In 1084, the man who will become Saint Bruno retires with 6 companions to the Massif de la Grande Chartreuse. Together, away from the world, they will combine loneliness and community life, contemplation and the accomplishment of material tasks. It is a new form of monastic life coming into being. Its rules* will be set in 1127. The order of the Carthusian monks is born. From the very start, the community splits into two groups: the fathers live a life of prayers in their cells, whereas the brothers take the charge of the necessities of a domestic life. This will remain a characteristic of the order.
Other Carthusian Monasteries will also see the light; Valbonne, Bonpas …
We notice with no surprise that they are outside the walls. Villeneuve-lès-Avignon remains an exception due to its indivisible history from the papacy in Avignon.
Before 1353, La Chartreuse of Villeneuve les Avignon was not yet a monastery; it was a place inhabited by the Faith: cardinal Etienne Aubert’s palace, the residence of a great churchman.
In 1353, the owner of the premises becomes the Supreme Pontiff under the name of Innocent VI and donates all the buildings to the order of the Carthusian monks...
Villeneuve lez Avignon | Centre national des écritures du spectacle
