Orderici Vitalis Historia aecclesiastica / The Ecclesiastical History of Orderic Vitalis, Vol. 3: Books 5-6

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OXFORD

MEDIEVAL

TEXTS

General Editors V. H. GALBRAITH R. A. B. MYNORS C. N. L. BROOKE

ORDERICI

VITALIS

HISTORIA ECCLESIASTICA

THE ECCLESIASTICAL R

HISTORY OF

169

VOLUME III

“32 ORDERIC VITALIS BOOKS

EDITED

V

AND

AND

VI

TRANSLATED BY

MARJORIE

CHIBNALL

OXFORD AT

THE

CLARENDON 1972

PRESS

W. 1 Oxford University Press, Ely House, London GLASGOW

DELHI

NEW IBADAN

CAPE TOWN

BOMBAY

YORK

PRINTED THE

HONG

UNIVERSITY

© OXFORD

IN

GREAT

UNIVERSITY BY

PRINTER

LUSAKA

VIVIAN TO

THE

ADDIS ABABA

LAHORE

KARACHI

MADRAS

SINGAPORE

WELLINGTON

MELBOURNE

DAR ES SALAAM

CALCUTTA

KUALA LUMPUR

AT

TORONTO

NAIROBI

KONG

PRESS

1972

BRITAIN

PRESS,

DACCA

TOKYO

OXFORD

RIDLER UNIVERSITY

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS IN addition to the thanks recorded in the Preface to Volume II

of the present edition, which are repeated here, I would like to acknowledge my gratitude to the Leverhulme Trustees for a further grant towards the expenses of the work, and to the Governing Body of Clare Hall, Cambridge, for the Research Fellowship that has enabled me to continue my researches in the stimulating society of their college. I also thank Mrs. U. Rees, who very kindly lent me a typescript of her forthcoming edition of the Shrewsbury Cartulary.

M. C. Clare Hall, Cambridge December, 1970

Y ^

|

*- unt ii "n "^mc

CONTENTS ABBREVIATED REFERENCES INTRODUCTION (i) Date and plan of Books V and VI (ii) The early history of Saint-Evroul (iii) The charters of Saint-Evroul (iv) The history of the province of Rouen (v) Note on the editing

xiii XV XX XXV xxviii

ORDERIC VITALIS Contents of Books V and VI

Book V Book VI

212

APPENDIX

I. The Vitae of St. Evroul

263

APPENDIX

II. The priors of Maule

365

GENEALOGICAL

TABLE. The lords of Auffay

INDEX OF QUOTATIONS GENERAL

INDEX

AND ALLUSIONS

367 369 371

SE

- cMN

UEC

EEUU

£A To apii sd, eh. 9

Seat £g

P

'

ps

D

DNUS

"TE

x

ABBREVIATED AA.SS. Beaunier-Besse

Bede, HE

BHL

BSAN Cabrol Cal. Pat. CDF

Cottineau David, Robert Curthose

DHGE DB Delisle, Classe agricole

Depoin, Cartulaire de Pontoise Douglas, WC Ducange Duchesne, Fastes Duchesne, HNS

REFERENCES

Acta Sanctorum, ed. J. Bollandus and others (Antwerp, Brussels, 1643, etc.). J. M. Besse and others, Abbayes et prieurés de l]ancienne France (Archives de la France Monastique) (Paris, Ligugé, 1905 ff.). Bede, Ecclesiastical History of the English People, ed. B. Colgrave and R. A. B. Mynors (Oxford, 1969). Bibliotheca Hagiographica Latina, ed. Socii Bollandiani, vols. 1, 2, and suppl. (Brussels, 1898-1911). Bulletin de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie. F. Cabrol, Dictionnaire d'archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie, 15 vols. in 30 (Paris, 1907-53). Calendar of Patent Rolls. Calendar of Documents preserved in France, vol. i, ed. J. H. Round (London, 1899). L. H. Cottineau, Répertoire topo-bibliographique des abbayes et prieurés, 2 vols. (Macon, 1936—7). C. W. David, Robert Curthose, Duke of Normandy (Cambridge, Mass., 1920). : Dictionnaire d'histoire et de géographie ecclésiastiques. Domesday Book, 2 vols. (Record Commission,

1783).

E

L. Delisle, Etudes sur la condition de la classe agricole et l'état de l'agriculture en Normandie au moyen áge (Evreux, 1851; Paris, 1903). J. Depoin, Cartulaire de l'abbaye de SaintMartin de Pontoise (Pontoise, 1895). David C. Douglas, William the Conqueror (London, 1964). Ducange, Glossarium mediae et infimae latinitatis, 10 vols. (Niort, 1883-7). L. Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux de l'ancienne Gaule, 3 vols. (Paris, 1894-1915). Historiae Normannorum scriptores antiqui, ed. A. Duchesne (Paris, 1619).

x

ABBREVIATED

EHR EYC

Fauroux

Foreville

GC GEC

REFERENCES

English Historical Review. Early Yorkshire Charters, i-iii, ed. W. Farrer (Edinburgh), and iv-xii, ed. C. T. Clay (Yorkshire Archaeological Society, 1914-65). Recueil des actes des ducs de Normandie (911— 1066), ed. Marie Fauroux (Mém. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxxvi, Caen, 1961). Guillaume de Poitiers: Histoire de Guillaume le Conquérant, ed. Raymonde Foreville (Paris, 1952).

Gallia Christiana (Paris, 1715-1865). The Complete Peerage of England, Scotland, Ireland, by G. E. C., rev. edit., 13 vols. in 14

(1910-59). GP

GR

Halphen, Anjou Haskins, Norman Institutions

HBC

Hefele

Joanne

Jumiéges Knowles, MO Knowles and Hadcock

William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Pontificum Anglorum, ed. N. E. S. A. Hamilton (RS) (London, 1870). William of Malmesbury, De Gestis Regum Anglorum, ed. W. Stubbs (RS), 2 vols. (London, 1887-9).

L. Halphen, Le Comté d’ Anjou au XI* siécle (Paris, 1906). C. H. Haskins, Norman Institutions (Cambridge, Mass., 1925). Handbook of British Chronology, 2nd edit., ed. F. M. Powicke and E. B. Fryde (London, 1961). C. J. Hefele, Histoire des Conciles, ed. J. Leclercq (Paris, 1907 ff.) Paul Joanne, Dictionnaire géographique et administratif de la France, 7 vols. in 5 (Paris, 1890-1905). Jumiéges: Congrés scientifique du XIII’ centenaire, 2 vols. (Rouen, 1955). David Knowles, The Monastic Order in England (2nd edit., Cambridge, 1963). D. Knowles and R. N. Hadcock, Medieval Religious Houses: England and Wales (London,

1953). Lair

Le Prévost

Dudo of primorum Soc. Ant. Orderici Tredecim, l'Histoire

Saint-Quentin, De moribus et actis Normanniae ducum, ed. J. Lair (Mém. Norm. xxiii) (Caen, 1865). Vitalis Ecclesiasticae Historiae Libri ed. A. Le Prévost (Société de de France), 5 vols. (Paris, 1838-55).

ABBREVIATED

REFERENCES

xi

Liber Eliensis

Liber Eliensis, ed. E. O. Blake (Camden Third Series, vol. xcii) (London, 1962).

