Floreffe, Monastery of
FLOREFFE, MONASTERY OF
Second house of the premonstratensians, Diocese of Namur, formerly Liège. It was founded and endowed by Count Gottfried of Namur in 1121–22, and has always held a place of prominence in the order; one of the provinces, the Circaria Floreffiae, was named after it. Floreffe founded seven daughterhouses, maintained 22 parishes, and had three convents under its guidance. It had its own college at Louvain. In 1560 it managed to end its previous incorporation as a benefice of the Diocese of Namur. It had 61 religious when suppressed in 1797. When an attempt to reestablish Floreffe in 1842 proved unsuccessful, the monastery was converted into a college conducted by the diocesan clergy. The 103 carved 17th-century choirstalls are a reminder of former magnificence.
Bibliography: c. l. hugo, S. Ordinis Praemonstratensis annales, 2 v. (Nancy 1734–36) 1:75. j. and v. barbier, Histoire de l'abbaye de Floreffe, 2 v. (Namur 1890–92). l. h. cottineau, Répertoire topobibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 v. (Mâcon 1935–39) 1:1155–56. n. backmund, Monasticon Praemonstratense, 3 v. (Straubing 1949–56) 2:373–378. Monumenta Germaniae Historica: Scriptores (Berlin 1826–) 16:618–631.
[n. backmund]