Monastère royal de Brou

Bourg-en-Bresse

Brou is a vow made in stone, kept by two women a quarter of a century apart. The first, Margaret of Bourbon, promised to raise a monastery at Brou; she died without having done so. The second, her daughter-in-law Margaret of Austria, was one of the most sorely tried princesses of her age: betrothed as a child to Charles VIII, who repudiated her, then widowed by the Infante of Spain, she married Philibert the Handsome, Duke of Savoy, in 1501 and knew three years of perfect happiness. In 1504 Philibert died suddenly at 24, on his way home from a hunt. Margaret, a widow at 24, swore never to remarry — and to fulfil her mother-in-law's vow by giving her husband a tomb without equal. From 1506 to 1532, under the direction of the Flemish master Louis van Bodeghem, the monastic buildings rose, followed by the church of Saint-Nicolas-de-Tolentin, a jewel of Flamboyant Gothic. Everywhere, the intertwined initials P and M speak of a union beyond death, alongside Margaret's motto, "Fortune infortune fort une". In the choir lie three tombs: Philibert, Margaret of Bourbon and Margaret of Austria, who died in 1530 without seeing her work completed. The two tombs of husband and wife face each other in striking intimacy, watched over by dazzling stained glass. The three cloisters and the museum can also be visited. Few places in France tell so powerfully of a princely love and a princely grief.

Getting there : Boulevard de Brou, Bourg-en-Bresse; monument managed by the Centre des monuments nationaux, open all year round (admission charge), Musée des Beaux-Arts (fine arts museum) in the monastic buildings.

Opening times and access details are given as a guide only: check before you set out.

Ambient sound