Loyd

L. C. Loyd, The Origins of some Anglo-Norman Families (Harleian Society, vol. ciii, 1951). Lexicon für Theologie und Kirche (Freiburg i

LTK

Br., 1957-65). Mab. AA.SS. Marx

Mém.

Soc. Ant. Norm.

MGH Migne, PL

MLWL Musset, Abbayes caennaises

Musset, Almenéches

Paul, ZL Porée PUF Regesta

Rot. Hug. de Welles

RS RSB TRHS TSAS VCH

Acta Sanctorum ordinis sancti Benedicti, ed. J. Mabillon (Paris, 1668—1701). Guillaume de Jumiéges, Gesta Normannorum Ducum, ed. J. Marx (Société de l'Histoire de Normandie, 1914). Mémoires de la Société des Antiquaires de Normandie. Monumenta Germaniae Historica. Patrologiae Cursus Completus, series Latina, ed. J. P. Migne. Revised Medieval Latin Word-list, ed. R. E. Latham (London, British Academy, 1965). L. Musset, Les Actes de Guillaume le Conquérant et de la reine Mathilde pour les abbayes caennaises (Mém. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxxvii) (Caen, 1967). L. Musset, ‘Les premiers temps de l'abbaye d’Almenéches’ in L’Abbaye d'AlmenéchesArgentan et Sainte Opportune (Paris, 1970). Paulus Diaconus, Historia Langobardorum : (MGH SS Rerum Langobardicarum). A. A. Porée, Histoire de l'abbaye du Bec, 2 vols. (Evreux, 1901). J. Ramackers, Papsturkunden in Frankreich, neue folge (Berlin, 1932 ff.). Regesta Regum Anglo-Normannorum, vol. i, ed. H. W. C. Davis (Oxford, 1913); vol. ii, ed. C. Johnson and H. A. Cronne (Oxford, 1956). Rotuli Hugonis de Welles, ed. W. P. W. Phillimore, 3 vols. (Lincoln Record Society, vols. ili, vi, ix). Rolls Series Regula Sancti Benedicti Transactions of the Royal Historical Society. Transactions of the Shropshire Archaeologica Society. Victoria History of the Counties of England.

INTRODUCTION (1) Date and plan of Books V and VI

Books V and VI of the Ecclesiastical History occupy ff. IOI—199Y of Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 5506, vol. ii, and are written throughout in Orderic's hand. In the course of writing Book V he changed the plan of his work. He began with the intention of writing an account of the twelve years from 1075 to 1087, which was to include both the history of his own monastery and more general Norman history, as Books III and IV had done. 1075 was chosen for personal reasons: it was the year of his own birth. 1087, the year of William I's death, was an obvious stopping-point.! This design was probably defeated by the bulk and nature of the sources that confronted him, and he did not reach William's death until the end of Book VII. Saint-Évroul under Abbot Mainer (1066-89) enjoyed a period of relative calm, when the monastery was rebuilt on an ample scale; gifts of property in England, Normandy, and even France poured in, and the abbey's rising income made it possible to buy out the claims of half-hearted donors. Orderic, working on the charters and rolls of endowment in his abbey's archives, had more material than he could handle in a single book. For a few pages, working mainly from various Norman annals, he followed a general chronological plan; 1080 brought him to the synod of Lillebonne, and after copying its canons he drifted into a digression on the history of the archbishops of Rouen long enough to call for an apology to the reader before he returned to Norman history. At this point the troubled relations between Robert Curthose and his father, on which Book IV had closed, received detailed treatment. Orderic then turned to the affairs of Saint-Évroul, in particular the gifts made to the abbey, and the families of the benefactors. As the long record unfolded before him he must have determined to divide the remainder of the work into two parts: an internal history of the monastery and a more general history of the church in his own time, and he continued working on both simultaneously. Possibly this was when he made a slight change in ! Below, p. 6.

xiv

INTRODUCTION

the wording of the preface to Book V, to imply, not quite accurately, that it was concerned solely with the church of Saint-Evroul.! In fact the separation of subject was never complete even later; much of the history of the abbey after the time of Mainer was treated chronologically, as it occurred, in Books VII-XIITI.

The first part of Book V was written probably in late 1127. Orderic, who had entered the monastery in 1085, says he had been a monk for forty-two years;? and he wrote after the death of Cecilia, abbess of Caen, on 11 July 1127.3 The history of the archbishops of Rouen may already have been composed as a separate treatise; Orderic dates its completion in the twenty-seventh year of King Henry I, which if correct would be not later than 5 August 1127,4 and it is too substantial a piece of research to have been completed in the few weeks after the death of Cecilia, already recorded. Orderic's dates and figures are sometimes careless, but there is a general agreement on 1127 for the first part of the book. The dating of the later part is more confused, because Orderic undoubtedly left space at the end of more than one book to add material, and worked on several simultaneously.5 He had probably completed Book V and begun work on Book VI by about 1130, since he said in the early part of Book VI that the tithe of Lommoie was given in 1070 and had been held for about sixty years. By that time he may also have been working on the later general books, but he had certainly not reached Book X when he undertook in Book VI to describe Roger Le Sap's abbacy more fully later if life were spared him." After completing the account of the priory of Auffay he added later chapters over a period of years, as he thought fit. His decision to include a life of St. Evroul was probably due to the negotiations with Rebais for some relics of the saint; and the description of the recovery of the relics from Rebais must certainly be later than May 1131, and could be several years later. Final miracles were added after the death of Henry I in 1135,? and ! Below, p. 6 note a. ? Below, p. 8. 3 Below, p. 10. * Below, p. 94. 5 H. Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis (Wiesbaden, 1955), pp. 69—71, gives dates of some entries in the various books which show that during the years from II3O to 1137 Orderic was adding material to several books. Precise dating is difficult,

because some of the prologues and epilogues seem to have been added after the main text, and the prologue to Book VII is lost.

$ Below, pp. 224-6. ? Below, p. 242; he fulfilled his undertaking in Book X (Le Prévost, iv. 64, 433). 8 Below, pp. 338-42. ? Below, p. 344.

INTRODUCTION

xv

the handwriting of the last section is visibly shaky. When Orderic finally brought Book VI to a close and added the epilogue he had completed his history in thirteen books and divided it into two volumes, the first covering Books I-VI and the second Books VII-XIIL: The writing of Book VI was therefore spread over several years and the last entry, only tenuously connected with the abbey, may have been included to fill the space when he was winding up his life’s work and laying it aside.

(ii) The early history of Saint-Evroul The principal concern of these two books is with the abbey of Saint-Evroul, its benefactors, and some of its priories. Although Orderic had given an account of the refoundation at the beginning of Book III? he had said almost nothing of the history of the first abbey, and he repaired this omission towards the end of Book VI.3 For the first phase he was handicapped by having no written sources, except a late and unreliable version of the Vita of St. Évroul* and the dates in the Annals of Saint-Evroul, which were wrong.’ These he supplemented with all the oral traditions he could collect; and the stories he recorded sometimes contain a few grains of historical truth in a mass of popular legend and conventional hagiography. He believed that St. Evroul died in 596 and wrote a brief sketch of the historical background to fit that date. As far as can be ascertained the facts were different. Evroul was born probably about 626 of a wealthy family from Bayeux, and was brought up in the royal court. The best life, Vita A (1), tells very little about his early life and Vita B is unreliable; but it is clear that after his decision to abandon the world he spent some time in a monastery. Orderic, drawing upon a convincing tradition, believed it to have been Deux-Jumeaux. Later Évroul set out with a few companions to practice a more eremitical mode of life. All that is certain is that they finally settled in the

place later known

as Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois;

the

statement that they first settled for a time at Saint-Evroult-deMontfort may be true, but it is no older than the B Vita. The type ! Below, p. 360. 3 Below, pp. 264 ff. + See below, Appendix I, for the manuscripts criticism of the sources. 5 Printed by Delisle, Le Prévost, v. 139-73.

