History

Gerald of Salles established the hermitage in 1115 in the name of Robert of Arbrissel. Four years later, under Abbot Henri (a former monk of Pontigny Abbey), it was formally constituted as an abbey, though it remained independent until approximately 1199.

The monastery became the parent house of six daughter abbeys: Grandselve, Gondon, Bonnevaux, Ardorel, La Faise, and Saint-Marcel. Each eventually adopted the Cistercian Rule, though not necessarily in synchrony with Cadouin itself.

The acquisition of a relic—reputedly the facecloth from Christ’s tomb, allegedly brought from Antioch by a Périgord priest—transformed Cadouin’s fortunes. Though first documented in the abbey’s possession in 1214, tradition linked it to Bishop Adhémar de Monteil of Le Puy, who died in 1098. The relic made Cadouin a destination for pilgrims and a source of substantial revenue and status. The abbey’s proximity to the Via Lemovicensis, one of four major pilgrimage routes to Santiago de Compostela, amplified this success.

Wars in the 13th and 14th centuries devastated pilgrimage traffic. By 1791, Cadouin housed only four monks when revolutionary forces dissolved it. The monastery’s treasures were seized and its library burned in the village square.