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The Saint-Martin Abbey (French: abbaye Saint-Martin) in the historic center of Tournai, Belgium was an abbey, dating back to the 7th century. It was re-established in the late 11th century by Odo of Tournai and was immediately an important Benedictine settlement. In 1797, religious life at the abbey came to an end during the French revolutionary period. The buildings were largely demolished except for the abbot's palace, which today serves as the town hall.

History

Even before the tolerance edict of Emperor Constantine, Saint Piatus is said to have come to preach in Tornacum. From the 4th century, there was a Christian presence in the city. A new evangelization began in the 7th century with Saint Elooi, bishop of Noyon and Tournai. During this operation, according to tradition, he founded a monastery dedicated to Martin of Tours in Tournai. The Norman raids put an end to monastic life.

Odo of Orleans had become scholastic at the cathedral school of Tournai in 1087. When this cultivated man decided to retire to lead a more intense spiritual life, Bishop Radbod II and the canons tried to keep him in the city by donating to him, on May 2, 1092, the remains of the ruined Convent of St. Martin, where, with a few disciples, Odo founded first a canonical and soon a monastic community. The transition from the Rule of Augustine to the Regula Benedicti occurred in 1095 on the advice of Aymericus, abbot of Anchi. Odo was again elected abbot.

Under Odo's leadership, the abbey flourishedg. It had about 70 monks in 1105. Herman, a pupil of Odo, became abbot and historian. Rodulphus directed a workshop with twelve copyists, who handed down many works of antiquity. The abbey also prospered on a secular level. At the end of the 13th century, it had about a hundred monks who managed a vast estate and had founded no less than forty priories. It owned forests, some twenty mills and jurisdiction over several towns.

The early 14th century was a time of great crisis. Poor management and large expenditures, in spite of the general decline, led Pope John XXII to investigate in 1332. The abbot and several monks were excommunicated. As a new abbot - the seventeenth - the chronicler Gilles Le Muisit was appointed. He restored secular prestige, but on the spiritual level the abbey would not regain its leading role.

Under Abbot Robert Delezenne, St. Martin's Abbey was radically rebuilt. A new abbey church was built and the renowned architect Laurent-Benoît Dewez was called in for the abbot's palace. The construction of the 130 metres (430 ft) wide palace took from 1763 to 1767.

The French Revolution and its excesses heralded the end of Tournai Abbey and many others. On November 18, 1796, the religious were expelled and the following year the abbey was abolished. The buildings were largely demolished. The church served for a time as the Temple of Reason before in turn being razed to the ground. The luxurious abbot's residence was spared. The city council of Tournai moved there provisionally in 1809, to be permanently installed in 1830, when Belgium became independent.

The building suffered greatly from the bombing of May 16, 1940.

Notable people

Abbots

• Odo of Tournai, the first abbot
• Herman of Tournai († 1147), third abbot from 1127 to 1137 and chronicler of the abbey
• Gilles Li Muisit (1272-1353), poet and chronicler
• Jacques Muevin (1296-1339), chronicler
• Dom Mathieu Fiévet (14th century), professor of canon law in Paris
• Giulio de' Medici, future Pope Clement VII, abbot in commendam from 1519 to 1523
• Jacques De Maquais, abbot from 1583 to 1604, author of ascetic and theological books
• Robert Delezenne, last abbot

Monks

• Ailbertus of Antoing was an Augustinian canon under Odo and later founded the Abbey of Rolduc.
• Amand Duchâtel began as a monk at St. Martin's Abbey and then became prior of Saint-Sauveur in Anchin and then abbot of St. Richtrudis and St. Peter in Marchiennes.
• Alulfus, singer and author of a Liber gregorialis (12th century).

Maria Krasna (May 14, 1909 in Krasnoschora, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine) - July 7, 2011 in Berlin), married name Maria Blöcker, was a German actress. She is best remembered for her role as Frau Sitic in the 1986 series Teufels Großmutter.

Career

Krasna was an accomplished character actress of the stage, and had leading roles in productions such as Hermann Herrey's Die Stühle with Hugo Schrader in 1952.

Krasna appeared much less frequently as an actress in film and television. In 1956 she starred opposite Sonja Ziemann and Paul Klinger in Paul Martin's Das Bad auf der Tenne (The Bath in the Barn) (1956). In 1958 she played Carmen opposite Hardy Kruger and Elisabeth Müller in Gestehen Sie, Dr. Corda! (1958), Variety described the film as "Generally exciting but occasionally evasive", with a "tendency to aim too much at the stars". In 1959 she had a role in the anthology film Unser Wunderland bei Nacht (1959), Later appearances include the TV film Komm doch mit nach Monte Carlo (1981) and as Bella in Alexandra von Grote's war film Novembermond (1984).

Krasna became known for her older sounding voice in commercial radio drama series such as Benjamin Blümchen and Bibi Blocksberg.

Personal life

Maria Krasna lived in Berlin-Steglitz. She was married to journalist and writer Günter Blöcker from 1937 until his death in January 2006, and had two children. In July 2011, Maria Krasna died in Berlin at the age of 102.

Filmography

• 1956: Das Bad auf der Tenne
• 1958: Gestehen Sie, Dr. Corda!
• 1959: Unser Wunderland bei Nacht
• 1959: Macht der Finsternis (TV)
• 1961: Die Geburtstagsfeier (TV)
• 1978: Gesundheit (TV)
• 1978: Wenn die Liebe hinfällt (TV-Series)
• 1979: Der Tote bin ich
• 1979: Tatort: Gefährliche Träume
• 1981: Komm doch mit nach Monte Carlo
• 1985: Fritz Golgowsky
• 1984: Novembermond
• 1985: Teufels Großmutter (TV-Series, three episodes)
• 1986: Ein Heim für Tiere (TV-Series, one episode)
• 1986: Ein heikler Fall (TV-Series, one episode)
• 1996: Tatort: Tod im Jaguar
• 2009: Dinosaurier – Gegen uns seht ihr alt aus!

References

1. Eugène Alexis Escallier, L'Abbaye d'Anchin, 1079-1792, L. Lefort, Lille, 1852
2. Stegers, Rudolph (2018). Hermann Herrey - Werk und Leben 1904-1968. Birkhäuser. p. 235.
3. "Das Bad auf der Tenne". filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2023.
4. "GESTEHEN SIE, DR. CORDA (1958)". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
5. Variety. Vol. 3. Variety. 1960. p. 260.
6. "Unser Wunderland bei Nacht". filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2023.
7. "Komm doch mit nach Monte Carlo". filmportal.de (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2023.
8. "Novembermond". British Film Institute. Retrieved 2 March 2023.
9. Pym, John, Time Out Film Guide (2002), page 863
10. "Günter Blöcker". Munzinger.de (in German). Retrieved 2 March 2023.

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