? Above, ii. 12 ff. of the

Vitae and

modern

Xvi

INTRODUCTION

of monasticism practised there is not certain. There is no doubt

that Evroul himself had very strong eremitical tenden cies, and Vita A (1) describes a scattered community of huts of the Jaurae type, adopting a mixture of Columbanian and Benedictine practices that would have been perfectly possible in the seventh century. We cannot be certain that the account has not borrowed details from elsewhere, but the whole picture is remark ably free from anachronism and it is difficult to see why anyone should have wished to fabricate it. Orderic knew nothing of this version, and since he believed that St. Maur had brought the Benedi ctine rule to France he probably imagined, wrongly, that the community had been Benedictine from its earliest days. All the Vitae agree that fifteen monasteries were founded in Evroul’s lifetim e: their nature and location are subjects for conjecture. Orderic records a tradition that a women's monastery was founded on the site of the church of Notre-Dame-du-Bois, on the other side of the Charentonne from

his abbey, and this would certainly have been possib lein the seventh century, when double monasteries were becoming common. There was also an oratory of some kind near the source of the Charentonne; it was known as the chapel of St. Evroul and traditionally connected with the saint’s retreats in search of a more solitary life. But at a time when each altar was normally housed in a separate building these churches may have been no more than subordinate oratories for the scattered community disper sed around the main basilica of St. Peter. After Evroul’s death in 706 the mona stery disappears from history for nearly two hundred years, apart from the mention of one abbot, Ragingarius, who was present at the council of Attigny c. 762.! By goo, the date of the only survi ving diploma? of the first abbey, the members of the community were described as ‘canonici’. The diploma, issued by Charles the Simp le at the request of his mother and his cousin Count Hugh, who was count of the Hiémois and probably lay abbot of Saint-Évroul, confirms the property of these 'canonici' in the Hiémois and Maine. It was very likely designed, like some diplomas issued in the ninth century to SaintGermain-des-Prés, to reserve certain estates to support the community and protect them from the depr edations of their lay abbots ! GC xi. 817.

^ M. Philippe Lauer, Recueil des actes de Charles IIT le Simple (Paris, 1949), Pp. 74-6.

INTRODUCTION

xvii

and others.' Whilst its language may mean that by goo monks had been replaced by secular canons, the exact meaning of the term "canonici' at this date is an open question, and it seems to have been applicable to any community living a regular life but not following the Benedictine rule. What a twelfth-century monk might have imagined it to mean is even more uncertain. Orderic knew of this charter,? which Robert of Grandmesnil had found at Orleans and

had had copied for Saint-Évroul 'to show what a great reputation the saint then had in France', and perhaps this and no more is what it meant to Orderic. He did not mention it in his history. Saint-Evroul seems to have survived the Viking raids. When Orderic first touched briefly on the history of the abbey in his interpolations in William of Jumiéges he believed that it had been sacked together with Jumiéges, Saint-Wandrille, and Marmoutier.? After more thorough researches later he attributed the disaster, with much greater probability, to pillaging by armies of Hugh the Great about 946. The exact date is uncertain: the Rebais tradition, which Orderic knew but rejected, put it twenty years earlier.* Certainly the greater part of the community was dispersed, and the relics and charters turned up later at Rebais and Orleans. Orderic's account of their migrations is based on stories that may have been invented to explain where they were found. Possibly the monks of Rebais acquired their relics through ties formed when they took refuge c. 935 at Marcilly-sur-Eure.5 Certainly the greater part of the

property was secularized. Some that lay in the Hiémois was absorbed by the counts and vicomtes of the Hiémois: the ducal rights in Bocquencé, which was held in 1050 by Baudry the duke's archer under the Giroie, may date from the time when Robert the Magnificent was count of the Hiémois. The identification of many of the estates is too uncertain for their subsequent history to be

traced. If Orderic's account of the abandonment of the site is even approximately correct, regular life had ceased and the clearings round the churches had begun to be used by the country people to pasture their animals at the beginning of the eleventh century. This is just the time when many parts of Normandy experienced t Cf. Marie de Germain-des-Prés’ 2 Below, p. 322 * Below, p. 307. 6 See above, ii. abbey. 822219X

la Motte-Callas, ‘Les possessions territoriales de Saintin Revue d'histoire de l'église de France, xliii (1957), 62-4. n. 2. 3 Marx, p. 176. 5 L. Musset in DHGE xvi. 220. 34 n. 1, and Fauroux, no. 122, for the re-endowment of the B

xviii

INTRODUCTION

the most profound disturbance both to monastic life with the secularization of church lands and rights, and to lay administration with the disintegration of the pagus.! In the second quarter of the eleventh century, when the movement for the restoration of churches became vigorous in Nor-

mandy, the ruined churches of St. Peter and St. Mary in the forest of Ouche were repaired. Two secular clerks from the Beauvaisis, Restold and his son Ingran, settled in St. Peter’s church in the fee of Bocquencé and, in Orderic's version, later secured permission from Robert Fraisnel, lord of the adjacent fee, to restore St. Mary's

church.? They were still there when William Giroie and Hugh and Robert of Grandmesnil began to refound an abbey on the site, a little before 1050. Only a small part of the original patrimony was ever to be recovered. The lands, churches, and tithes bestowed

on the new monastery carry the stamp of the families of Grandmesnil and Giroie. The Giroie estates were built up around SaintCéneri-le-Gérei on the Sarthe as well as around the lands of Heugon in the Charentonne valley; they included the former patrimony of the monastery of Saint-Céneri rather than that of Saint-Évroul. The abbey owed its later acquisitions to the families and friends of its founders and of the men who became monks there. Its eleventh-century estates, like those of other restored monasteries such as Jumiéges, were concentrated in Normandy or near to its frontiers and in England. The abbey did not recover the principal Carolingian estates in Maine, even though one daughter of Giroie the old married Solomon of Sablé and acquired an interest

in the region. It did, however, establish cells along the frontiers of

Perche, in the Norman Vexin where some support came from lords of the French Vexin, and, owing to a chance connection

with the family of Le Riche of Paris, in the Ile de France. Hugh of Grandmesnil's service as castellan of Neufmarché-enLions took him to that region, and he replaced the canons in his half of the church of St. Peter of Neufmarché by monks of Saint* L. Musset in Fumiéges, i. 55; Marie de la Motte-Callas in Revue d'histoire de l'église de France, xliii (1957), 70; J.-F. Lemarignier, ‘La dislocation du

"pagus" et le probléme des *'consuetudines"' in Mélanges d'histoire du Moyen

Age dédiés à la mémoire de Louis Halphen (Paris, no date), pp. 401, 402. 2 There is some confirmation for this in the foundation charter, since the

church of St. Mary was purchased from Ralph Fraisnel; but it is there said to

have been held previously by ‘the monk Placidus’.

