstituting dispersed archives.

  5. V.C.5
    Title deeds of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (S 2834-3209)Archives nationales, [918]-1800

    The abbey’s great estate archives (“grand chartrier”), 450 items: the temporal goods that kept the mother house of the congregation alive.

  6. V.C.6
    Commission des réguliers et des secours (G9 1-173)Archives nationales, 1766-1790

    Archives of the royal commission that inquired into the religious orders after 1766: returns of the houses, numbers and internal debates of Saint-Maur on the eve of the Revolution; PDF finding aid attached.

  7. V.C.7
    Acts of Charles VII concerning Normandy, from the papers of Dom Le Noir (104 MI)Archives nationales, 1423-1461 (18th-c. copies)

    Analysis of 1,612 deeds drawn from the 76 volumes of copies by the Maurist Dom Le Noir, microfilmed at the Archives nationales: an example of the present value of the Benedictine transcriptions.

The provincial repositories

Each house had its archives; what remains of them is most often found in series H of the departmental archives, and sometimes in the municipal libraries, heirs of the seized libraries. Single pieces there shed light on the life of the whole Congregation, such as the minutes of the general chapter held at Marmoutier in 1769, kept in Rouen.

  1. V.D.1
    Minutes of the general chapter of Marmoutier, 1769 (Rouen, ms. Montbret 3)Bibliothèque patrimoniale Villon, Rouen (via CCFr), 1769

    Minutes of the general chapter held at Marmoutier in 1769, at the time when the congregation was debating its own reform.

The dispersed library

The library of Saint-Germain-des-Prés held some fifty thousand volumes at the Revolution. The fire of 1794 destroyed most of it; part of the manuscripts left France in the same years, and several hundred are now in the National Library of Russia, in Saint Petersburg, in the collection of Pyotr Dubrovsky. The Bibale database of the Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes offers its reconstruction, witness by witness.

  1. V.E.1
    Bibale: library of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés (543-1794)IRHT-CNRS (Bibale)

    A collection record linking more than a thousand witnesses (manuscripts, printed books, old shelfmarks, catalogues of 1740) of the library of Saint-Germain, now in Paris, Saint Petersburg, Avignon or Lyon: the virtual reconstruction in progress.

  2. V.E.2
    Bibale (IRHT): record of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-PrésIRHT-CNRS, codicology section

    The database of the history of manuscript collections; the entry for Saint-Germain has more than 670 links (manuscripts, librarians, provenances) and serves as the foundation of Matriculae.

  3. V.E.3
    Biblissima: Paris, abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (entity record)Biblissima+ (Campus Condorcet) see also: portail.biblissima.fr

    An entry point that aggregates, from sixteen sources, the manuscripts copied, owned or described at Saint-Germain, with access to IIIF images.

  4. V.E.4
    Biblissima, authority data: Paris, abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Q81208)Biblissima+ (Campus Condorcet)

    An authority entry linking the abbey to its identifiers (Wikidata, BnF, IdRef, Bibale, Pinakes, Jonas) and to the Cottineau reference; the same reference system exists for the other houses (Mas-Grenier appears in it as a place, Q30678).

  5. V.E.5
    BnF bindings and provenances: abbey of Saint-Germain-des-PrésBibliothèque nationale de France

    Provenance record tracing the history of the abbey’s library, from Briçonnet to the fire of 1794 that destroyed most of it.

  6. V.E.6
    Western Manuscripts – National Library of Russia (Dubrovsky collection)National Library of Russia, Saint Petersburg, 1805- see also: nlr.ru

    The Western collection of the National Library of Russia grew from the collection of P. Dubrovsky, formed in Paris during the Revolution and rich in manuscripts taken from Saint-Germain-des-Prés, including those of Corbie that the Maurists had transferred there in 1638.

  7. V.E.7
    Le Cabinet des manuscrits de la Bibliothèque impériale, vol. II (L. Delisle)Internet Archive (Univ. of Toronto); Paris, Imprimerie impériale, 1874 public domain

    History of the formation of the BnF collections; volume II retraces that of the library of Saint-Germain, its entry in 1795-1796 and the losses of the 1794 fire.

  8. V.E.8
    Jérémy Delmulle, « Archives mauristes conservées à l’abbaye de Melk »Jérémy Delmulle, Revue d’histoire des textes (forthcoming), forthcoming

    An announced article on Maurist papers kept in the Austrian abbey of Melk, witnesses to the exchanges with the Pez brothers.

Catalogues and finding aids

The union catalogues make it possible to find the Maurist papers dispersed outside the Bibliothèque nationale, and the digital libraries often give their images.

  1. V.F.1
    ARCA, the IRHT digital library (formerly BVMM)IRHT-CNRS

    Digital library of manuscripts kept outside the BnF (municipal libraries, etc.), useful for the manuscripts of the provincial Maurist houses; the former address of the BVMM now redirects there.

  2. V.F.2
    Bibliographie de l’histoire de France (BHF), online databaseInstitut d’histoire moderne et contemporaine (CNRS, ENS-PSL, Paris 1)

    The current bibliographical database of the history of France; recent publications on the Maurists can be found there record by record (for example J.-D. Mellot’s article on editorial Gallicanism).

  3. V.F.3
    Bibale, database on the provenance of manuscripts (IRHT)Institut de recherche et d’histoire des textes (CNRS)

    A collaborative database on the history of manuscript collections; it incorporates old inventories and the hands of Maurist scholars, and serves to identify the libraries visited by Martène and Durand.

  4. V.F.4
    Calames — archives and manuscripts of French higher educationABES

    Catalogue of the manuscripts of university and research libraries; a tool complementary to the CCFr for locating Maurist pieces outside the BnF.

  5. V.F.5
    CCFr — Catalogue collectif de France, manuscriptsBibliothèque nationale de France

    A single search across the manuscript catalogues of municipal libraries, the BnF and the universities: the way to locate Maurist papers that remained in the provinces (e.g. the general chapter of 1769 in Rouen).

  6. V.F.6
    Authority record « Congrégation de Saint-Maur » (IdRef)ABES (IdRef)

    Authority record of the congregation (1618-1790) with forms of the name and VIAF/ISNI links; it serves to attach French theses and academic publications.

  7. V.F.7
    Authority record « Congrégation de Saint-Maur » (BnF)Bibliothèque nationale de France see also: data.bnf.fr

    BnF authority record, linked to some 175 bibliographic records (works of the congregation and studies); aggregated view on data.bnf.fr.

  8. V.F.8
    Inventaires mauristes (electronic edition, Thecae series)Jérémy Delmulle (ed.), Presses universitaires de Caen / MRSH Caen / Biblissima, 2018-

    Digital edition of the inventories of manuscript libraries gathered by the Maurists, printed by Montfaucon in the Bibliotheca bibliothecarum or left unpublished at the BnF: a current digital project devoted to the work of the Maurists.

  9. V.F.9
    Dictionnaire d’histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques (DHGE), Brepols OnlineBrepols / Université catholique de Louvain, 1912-

    The reference dictionary for ecclesiastical houses and persons; entries on Maurist monks and abbeys. Access by subscription.

  10. V.F.10
    Dictionnaire de spiritualité (Beauchesne), online editionBeauchesne, 1932-1995 (online)

    The digital version of the great Jesuit dictionary; to be consulted for Maurist spirituality and its authors. Open search, full text by subscription.

The Congregation of Saint-MaurThe monks of Saint-MaurLibrary and archives of Mas-Garnier