The Celestines were a Roman Catholic monastic order who strove to lead an ascetic mode of life (eating meat was strictly prohibited unless you were ill). They assumed their name after the order's founder became a pope called Celestine V. In 1407, the Celestines arrived in Lyon and established a monastery that survived until 1778 (despite numerous fires). In the late 18th century, the building was replaced by a cloister surrounded by buildings that included a small theatre (Napoleon attended a show in 1802). However, the theatre was too small, and when a fire destroyed it in 1871, the municipal authorities decided to replace it with something more elaborate. In 1877, the Lyonnais architect Gaspard André (1840-1896) designed the Théâtre des Célestins, which became home to countless notable actors and playwrights (Sarah Bernhardt, Jean Marais, Cécile Sorel, Jean Cocteau, Eugène Ionesco, Samuel Beckett and Bertolt Brecht).