- The city of Cormery presents in its present appearance the traces of a more than millennial past and owes its existence and its development to the foundation of a monastic establishment which will become the abbey Saint-Paul.
- Historical context of the foundation of the abbey:
- The history of the abbey is closely linked to that of Tours through Saint-Martin, great evangelist of Gaul, metropolitan bishop of Tours (between 371 and 397+), founder of the first real monasteries of Gaul (Ligugé near Poitiers, Marmoutier near Tours). When he died, his tomb became a major center of European pilgrimage.
- With the arrival of the Carolingians (752, crown of Pepin the Short, then 800, coronation of Charlemagne, emperor), the abbey of Saint-Martin becomes one of the three great royal abbeys with Reims and Saint-Denis. It is in this context that "Locus Cormarico" is chosen from the possessions of St. Martin of Tours.
- Overview of the history of the abbey:
- In this place, Ithier, grand chancellor of Charlemagne and abbot of Saint-Martin de Tours, founded in 791 a monastic establishment. It is a simple "cella" (that) on a ford of the Indre and brings together agricultural estates belonging to the great Touraine abbey. The illustrious scholar, Alcuin of York, the successor of Ithier at Tours from 796 to 804, assisted by his friend, the Abbe Benoît d'Aniane, introduced in 800 to Cormery 20 Benedictine monks from Languedoc.
- Student and successor to Alcuin, Father Fridugise rebuilds Ithier's buildings (around 830) because they are unworthy of a Benedictine monastery.
- The city is growing rapidly, having become a big market under Charles the Bald. The inhabitants are more and more numerous.
- The abbey founds a subsidiary, Saint-Sauveur de Villeloin (at the beginning of the 9th century). It will govern a complex of 33 priories in 5 provinces (Normandy, Poitou, Champagne, Burgundy, Brittany).
- In 853, damaged by the Normans, roughly repaired, protected by the lords of Nouâtre and then by the Counts of Anjou of which they were vassals, it enlarged still more buildings, reaching roughly the current dimensions. The solemn consecration of a new church took place in 1054.
- The monastery was built around 1230 with a superb Gothic refectory with 2 naves, one of the 5 remaining in France, and the gatehouse, both still in place.
- In 1271, the ensemble Tauxigny, Truyes, Louans, Bossée, Bournan will be able to exercise all the prerogatives of an abbey seigniory.
- The abbey extends from Esvres to Chambourg. The village surrounded by ditches and walls and fortification bears the name of City. Small in population but large in radiation, it is populated by people of justice, craftsmen and traders. The inhabitants benefit from the power of the abbey.
- The dilapidation of the choir and the transept of the Romanesque church leads under the Abbé Thibaud de Châlon their replacement by a gothic ensemble much admired, funded by all priory. An abbey castle is also built in Monchenin on a recently acquired domain.
- Hardly tested during the 100 year war, occupied and devastated in 1353 by a gang of the Great Companies paid by the English under the fierce conduct of Basquin du Poncet, its buildings undermined, its ravaged countryside, the city burned down, the inhabitants killed or deported, the monks refugees in Tours, the abbey has yet to suffer in 1412 of the exactions of the English occupying Beaulieu-lès-Loches.
- It takes 50 years of efforts to very great abbots to repair, rebuild, gird the city and the walled monastery, restore the abbey church that the population has squatted, establish the chaplaincy and the house of the sacrist, etc...
- This is the effort of Pierre Berthelot, Guillaume de Hotot, John and René du Puy, Denis Briconnet. The abbey seems brand new. The windows of Denis Briconnet are so beautiful that their price could have built a whole monastery! The tower Saint-Jean comes to support the transept south.
- The markets of Thursday and fairs are so prosperous that new inhabitants, for lack of space, build houses up inside the walls of the monastery!
In the year 1523, the plague arrives at Cormery. 500 people and half of the monks died, judged by its gravity, thinking that it was half the population of the city. The plague ceased when the town hall required the inhabitants to keep their houses and quarters clean. A measure of hygiene that seems to us elementary, but for the inhabitants of the sixteenth century was a novelty as they are used to live in houses dark and wet and to go through streets filled with manure!
- Cormery can then be proud of its two speakers, one around the abbey, the other surrounding the City, with towers, ditches.