INTRODUCTION

xix

Évroul before 1066.! Hugh also encouraged the establishment of monks at La-Chapelle-en-Vexin; and their presence there may have been responsible for the gift of the mother church of St. Martin of Parnes, which became the seat of a priory soon after 1066.? The family of Chaumont, who were the principal benefactors of Parnes, were connected by marriage with the family of Baudry of Guitry,? another benefactor of Saint-Évroul. William Pantulf, who gave the churches of Noron and other property to establish a priory in 1073, was both a friend of Abbot Mainer and a vassal of Roger of Montgomery, vicomte of the Hiémois; a few years later he was to take refuge at Saint-Évroul when under suspicion of being implicated in the murder of Mabel of Belléme.4 The establishment of another priory two or three years later at Maule in the [le de France owed more to chance. Ralph of Tosny, out of penitence for having taken part in burning the town of Saint-Évroul, left his physician, Goisbert of Chartres, in the abbey whilst he went to Spain. Goisbert took the habit there, and visited his wide circle of wealthy friends to secure alms for the monastery.5 Amongst these was Peter of Maule, son of Ansold Le Riche of Paris, a wealthy chátelain of the Ile de France, whose family formed alliances with the Montmorency and Montlhéry families.9 Peter's property on the river Mauldre at Maule and Mareil had once been part of the endowment of Saint-Germaindes-Prés, and his foundation of a priory at Maule about 1076 was in effect a restitution of former church possessions to ecclesiastical

hands.? The lords of Heugleville, founders of the priory of Auffay,? were the younger branch of the family of Saint-Valéry, and acquired their estates at Heugleville through marriage. They were well connected, for Richard of Heugleville's grandmother was a daughter of Richard duke of Normandy, and his son Gilbert married a cousin of Queen Matilda; but their estates were moderate 1 See above, ii. 130. 2 [bid. ii. 150-4. 3 F. Lot, Études critiques sur l'abbaye de Saint-Wandrille (Paris, 1913), p. Ixxxviii n. 8. * Below, pp. 160-2. 5 Below, pp. 170 ff. 6 J.-F. Lemarignier, Le Gouvernement royal aux premiers temps capétiens (Paris, 1965), pp. 124—5; J. Depoin, Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Martin de Pontoise (Pontoise, 1895), pp. 270-2. 7 Marie de la Motte-Callas, op. cit. 76—7; A. Longnon, Polyptique de l'abbaye

de Saint-Germain-des-Prés (Paris, 1885-95), ii. 279-80. 8 Below, pp. 246-60 and genealogical table, p. 367.

xx

INTRODUCTION

in size and they were roughly equal in standing to the lords of Maule. Richard established a town at Auffay and founded a college of secular canons beside his castle there. His son Gilbert took part in the invasion of England, but according to Orderic refused lands there. Influenced by his wife, Beatrice of Valenciennes, he decided to substitute monks for canons at Auffay in 1079. Saint-Evroul was chosen to provide the monks through the persuasion of Gilbert’s nephew, Drogo of Neufmarché, one of a group of young knights who had recently left the household of Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester, and taken the habit there. Later Gilbert’s ownson, Hugh,

became a monk at Saint-Evroul. The endowment consisted mainly of the prebends of the six canons and other property in the valley of the Scie, between Tótes and Dieppe, together with some English property provided by Drogo's brother, Bernard of Neufmarché, later lord of Brecon. After the time of Abbot Mainer, in 1107, one other fully conventual priory was founded at Noyon-sur-Andelle (now Charleval) by William count of Evreux and his wife;! and probably by the twelfth century a small cell was established at Ware to provide for the spiritual needs of the patrons and to look after the English property.? Before that time the English lands seem to have been managed by single monks sent out from the mother abbey; and certainly during the abbacy of Mainer and even later a number of monks, in twos and threes and even alone, were established on the scattered estates of the monastery to look after them. We hear of monks living at Moulicent and Moulins-la-Marche;3 and in time there were

cells at Marchainville,

Saint-Céneri,

L'Aigle,

and

Villers-Canivet.* The later development of the priories, however, goes beyond the period covered by Orderic's history. (iii) The charters of Saint-Evroul

The early charters of Saint-Evroul, like other eleventh- and early twelfth-century Norman charters, were normally drafted in the scriptorium of the monastery;5 occasionally a learned donor Le Prévost, iv. 277-80. ? VCH Herts. iii. 385, 394; iv. 455-7. 3 Below, pp. 132, 152. dee J. Ramackers, Papsturkunden in Frankreich, neue folge (Gottingen, 1937),

ii, no. 153. 5 P. Chaplais, "The seals and original charters of Henry I’, in EHR

(1960), 270.

lxxv

INTRODUCTION

xxi

might produce his own text.! They fall into two broad categories, familiar to students of Norman diplomatic:? the simple acts, concerned with a single gift, and the pancartes or general confirmations, in which gifts spread over a number of years were brought together under one date in a single document. Some of the charters took a narrative form and were records of transactions in the chapter-house or elsewhere, at a date when the ceremony and the formal laying of a book or other token on the altar were of more importance in the establishment of right than the written record drawn up later to prolong the memory of the witnesses.? The earliest roll of Saint-Evroul, printed by Delisle, is full of charters of this type, recording the ceremony, the gifts made or confirmed, and the spiritual benefits offered by the abbey to the donors. They are full of precise detail: how when Robert and Baudry, the sons of Baudry of Bocquencé, came into the chapter to confirm the gifts of their father and mother the abbot gave them a war-horse, though they had asked for no return, because Robert wished to train his younger brother Baudry as a knight;5 how when Gerard Trove lay dying he sent for a monk of Saint-Évroul to come and clothe him in the monastic habit and hear his renunciation of his claim to land at Moulins, and afterwards on the day of his burial his wife and brother came into the chapter-house and confirmed the grant, laying a token on the altar.$ These records, supplemented by his own memories and the stories of other monks, provided Orderic's principal sources for the history of his abbey, and he was free to use whatever they contained. Le Prévost's suggestion that his superiors withheld some charters, including the copy of a diploma of Charles the Simple? which referred to canons of Saint-Évroul in the year goo, is unacceptable, since the document is in Orderic's own handwriting.* It is not surprising that he failed to mention a later charter of ! Below, p. 150. Foucher, son of Gerard, of Chartres composed the text of his charter, which was written down by an expert scribe. 2 See in particular the admirable survey of L. Musset in Les actes de Guillaume le Gonquérant et de la reine Mathilde pour les abbayes caennaises (Mém. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxxvii, Caen, 1967), pp. 25-34, to which the following account is

greatly indebted. 3 See V. H. Galbraith, ‘The literacy of the medieval English kings’, in Proceedings of the British Academy, xxi (1935), 218-21.

^ Le Prévost, v. 182-95. * [bid., pp. 184-5. 8 Below, p. 322 n. 2.

