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The walls of the Abbey were hastily rebuilt. The many commotions brought about by the war, were followed by a period of restoration of order and of recovery. New donations contributed to this, such as the testamentary transfer in 1489 of the lordship of Haute-Sorinne by Barthélemy de Spontin and his wife. Mills erected on the river on the “estates of Leffe” became a useful source of revenue. Old texts do not hesitate to speak of “factories” built around these operations which, initially familial, rapidly underwent considerable expansion. Due, in particular, to these new resources, the community passed through a century of recovery between 1484 and 1583, notwithstanding the disappearance of archives and the succession of legal actions which it involved as well, as notwithstanding a succession of rather short abbacies and a decidedly unfavourable socio-economic context. In fact, between the reign of Charles V and that of Maria Theresa (1515-1740), Belgium was almost continuously the scene of bloody wars between France and Spain and then between France and Austria. Friendly and hostile armies scoured and rode roughshod over all the provinces, most frequently sowing ruin and desolation. Occasionally, a short truce was concluded, usually due to a lack of men or resources.

The Abbey’s horizon brightened, when Georges du Terne was chosen by acclamation to direct the destinies of the monastery. It devolved on him to begin on the task of rebuilding the monastery once again. It is still possible to see a building bearing the date 1604, dating from the period of his abbacy. During this period, the Abbey enjoyed a relative tranquillity, although there were a number of natural calamities. In 1577, an epidemic of the plague broke out in Bouvignes and in Dinant and claimed numerous victims. In 1587, a widespread famine occurred which had an impact on the social and economic life for a long time. From 1617, a fresh epidemic of the plague devastated the region of Dinant. The disease continued to rage intermittently and, in 1636, the abbot of Leffe, Jean Noizet, died from it.

The scourge, which was responsible for the death of the prelate Jean Noizet and of several other religious, disrupted monastery life for some time. After some months, the former parish priest of Lisogne, Désiré Gouverneur, assumed the direction of Leffe and did so with wisdom and discretion until his death in 1653. He was succeeded by Jacques Malaise who, unfortunately, died 40 days later, even before becoming consecrated as abbot. Malaise was the composer of several motets for three voices, which have now disappeared and about which the famous musicologist Fétis was able to say in his universal bibliography of musicians that they are “of a very agreeable melodic colour and of a serious and solemn character”. Perpète Noizet took up the reins of administration between 1653 and 1672. His epitaph states that he was very beloved by his religious and endowed with great qualities of body and soul. His merits won him the esteem of the general chapter of the Order, which conferred on him and his successors the title of abbot of Iveld, a monastery in the diocese of Mainz, which had become Lutheran. Thanks to this fiction, the abbots of Leffe at last obtained the mitre and the pontifical insignia, which the majority of Premonstratensian abbots had enjoyed since the XIVth century. In 1661, Perpète Noizet erected a building wing which has been perfectly preserved to the present day and which bears the date of its construction and the motto “Virtute perenni”.

The successor of abbot Perpète Noizet, Pierre Lefèvre, in contrast with the majority of other abbots of Leffe, had not been a parish priest. He had always lived at the Abbey, where he filled the office of sacristan, master of novices and provisor. Familiar with all the requirements of monastery discipline, he was well-prepared to maintain the monastic life. He did not hesitate to recall an unworthy parish priest, to show himself stricter in training novices or to send some of them away. His financial skill was also welcome in those troubled times; in 1683, King Charles II of Spain had to oppose the claims of Louis XIV by force of arms. To pay for the cost of the war, he raised considerable taxes from the provinces of the Netherlands. This step once again exhausted the resources of a large number of abbeys. In 1690, after the battle of Fleurus, the victorious French imposed a heavy contribution on the province of Namur. The Abbey of Leffe naturally had to pay its share. A declaration of 1700 relating to property situated in the region of Namur, indicates that these ruinous imposts continued. Fortunately, these became more moderate. Thus, in 1696, Louis XIV remitted to the Abbey of Leffe the tribute of twenty-five and a half sacks of oats, due to the estates. Twenty-one years earlier, the French under the leadership of the King, had made themselves masters of Dinant, where they set up an entirely new system of defences. They built, among other things, a fortress on the land of the Malaise farm belonging to the Abbey. Dominating the ravine of Saint-Jacques, this fortress protected the citadel on its weakest side, but it caused great damage to the Abbey, by taking away excellent agricultural land and a quarry giving a good return. By way of compensation, abbot Lefèvre requested the remission of the aforementioned tribute, which King Louis XIV graciously granted by decree. It was undoubtedly this lightening of the burden which allowed the abbot to add to the monastery an entire building wing which still exists and bears the date of 1682. A good religious and a prudent administrator, Father Lefèvre appears also to have possessed a strong enough consciousness of the spiritual brotherhood which should govern the relations between different Premonstratensian communities. The Abbey archives still contain a copy of a pact of friendship and solidarity concluded between the community of Leffe and that of Beau-repart in Liège. This concerns a mutual undertaking to pray for the souls of the dead and the respective intentions of each community.

[updated on the 28.10.05]

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