- Decadence of the abbey:
But neither the system of walls, moats, towers, or the three drawbridges prevent the Protestants from invading the place without having to fight and plunder the riches of all kinds: all-new organ pipes, sumptuous reliquaries, sacred vessels of great price.
- In the city no more commerce, no crafts, fairs and markets are deserted, the population is reduced by two thirds and the monks molested, exploited, live. Moreover the institution of commende penalize the operation of the abbey.
- At the end of the 17th century, the entrance of the monastery into the Mauritian congregation saw the slow and very expensive reconstruction of the east wing, a large vaulted room in the extension of the chapter house and the treasure, as well as the a dormitory of 13 cells upstairs. Only traces remain.
But the abbey does not find its brightness. In 1741 there are only 10 religious.
- While the abbey loses its importance, the city acquires:
- In 1730 Cormery did not find all its inhabitants but the 130 houses and 600 inhabitants radiate on all the area with the markets of Thursday and its annual fairs.
- The new road of Berry, created in 1766, the current "943", sees passing a continuous stream of travelers and merchants who stop in the inns and hotels which now abound.
But with this royal road came the obligation to lodge the soldiers when the regiments move. First housed at the inhabitant, the town hall before the claims of the inhabitants resolves to seek a collective housing. This is how the priory is transformed into a barracks and the inhabitants have only to worry about the expenses that make them officers and troop!
- Great flood of 1770: We can not forget the great flood of 1770, disaster that we talked about in the cottages for generations. On the night of November 25th and 26th, after a rainy autumn, a real tidal wave poured over Cormery and the towns along the Indre. He surprised the inhabitants in their beds. Water entered St. Paul's Church, 25 houses were destroyed on the course of the Indre and killed 38 people.
- The bell Christus: Let's stop for a moment in 1807. The population of Cormery is mobilized: the law of 13 July 1793 requires the municipalities to keep only a bell to ring the tocsin in case of fire. Gold Cormery still has two bells: the nameless bell of the parish church and "Christus". On March 5th, the Prefect sent a team of workers to remove "Christus" from St Paul's Tower. The mayor refuses any help and the workers withdraw. The bell Christus, is the last of the 7 bells of the abbey which remains. She is the biggest of the department, a monster of 1850 kg and the pride of the Cormerians. The indignation of the population and their revolt prevents the disassembly of the bell decided by the prefect, it will be precipitated on the ground in a frightful crash when the inhabitants cut the ropes. But the bell is not broken, so the women sleep on the side and roll to the foot of the Church of Our Lady of Fougeray. On April 6 the prefect threatens administrative measures and even judicial the municipality and the inhabitants if the bell is not made. The discouraged population succumbs and Christus is transferred to the south tower of the cathedral of Tours in 1807, where it still rings today.
- Arrival of the train: 100 years have passed, the progress brings new tools to the farmers, the schools educate, the factor makes its appearance. Only Cormery has a post office, and the mailman often has to walk 20 to 30 kilometers. The train arrives in 1878, 10 trains a day!
- Change of century: Here we are in 1900, the city flourishes with market days and major fairs. On the mail were successively at 10 o'clock the market for calves, at 11 o'clock at the chicken, at 3 o'clock that of butter and eggs all announced by the drum of the rural guard. Trade and artisans thrive and enjoy the affluence of the country folk. But mechanical progress is coming. In 1910: the first car appears at Cormery, follow the electric current, the telephone, water at home, gas, television... But at the same time, all these things that have changed the situation of men see Cormery, its shops, fairs and markets fall asleep!
- The macaroon of Cormery: Rounded shape, both melting and crisp, macaroons have crossed history to conquer several continents. We often admit that this macaroon called "navel of the world" was created in the abbey of Cormery. The first macaroon recipe is in a work of the early 17th century. Nevertheless, as early as the Middle Ages, small almond cakes were made by the monks and nuns of Cormery or Saint-Emilion. These cakes were not so far away even if they matched, according to our modern criteria, rather to biscuits. These were made for sailors to take with them treats that can be stored for several weeks. It is found in Venice at this time, before the recipe for the tender cupcake crosses the borders very quickly. Italians call it "maccherone" which means "fine dough" and which will later give the French name of macaron. Very quickly, the macaron recipe becomes a classic in France. Many specialties are emerging in our regions. But if each pastry chef has developed a recipe of his own to make his creation a unique treat, the making of a macaroon always starts with four immutable ingredients: almond powder, sugar, icing sugar and whites. eggs.