5 Ibid., p. 184. Ibid., iii. 102 n. I.

xxii

INTRODUCTION

Henry I, since he had more raw material than he could use; in any

case some of the charters attributed to Henry I are open to suspicion.! From this material Orderic selected and amplified. Sometimes he gave the texts as they stood; sometimes he tried to make a story of them, recreating the scenes and supplying the narrative of events that seemed to lie behind them. The second method,

though more lively and readable, sometimes added extra confusion to records that were already diplomatically very confused. We can see how he worked by comparing his account with surviving copies of charters. Duke William's general charter of confirmation, granted at the refoundation and dated 1050, is a pancarte;? consequently it contains a record of grants made over a number of years. There were two early versions with signa, showing considerable variations particularly in the final clauses; but no copies earlier than the thirteenth century have survived, and it is impossible to reconstruct the stages in the evolution of the pancartes as L. Musset has done with such skill from the originals of the two abbeys at Caen. Eighteenth-century copies by Lenoir, made when the archives were still intact, give minor variations. When Orderic worked on the pancarte for his account of the refoundation? he relied almost entirely on record sources. He added one or two local details: the church of St. Martin was on the river Guiel; the place later called Touquettes was first known as ‘Black water’. He also worked in a few extra names and the later gifts or sales of part of the church of Neufmarché

and

the church

of Anceins,

which

he added

possibly from separate charters but more probably from marginal notes or insertions in a version of the pancarte which has not survived. He then described the confirmation of all these gifts by Duke William at Lyons-la-Forét as if it had been a single act at a point in time: the year 1050. No effort was made to harmonize the chronological elements in any pancarte, which was essentially a comprehensive record of property and privilege; but the result of translating one literally into historical terms, as Orderic did, can be confusing to the modern reader. The account of the foundation of the priory of Maule,* apparently based on a pancarte, is * See Haskins, Norman Institutions, pp. 12-14; Regesta, ii, no. 1553; CDF, P. 223 n. 3. The longer version of the 1128 charter, printed in GC xi. instr. 204, allegedly from an original, contains elements that can scarcely have been earlier than the reign of Henry II, and it is not in the cartulary of Saint-Évroul. ? Fauroux, no. 122. 3 Above, ii. 33-41. * Below, pp. 172-6.

INTRODUCTION

xxiii

geared to the year 1076, which may be the year when formal religious life began, not the year of the first gifts. A similar difficulty arises when Orderic has taken the witnesses in a comprehensive confirmation, where new signatures might be added over a period of years, and imagined them all as present at the ceremony described for the initial act of confirmation, even though not all were alive and in office at the same time.! Where Orderic had independent information about a gift he worked it into his account together with the text of the charter. This can be seen most clearly in his account of the gifts of Ralph of 'Tosny to the abbey.? A copy of Ralph's charter, made when the gifts were complete, survives. Orderic knew from older monks that there were three stages in the gifts: the first when Ralph on his way to Spain expressed penitence for his attack on the monks and promised amends, leaving his physician Goisbert with them; the second on his return after Goisbert had taken the habit, when

he made good his promises and actually conveyed his Norman gifts; the third some years later when he added English lands and probably approved the charter. Orderic introduced the narrative between extracts from the charter without distinguishing between them; we can separate the elements only by comparing his text with the charter. Since many of these early charters were narrative in form, unless the original charter has survived for comparison, it is almost impossible to tell where Orderic was simply dramatizing a written source and where he had the account of an eyewitness, possibly himself, to supplement it. At times indeed a vivid detail suggests the presence of an eyewitness: Orderic must have seen the gifts placed on the high altar of Saint-Évroul, still damp from the holy water on the day of the consecration of the church.* We can hardly doubt that he was present with his father in 1083 when Roger of Montgomery placed his glove on the altar of the wooden church of St. Peter at Shrewsbury, where Orderic was learning to serve as an acolyte, and vowed to found a monastery there;* or

that he was in the chapter-house at Saint-Évroul when Hugh of

Montpincon came to make his gifts with his wife Matilda, then in mourning for the recent death of her sister, and a talkative knight called Walter the Bald took Hugh's young son into the chapter1 Below, p. 158. 3 Below, p. 130.

? Below, pp. 124-6. * Below, pp. 146-8.

xxiv

INTRODUCTION

house to kiss the brethren.! At all events, these are details not to be found in even the most circumstantial of narrative charters.

Occasionally Orderic simply copied the text of a charter. The chance survival of the charter of Foucher of Chartres demonstrates the accuracy of his copies. It is reasonable, therefore, to accept that he copied William I's long charter of confirmation of English gifts as he found it; though as the original was lost in the wreck of the abbey's English archives kept at Ware we cannot be sure whether all the gifts were made before Mainer's visit to England in 1081 to secure it. Some gifts may have been no more than promises at that date; others may have been written later into the charter; certainly some of the property was still in the hands of the donors in 1086.2 Although some caution is necessary in accepting all the details with which Orderic enlivened his charters, no such reservations

apply to his bringing to life of the men behind them. His account of the lords of Maule and Auffay shows the social patterns of his day: the claims of brothers and sisters and younger children on family property, bought out with everything from a palfrey or an ounce of gold to a pair of shoes or a length of fustian; the closeknit circle of vassals and clergy and the ceremonies with which homage was taken and alms given. More than this, it depicts the men and women themselves as living people. Too much medieval biography forces its subjects into procrustean beds of Suetonian tradition or conventional hagiography. But there were no recognized types on which to model French chátelains and Norman lords of middling wealth and moderate piety, and Orderic described them as he saw them. Peter of Maule, open-handed, recklessly generous and extravagant, religious in giving alms but not in fasting, contrasts with his son Ansold:

soldier, scholar,

prudent lord, with more than a touch of puritanism and selfrighteousness, as relentless to himself in the line of duty as he was to his wife and family. Even the ladies are not uniform. Among the pious Avice of Auffay stands out, gentle and virtuous but firm enough to reform a brutal and boorish husband; joyful, her epitaph insists, in a marriage fifteen years long in which she bore twelve children and saw eight of them die. Yet her portrait comes from a pen that could depict the Norman amazon, Isabel of Tosny, and the terrible Mabel of Belléme. ! Below, p. 166.

? Below, pp. 232-40.

INTRODUCTION

XXV

(iv) The history of the province of Rouen

Orderic’s account of the archbishops of Rouen, with the synchronisms of popes and lay rulers, may have been drafted as a separate work; but it was certainly completed and incorporated in the main narrative in the summer of 1127.1 It belongs to a type of historical work which possibly derived originally from the Liber Pontificalis, and was very common in Western Europe by the early twelfth century.? The introductory account of the founding of Rouen and the early history of the church in Gaul comes from sources of little or no historical value. They were: 1. A lost, legendary Gesta Romanorum, devoted to the conquest of Gaul by Julius Caesar. This was different in character from the various collections of Gesta Romanorum widely current in the fourteenth century,3 which were related to the Trojan romances and were used to provide moral exempla. Its historical framework may have resembled the Historia Romana of Paul the Deacon, and round this accumulated fanciful etymological derivations of names of cities, partly inspired by the Etymologies of Isidore of Seville. Each local historian may have elaborated the legend for his own city, possibly distorting inscriptions on Roman tombstones to invent a companion or kinsman of Caesar who might have given his name to the place. Traces of it appear in many works, including the Liber de compositione castri Ambaziae,+ Flodoard’s Historia Remensis Ecclesiae,’ and Sigebert of Gembloux's De laude urbis Mettensis.9 It belonged essentially to a somewhat pedantic Latin culture that was losing vogue in the eleventh century, and perhaps for this reason it has not survived in any known manuscript. One passage where Orderic's language seems to echo that of the De commendatione Turonicae provinciae" may have been derived by

both writers from the lost Gesta. tj ! Below, pp. 36-96. 2 Cf. A. Molinier, Les Sources de l'histoire de France (Paris, 1902-6), ii. 21-23 Ed. H. Oesterley (Berlin, 1872) and W. Dick (Erlangen-Leipzig, 1899). ;

4 Chroniques des comtes d' Anjou, ed. L. Halphen and A. Poupardin (Paris,

1913), pp- 1-19.

