A small community of twelve friars lived there, following the contemplative life which that branch of the Franciscans had developed to revive.
They followed a routine of prayer and study, as well as conducting preaching missions to the people of the surrounding towns and villages.
The community of friars was suppressed during the French Revolution and the friary was confiscated by the town in 1791 and sold off two years later.
At that point, they established it as a seminary dedicated to the special preparation for their overseas mission fields in Syria and Central Africa.
Armand-François-Marie de Charbonnel, OFMCap, (1802-1891), a former Bishop of Toronto, Canada, lived here in his retirement and is buried in the friary church.