Bec
On the banks of Bec Brook, between Rouen and Liseaux, the Blessed Herluin, a Norman knight, established in 1041 a Benedictine monastery which developed a reputation as a center of learning. Among the famous monks who served at Bec are Lanfranc, St. Anselm of Canterbury, and Pope Alexander II. Henry I and Henry II of England were its royal protectors, and the monastery enjoyed fame as a spiritual and intellectual center until a fire destroyed it in 1263. Rebuilt almost immediately, Bec did not regain its reputation and suffered from the havoc of the 100 Years' War in the XIV and XV Centuries and from commendatory abbots in the XVI Century. Reformed by the Maurists in 1626, Bec was suppressed in 1790 and was demolished in 1810. Benedictines refounded a monastery on the site in 1948.
Karen Rae Keck
including the header and this copyright remain intact.