5 MGH SS xiii. 412-13. See A. Vernet in Annuaire de PÉcole des Hautes Etudes, 1964-5, iv? section, p. 256. $ Migne, PL clx, col. 717. 7 Below, p. 36 n. 2.

xxvi

INTRODUCTION

2. A ninth-century Life of St. Taurin.! This is an unreliable forgery belonging to the collection of writings relating to St. Denis the Areopagite.? For the lives of the bishops of Rouen from St. Mallon and the historical background Orderic used many sources, some of which were more reliable. The Annals of Saint-Evroul provided the main chronological framework. They were based up to 1087 on the Annals of Rouen, with later additions.? Orderic's errors in chronology and his omissions or repetitions of names of popes come from this source; and where the annals fail him by giving no popes between 891 and 999 his sequence becomes exceptionally confused. He also copied literally some of the longer entries from the tenth century onwards. Information about the province of Rouen came from various documents in the archives of Rouen cathedral. The couplets on the archbishops of Rouen, composed probably by a clerk of the cathedral in the time of William

Bonne-Ame,

which

he either

copied or had copied for him, still exist in the original manuscript, bound into the Livre d'Ivoire.* They are written in one hand as far as John of Avranches, and then continued in different hands. Whilst it is not entirely certain that he ever saw the Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium, written in the late eleventh century probably by a clerk of the cathedral, it is likely that he did.5 Earlier lists of bishops of Rouen counted St. Mallon as the first: the Acta however added St. Nicaise. Orderic used both numberings in different places.® He also based his introductory paragraph on the preface to the Acta, which listed the subject cities in the province.” Orderic's purpose was rather different from that of the cathedral clerk; he omitted almost all biographical details for the early archbishops and seems to have relied on hearsay evidence that was sometimes distorted for the eleventh-century men, so that his statements do not always tally with those in the Acta. Such t AA.SS., August II, 635-55. ? Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 225. 3 Cf. above, ii. 369-70; Le Prévost, v. 139 ff. * Rouen MS. 1405, ff. 36-9. 5 Printed, E. Martene, Veterum Scriptorum et Monumentorum Collectio Nova (Rouen, 1700), ii. 233 ff. Cf. E. Vacandard, Revue catholique de Normandie, iii (1893), 121. $ Below, pp. 22, 36, 48. 7 Delisle in Le Prévost, v, p. lxxii, describes Orderic’s source as an account

of the cities of Gaul; the extract that Orderic quotes corresponds exactly with

the preface to the Acta (Martene, p. 233). A copy of the description may, however, have circulated separately.

INTRODUCTION

xxvii

discrepancies occur between his work and all the sources which he had seen briefly and did not have beside him when he was writing; they do not prove that he was ignorant of the Acta. He also used a calendar or Obituary from the cathedral, with obits of abbots;! and a number of lives of saints, including the Lives of St. Quentin and St. Gildard, and probably the Life of St. Hugh.? The eleventh-century Life of St. Nicaise,? which he knew, probably belonged to the cathedral. He did not know the Life of St. Romanus; neither did the author of the Acta. Access to the cathe-

dral library would have been easy for him, since his travels gave him several opportunities of visiting Rouen. He was ordained priest there,* and he would have passed through on his way to the priory of Auffay or to England. It would have been an easy matter for him to make notes, or even borrow books, from the cathedral library. For papal history he used the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius and the Liber Pontificalis. A copy of the Liber in the version of Anastasius was in the library of Saint-Évroul He drew extensively on Paul the Deacon's History of the Lombards, which was also in his own monastic library, for the history of the papacy, the empire, and the Franks no less than the Lombards. For early English history his source was Bede, whose Ecclesiastical History he had copied with his own hand.7 He used some chronicle of Frankish history, possibly the Historia Francorum Senonensis. For the Normans his principal source was the Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumiéges. In addition he inserted miscellaneous facts about learning and monastic life, drawn ultimately from many sources, but immediately perhaps from the residue of much reading remaining in his own memory. Historians especially—Orosius, Theodoret, Cassiodorus—earned mention at the appropriate dates; and the work of 1 No Obituary survives for this period, but Rouen MS. 1194 is a fourteenthcentury copy of an earlier Obituary. ? Rouen MS. 1405, pp. 44-56, 164—7; cf. Vacandard in Revue catholique de Normandie, iii (1893), 122-3. ^ Le Prévost, iv. 272-3.

3 AA.SS., October V, 510-59.

5 Alencon MS. 18, ff. 9-162. A second less complete copy was made from this in Orderic's lifetime. See L. Duchesne, Liber Pontificalis (Paris, 1886— $ Alencon MS. 18, ff. 163-252. 1957), i, pp. clxxx-clxxxi. 7 Rouen

MS.

1343;

see B. Colgrave

and R. Mynors,

History of the English People (Oxford, 1969), p. lxi. 8 MGH SS ix. 339-40, 364-9.

Bede's Ecclesiastical

xxviii

INTRODUCTION

various computists on the Paschal cycle was noted. 'The foundations

of the great Norman abbeys were duly recorded. Some of the material was to be used again in the extended chronologicaloutline that later made up Books I and II.! Its historical value is slight. The chronology of the Annals of Saint-Evroul and the various lists of dignitaries used by Orderic was often unsound. Moreover he wrote under the influence of sources which included ninth-century forgeries and products of the movement to strengthen the hierarchy in his own time, such as the Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium. Consequently he repeated the unhistorical traditions supporting the apostolic origins and early metropolitan organization of the see of Rouen. But occasionally he added something of his own to the mosaic, particularly in his notes on the eleventhcentury archbishops and the record that he leaves of traditions about Robert Guiscard current in Normandy; and these additions are not without value. (v) Note on the editing In general I have followed the same editorial conventions as in Volume II; one change, however, has seemed desirable. Although

Orderic did not break up his work into numbered chapters, it is long and diffuse, and printing it as a continuous narrative causes some difficulty to readers. Consequently I have re-introduced the chapter numberings adopted by Le Prévost and Delisle, and have added a table of contents. These chapters do not correspond exactly with those of Duchesne's edition, but they are faithful to the paragraphing of Orderic's text, whereas Duchesne sometimes began a new chapter in the middle of a paragraph. Because Books V and VI include many charters relating to property in Normandy, certain special problems of translation arise. Some of the technical terms have a French, but no English, equivalent, and an English non-technical term might only confuse the reader. Consequently I have kept such French terms as ‘hétes’, 'arpents', and ‘muids’, giving references to works where a discussion of their meaning may be found. The term ‘villein’ belongs to both languages; but the reader needs to bear in mind that the social condition of Norman and English villeins was not exactly the same even in the eleventh century. * For example, the story of the prophecy found at Constantinople (below, P. 74; Le Prévost, i. 155).

