Lay Abbey

A Lay Abbey (Fr: Abbaye laïque) was a basic component of the Middle Ages in the western foothills of the northern Pyrenees.

The founding principle was the creation of a parish by a lord or even by a large farmer, sometimes very small, in order to tithe, so that he could maintain a church.

Faced with the threat of invasion, illustrated by the Viking incursions into the Adour in the 9th century, the church tolerated these foundations that allowed it to establish its presence in areas of recent or uncertain evangelization.

In the late Middle Ages, many conflicts occurred with the Church who saw itself deprived of income while no longer weighing the threat of Islam.

It was the same in Dauphiné, freed from the Saracens and the Normans in 975, then living a period of feudal anarchy detrimental to ecclesiastical lordships until the end of the 12th century and the arrival of reforming bishops.

The Aramits family, whose spelling varied over time (Aramis, Aramitz) remained owners of the area until the day the son of the famous musketeer immortalized by Alexandre Dumas sold it to a cousin.

In the absence of cartularies, burrows or notaries, it is possible to distinguish some secular abbeys by indications, such as a church in the countryside, away from the village and sometimes flanked by a large house often called Labadie on maps.