Monastery of Vaucelles

Vaucelles Abbey is a former Cistercian abbey located in the commune of Les Rues-des-Vignes in the Nord département in the Hauts-de-France region of France. It is located about 13 km south of Cambrai on the right bank of the Scheldt.
The foundation of the monastery dates back to a meeting between the lord of Crèvecoeur, Hugues d'Oisy, and Bernard of Clairvaux in 1131. The monastery, which was occupied by the primary abbey of Clairvaux, was founded in 1132. The construction of the monastery was completed around 1175. The monastery flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries and the number of monks and converses was 430 around 1250, but less than fifty at the beginning of the 14th century. The close border between France and the Holy Roman Empire brought with it many impairments, which led to the monastery being protected by a 7 km long wall built in the first half of the 13th century. Around 1770, a new abbot's palace was built under Abbot Pierre Ruffin, whose library numbered 40,000 books, manuscripts and incunabula, but which has been in ruins since 1917. During the French Revolution, the monastery was sold and partially demolished until a spinning mill moved into the monk's wing. In 1914 the monastery was confiscated by the German General Staff and before the Anglo-Canadian offensive in 1917, the buildings went up in flames. The medieval gatehouse was destroyed. A restoration has been carried out since 1970.

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