Abbey d'Orval Is Founded

In 1070, the first monks settled at Orval in what is now Villers-devant-Orval, Belgium. Orval Abbey’s own history says that these monks arrived from southern Italy, were welcomed by Count Arnould de Chiny, and received land from his domain; construction of the first church and conventual buildings began immediately. The early community did not remain permanently, and the first monks moved away after about forty years. This entry marks the pre-Trappist beginning of Orval’s long monastic history. The site later passed through a community of canons and became Cistercian in the 12th century, long before the modern Trappist brewery and Orval beer emerged. For the Trappist storyline, 1070 is therefore not a brewing date, but the earliest historical anchor for one of the most important abbey sites later connected with Trappist beer.