Following on from our participation in Heritage Open Days last term, and inspired by the theme of ‘Routes, Networks and Connections’, Foundation Archivist, Jo Wong looks into the perilous route which brought a community of Benedictine nuns all the way from revolutionary France to rural Warwickshire. Here, in the first of two articles, we follow the nuns as they make their escape from Montargis to Dieppe.

Many of you will no doubt have memories (fond or otherwise!) of studying the French Revolution in History lessons at school; you might also remember that it played a central part in Princethorpe College’s history. Had it not been for the Revolution, the Benedictine community who founded St Mary’s Priory would almost certainly have remained in their original priory at Montargis, and the beautiful building which has housed Princethorpe College since 1966 would never have been built. However, the community’s escape from France was much narrower than you may have realised.

The Benedictine priory at Montargis had been founded in 1630 by a young nun named Marie Granger, who had been sent from Montmartre Abbey to establish a new religious house. The community lived a peaceful life enclosed safely within the priory walls, but this was all to change dramatically in the political and religious upheaval of the French Revolution.

From late 1789 the community received repeated visits from government officials, who attempted to take control of the priory and ‘free’ the nuns from their sacred vows. However, the Prioress, Mère Gabrielle de Lévis de Mirepoix, and her community resisted all attempts to force them into the outside world. In her brave and dignified speech to the Montargis officers, later translated into English and printed in The Catholic Spectator and Selector (1825), the Prioress states that ‘our feeble arms may bend undoubtedly under the chains of oppression, but […] our consciences, stronger than death, will obey but God alone’.  

The nuns would have known the dangers they faced by resisting the government officials. The Civil Constitution of the Clergy, passed by the Assemblée Nationale in 1790, had heightened tensions between church and state, and penalties for opposing official orders were becoming increasingly severe. With a growing level of mob violence and incursions into the priory, by 1792 it was clear that the community could not remain safely in France.

Leaving Montargis was not a straightforward undertaking. Difficulties in obtaining passports delayed the nuns’ escape, and matters were further complicated by the fact that the priory was now patrolled by soldiers keeping a watchful eye on proceedings. Eventually, however, the nuns were able to start their journey, departing in small groups at different times of day to avoid attracting attention.  

The Prioress was among the last to leave, but shortly before her departure government officials arrived at the priory with a warrant for her arrest. Luckily a quick-thinking servant informed them that she had already left and sent them in the wrong direction; had the Prioress been arrested, she would undoubtedly have faced the guillotine. On returning to the priory the following day and finding all its inhabitants gone, the officials ransacked and destroyed the building.

The community planned to seek refuge in Brussels, but in order to leave France as soon as possible they would have to travel via England. Travelling in plain clothes, and taking only a very few possessions which they had been able to gather together in their hurried departure, they made the long journey northwards to Dieppe. Communities at other convents welcomed them en route, giving them the opportunity to regroup and rest as safely as possible before making the crossing to England.

After finally reaching Dieppe, on 17 October 1792 the nuns boarded the Prince of Wales packet ship bound for Brighton, where they were to reunite with the English, Scottish and Belgian members of their community who had gone before them. However, the crossing proved to be far from plain sailing, as the next article in this series will reveal – look out for it in next term’s newsletter.

Pictured is Montargis Priory (from Stapleton). Caption: The Benedictine priory at Montargis, from The History of the Benedictines of St Mary’s Priory, Princethorpe by Sister Frideswide Stapleton O.S.B. (Hinckley: Samuel Walker, 1930)