HISTORIA

ACCLESIASTICA

CONTENTS

OF BOOKS BOOK

V AND VI

V

. Prologue

. William I in

Normandy; dedications of cathedrals and abbeys,

1077

. Thunderstorm at Lisieux. Death and burial of Hugh, bishop 12

of Lisieux. His successor, Gilbert Maminot . Death

of John of Avranches,

archbishop

of Rouen.

His

successor, William Bonne-Ame

22

. Council of Lillebonne, 1080

24

. Origins of the city of Rouen and legend of St. Nicaise

36

. The church of Evreux; deeds of St. Taurin

38

. Lack of evidence for later persecutions in Gaul . History of the bishops and archbishops of Rouen from the mon oOo nn time of St. Mallon

Io.

II.

I2.

46 48

Quarrel of Robert Curthose with his father; his rebellion and exile, the siege of Gerberoy, 1079; temporary reconciliation and renewed exile

William I’s other children; the betrothals and marriages of his daughters

114

History of the abbey of Saint-Evroul in the time of Abbot Mainer

116

I3. Donations to the abbey of Saint-Evroul: gifts of Ralph of Tosny, William of Breteuil, William of Moulins-la-Marche,

Roger of Montgomery, and their vassals and families I4. Foundation of Shrewsbury Abbey; Orderic's father, Odelerius

122

142

I5 Gifts secured for Saint-Évroul by Goisbert the doctor; priory of Marchéville 16.

150

Foundation of the priory of Noron by William Pantulf, 1073;

his alleged implication in the murder of Mabel of Belléme

and trial by ordeal at Rouen 17. Gifts of Ralph of Montpingon and his family

154 164

CONTENTS

OF

BOOKS

V AND

VI

18. John of Rheims, monk of Saint-Évroul; his death

166

I9. Foundation and early history of the priory of Maule, 1076; its founder, Peter Le Riche of Maule, and his family

170

20.

Other gifts secured by Goisbert the doctor for Saint-Évroul ;

epilogue

206

BOOK

VI

. Prologue

212

. The household of Hugh earl of Chester: his chaplain Gerold of Avranches

214

. Life of St. William of Gellone

218

4. Conversions to the monastic life secured Avranches; his later life at Tewkesbury

by Gerold

of 226

. Abbot Mainer's visit to England in 1081; charter of William I confirming the English possessions of Saint-Évroul. Other gifts to the abbey; notable monks . Relations of Albert of Cravent with Saint-Évroul

232 242

. Foundation and early history of the priory of Auffay

246

. The lords of Auffay

252 264

. Life and miracles of St. Évroul Oo CONT o . Disasters in Normandy Events in Normandy after the murder

302 of William

Long-

sword (943)

306

dispersal of the relics

314 334 340

Sack of Saint-Évroul by men of the armies of Hugh the Great;

Revival of monastic life; restoration of the abbey in 1050 Recovery of some relics from Rebais, 1130-1

Letter of Abbot Warin describing the unjust condemnation and miraculous delivery of Bricstan Epilogue

346

360

Incipit liber quintus ecclesiastice historia I

li. 299

MAIORUM exempla sectantes letale ocium indesinenter debemus deuitare, utilique studio et salubri exercitio feruenter insudare" quibus intenta mensa uiciis emundatur, et in omne nefas uitali disciplina gloriose armatur. ‘In desideriis est’ ut ait Salomon ‘omnis ociosus."! Et, ‘Desideria occidunt pigrum.'? Piger nimirum et ociosus est? qui bona uoluntate carens sponte uiciis summissus est. Miserabiliter segnicie premi iudicatur, qui in lege Domini die ac nocte,? id est in prosperis et aduersis non meditatur: nec insidiis seu luctatibus Sathanz reluctando resistere conatur, ut superna uocationis brauium adipisci mereatur. Hunc procul dubio nociua desideria occidunt, dum in bono torpentem ad scelus pertrahunt: et per amplam proprii libitus uiam in baratrum perditionis immergunt. Maiores igitur nostri pigriciam et ociositatem anime inimicam* penitus condemnant, suosque sequaces ad commodum laborem et exercitium uerbis et exemplis inuitant? et in hac re non solum Christiani sed eciam gentiles poete consonant. Ait enim Virgilius, Quid labor aut benefacta iuuant?* labor omnia uincit

Improbus, et duris urguens in rebus egestas. li. 300

Ouidius quoque libidini resistere uolentem sic instruit contra Venerem dicens, Ocia corrodunt mentes ac corpora frangunt."

Fac fugias monitis ocia prima meis.? Ocia si tollas periere Cupidinis arcus

Contemptzeque iacent et sine luce faces.? ! 'This quotation does not occur in the Vulgate. SuCfPsalmai22:

? Proverbs xxi. 25. 4 Cf. RSB, c. 48.

5 Virgil, Georgics, iii. 525. 6 Tbid! i. 145. 7 Orderic probably took his classical quotations from Florilegia (H. Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis jp. 224 n. 520 ).From a very early date some lines from Ovid

Here begins the fifth book of the Ecclesiastical History I

As our masters have taught by their example we ought ceaselessly to shun the sin of idleness, and by devoting ourselves wholeheartedly to useful study and profitable activity arm ourselves to triumph against all evil with wholesome discipline, and cleanse our souls to make them free from sin. ‘The slothful man’, says Solomon, ‘is a slave to desire’ ;! and again, ‘The desire of the sloth-

ful killeth him.'? And that man is slothful and idle who abandons himself to vice because he lacks the will for good. He who does not meditate on the law of the Lord by day and night?—that is, in prosperity and adversity—and does not resist the wiles of Satan by wrestling with him to earn the prize of heavenly life, 1s rightly thought to be a slave to idleness. Never doubt that fatal lusts destroy this man, leading him as he stagnates in prosperity to active evil, along the broad highway of his own voluptuousness until he is plunged into the pit of damnation. So our masters utterly condemn sloth and idleness as enemies of the soul,* and by word and deed encourage their disciples to useful toil and labour. On this indeed the pagan poets agree with Christian writers. For Virgil says: What profit toil or even worthy deeds ?5 Toil conquers all,

Relentless toil, and want that drives through hardships.® And Ovid too gives this advice against venery to those who seek to curb their lust: Sloth rots the mind, and breaks the body's health.? Be warned by me, and shun all idleness.? Drive sloth away; then Cupid's bows fall slack;

His torches flicker out and have no fire.? had been wedded to lines from another part of his works, or those of another poet (L. P. Wilkinson,

Ovid Recalled (Cambridge,

1955), p. 366). This

line

may be a corruption of Ovid, Ex Ponto, I. iv. 21 ff. (H. Wolter, Carmina Medii Aevi Posterioris Latina, no. 20485).

