This is an annotated translation of the classic Description de l'abbaye de La Trappe, the most important eye-witness account of life at the abbey of La Trappe under Armand-Jean de Ranc . The work includes a map showing the physical layout of the abbey and detailed discussions of the monks' daily life and practice. It was written by Andr F libien des Avaux for Jeanne de Schomberg, duchess of Liancourt, in 1671, with a new and enlarged edition being published in 1689. That is the edition translated here, with copious notes to help the reader appreciate F libien's account.
