[5] The Chronicle says: He found a place between the Saône and Tille, where there sprang an important river called Bèze, with very clear waters, drinkable and rich in all sorts of fish.

[7] Amalgaire gave the Bèze Abbey a rich endowment of 31 domains with forests, vineyards and buildings, cultivators and winegrowers.

[4] He gave it vineyards in the Gevrey-Chambertin region that today are the source of the famous Chambertin-Clos de Bèze red Burgundy wine.

[9] After the death of Amalgaire around 655 civil war raged in Burgundy and the country was ravaged by rival bands of Neustrian and Austrasian Franks.

[10] The reign of Chlothar III (r. 657–673), son of Clovis II (r. 639–657), had just started in Austrasia in late 657 when civil disturbances made Brégille untenable.

[19] The anthropologist Gustave Lagneau(fr) considered that some of the present population of the region showed signs of Saracen descent.

[19] Between 751 and 754 King Pepin the Short (r. 751–768) gave the abbey to his concubine, Angla or Anglais wife of Théodard, to be desecrated or dilapidated by her according to her caprice.

[24] This council and other synods seem to have resulted in the general reform that reestablished the common life of the canons and caused all the monasteries to restore their original rules.

[29] In 887, when marauding Normans approached the monks of Bèze transported the body of Saint Prudent to Saint-Etienne de Dijon.

[30] The canons of Dijon at first refused, then at the command of Bishop Gauthier of Langres pretended to comply, but in fact gave the monks the body of Saint Silvin.

Eventually the ruse was discovered, and the body of Saint Prudent was carried with great ceremony from Dijon to Bèze in 931.

Thanks to William's reforms Bèze attracted gifts from local nobles such as the Fouvents, descendants of the counts of Atuyer, the Beaumonts and Montsaugeons towards Langres and the Beaujeus on the Saône.

[36] Raoul le Blanc, Viscount of Dijon, became a monk at Saint-Bénigne, then was made grand-prior of Bèze under abbot William and played a major role in the restoration of the abbey.

[37] Raoul dedicated his immense fortune to entirely rebuilding the abbey, including executing two ossuaries in the chapel of the Virgin and replacing the remains of the old destroyed tombs.

[13] In 1083 Ponce, lord of the Château de Beaujeu, gave the abbey a chapel built in honour of Saint Vallier with lands and various rights.

The monk Jean (died 1120) wrote the Chronicon Besuense, a history of the abbey from its foundation to the start of the 12th century.

The monk Teobaudus (died 1130) wrote the Miracula Sancti Prudentii, which described the miraculous cures that had been effected by the relics of Saint Prudent.

He famously wrote of the period, "At that time the kingdom of France was covered with a white cloak of churches."

[13] In 1219 the abbey finally accepted an offer that had first been made in 1049 and sold its Clos de Bèze vineyard to the canons of Langres.

[13] In 1389 a complaint was lodged by 15 officers and monks of the abbey against the abbot Thiéry de Charmes concerning maladministration of the neighboring school.

The award, issued by the court of Langes on the Saturday before Pentecost, meticulously itemized the rights and duties of the abbot.

[9] Around 1428 Claus de Werve made a polychromed limestone statue of the Virgin and Child for the abbey, which was installed in the Church of Saint-Martin at Bézouotte and has survived.

On 10 May 1433 the duke addressed letters patent to the monks and people of Bèze telling them to remain faithful to the king of France and refuse entry to any stranger or enemy.

That year he invited the abbot Simon de Torcenay, his councilor and chamberlain, to attend a solemn ceremony of a chapter of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

During the French Wars of Religion the Bishop of Langres supported Henry IV of France but Bèze was occupied by forces of the Catholic League.

[44] The initial plans were changed in 1769 under the direction of the architect Charles Saint-Père, who conceived a large building south of the church.

[50] Of the 113 metres (371 ft) long "monastic palace", the wings have survived but the main building, which held the cells of the monks on the first floor, has been destroyed.

[9] The buildings included an infirmary, guest rooms for distinguished visitors, a library that had 4,175 volumes according to the May 1790 inventory and apartments for the Cellerier and Sous-Cellerier, who looked after the material life of the abbey.

[9] At the start of the French Revolution, on 2 November 1789 the Constituent Assembly decreed nationalization of the lands of the church and the religious houses.

[50] The east and west wings of the 18th century convent building, the Chaux and Oysel towers including the washhouse, the floor of the old church and the axial chapel, facades, roofs and cellar structure were registered as Monuments Historiques on 15 September 2010.