Imperial Abbey of Prüm

Origins

The abbey was founded in 721 by Bertrada the Elder, and refounded in 752 by her grandson Pippin the Short and his wife Bertrada of Laon, who gave it rich estates. Under Carolingian favour Prüm became one of the most important monasteries between the Rhine and the Meuse.

Rule and society

The Prüm Urbar of 893, a register of estates and dues, is a key source on the Carolingian rural economy. Abbot Regino of Prüm wrote an important chronicle there, and Emperor Lothair I retired to the abbey and died there in 855. Later its abbot was a prince of the Empire ruling a small territory in the Eifel.

Decline and legacy

Prüm's possessions shrank from the 13th century, and the archbishops of Trier sought control over it. In 1576 the abbey was incorporated into the Electorate of Trier, the archbishop acting as its administrator. The monastery itself survived until French secularisation in 1802.