9 Ibid. 139-40.

3 Ovid, De remedio amoris, v. 136. 822219 X

c

6

BOOK

V

Hzc et alia huiusmodi diligenter perpendens pater Guarine:! aliquid quod aliquibus in domo Domini fidelibus prosit seu placeat decreui simpliciter edere, arreptum uero sedimen uigilanter

tenere" ne cum seruo torpente pro absconso in terra talento

li. 301

dampner Domino ad iudicium ueniente.? Primo itaque preceptis uenerandi Rogerii? abbatis et postea uestris optaui parere? opusculum incipiens de statu Vticensis zcclesiz? quod priores nostri sese mutuo exhortati sunt facere? sed nullus eorum uoluit hoc incipere. Nam quisque silere quam loqui maluit? et securam quietem edaci curz transactas res indagandi proposuit. Libenter quippe legissent actus abbatum fratrumque suorum, et paruarum collectionem rerum suarum" quz ab egenis sed deuotis fundatoribus tenuiter auctz sunt ingenti sollicitudine patrum, sed ad dictandi seu scribendi sedimen suum renuerunt incuruare ingenium. Tandem ego de extremis Merciorum finibus decennis Angligena huc aduectus, barbarusque et ignotus aduena callentibus indigenis admixtus’ inspirante Deo Normannorum gesta et euentus Normannis promere scripto sum conatus. lam duos opitulante Deo libellos* edidi, quibus de restauratione sedis nostre et de tribus abbatibus nostris cum quibusdam casibus temporis illius breuiter inserui? ueraciter allegans prout ab annosis senioribus diligenter exquisiui. Amodo tercium ab anno dominice incarnationis M?LXxv? libellum exordiar? et de abbate meo ac Vticensi concione et de rebus per xii annos scilicet usque ad Guillelmi regis obitum gestis eloquar. A prefato nempe anno placet inchoare presens opusculum, quo in hanc lucem xiiiio kal’ Martii matris ex utero profusus sum; sabbatoque sequentis Pascha apud Etingesham in zecclesia sancti confessoris Eattze que sita est super Sabrinam fluuium? per ministerium Ordrici sacerdotis sacro fonte renatus sum. Post quinquennium Siwardo nobili presbytero® litteris erudiendus a genitore traditus sum: cuius ? de statu . . . ecclesiz replaces a shorter phrase, erased

Warin des Essarts, abbot of Saint-Évroul 1123-37. Cf. Matthew xxv. 25. Roger of Le Sap, abbot of Saint-Évroul 1091-1 125. Nom o0Books III and IV of the Ecclesiastical History in its final form; inei were numbered I and II.

they

BOOK

V

4

So, Father Warin,! weighing in my mind these and other such arguments, I resolved to compose something which may bring profit or pleasure to some of the servants in the house of God, and so render account of the knowledge I have acquired that when the Lord comes to judgement I shall not be condemned along with the idle servant who hid his talent in the earth.? I gladly obeyed the commands first given by our reverend father, Abbot Roger,? and afterwards by you, to begin a modest account of the church of Saint-Évroul, which our predecessors urged each other to undertake but each for his part shrank from undertaking. All were more ready to be silent than to speak, and preferred a quiet routine to the exacting task of investigating past events. They were only too willing to read the deeds of their abbots and of the brethren of their house, and to learn of the building up of its modest property, first given by its poor but pious founders and patiently augmented by the continual care of its father abbots; but they shrank from bending their minds to the task of composing or writing down their traditions. So in the end I, who came here from the remote

parts of Mercia as a ten-year-old English boy, an ignorant stranger of another race thrown amongst folk who know, have endeavoured by God's grace to commit to writing an account of the deeds of the Normans for Normans to read. Already with God's aid I have completed two books^ in which I have given a brief account of the refoundation of our house and its first three abbots, with some other events of that period, truthfully recording what I had laboriously learned from the oldest monks. Now I shall embark on a third book, beginning in the year of our Lord 1075, and treating of my own abbot and the community of Saint-Évroul and the events that took place for the next twelve years, up to the death of King William. I have chosen to begin this book in the year in which I first saw the light of day; for I was born on 16 February 1075, and reborn in baptism on the following Holy Saturdays by the ministry of the priest Orderic at Atcham, in St. Eata's church on the bank of the Severn. Five years later my father gave me into the charge of a noble priest called Siward? to

learn my letters, and for five years I studied the first rudiments of 5 4 April 1075.

6 Siward was a priest serving the church of St. Peter, Shrewsbury, which Roger of Montgomery had given to Orderic's father, Odelerius (Le Prévost, v. 134; below, p. 146).

8 il. 302

ii. 303

BOOK

V

magisterio prima percipiens rudimenta quinque annis subiugatus sum. Vndecimo autem zetatis mez anno pro amore Dei a proprio genitore abdicatus sum? et de Anglia in Normanniam tenellus exul ut eterno regi militarem destinatus sum. Deinde a uenerabili patre Mainerio susceptus,! monachilis habitus trabea togatus, sinceroque monachorum conuentui fcedere indissolubili sociatus: iam xlii annis lene iugum Domini gratanter baiulaui, et cum coeuis meis secundum regulae institucionem in uia Dei pro posse meo alacriter ambulaui? zcclesiasticum morem et seruitium ediscere laboraui’ et semper ad aliquid utile ingenium applicaui. Si pontifices nostri aliique rectores orbis tantz sanctitatis essent: ut pro illis ac per illos miracula diuinitus fierent, sicut olim ab antiquis patribus crebro facta sunt’ atque sparsim diffusa per codices lectorum corda suauiter imbuunt, et gloriam priorum miranda magistrorum signa presentibus recolunt’ excusso torpore memetipsum exercerem, et digna relatu noticie posterorum auidz scripto transmitterem. Verum quia nunc est illa tempestas, qua multorum refrigescit karitas, et abundat iniquitas;? sanctitatis indicia cessant miracula, et multiplicantur facinora? ac luctuosa in mundo querimonia. Historiographis ad scribendum uberius tema dant presulum litigia, et cruenta principum prelia? quam theologorum sintagmata,3 uel xerofagorum parsimonia siue prodigia. Antichristi tempus appropinquat, ante cuius faciem ut dominus beato lob insinuat;/^ przcedet egestas miraculorum, nimiumque in his qui carnaliter amant se ipsos grassabitur rabies uiciorum. Nunc audacter in nomine Domini prosequar quod cepi uenerabilis abba? benigniter fisus quod uestra corriget sollercia, quicquid mea deliquerit inscitia. 2

Annoab incarnatione Domini M?Lxxv? indictione xiii? Guillelmus rex Fiscanni sanctum Pascha celebrauit, Ceciliamque filiam suam per manum lohannis archiepiscopi Deo consecrandam optulit.s 1 Orderic was received at Saint-Évroul by Abbot Mainer on 21 September 1085 (Le Prévost, v. 135).

? Cf. Matthew xxiv. 12. 3 A glossary of Hebrew and Greek words in a twelfth-century MS. in the library of Saint-Évroul (Alencon MS. 2) includes sintagma: doctrina (f. 109). * Cf. Job xli. 13, ‘faciem eius praecedit egestas’. The interpretation is taken from St. Gregory the Great's commentary on the Book of Job: Moralia, xxiv. 3

(Migne, PL Ixxvi, col. 721). 5 "This is taken almost word for word from the Annals of Saint-Évroul (Le

Prévost, v.

158), and

also occurs

in the Annals

of Caen

(Duchesne,

ENS,

p. 1018). It may seem to conflict with the pancarte of Holy Trinity, Caen, which

BOOK

V

9

learning under his instruction. But in my eleventh year my father

renounced his share in me for the love of God, and sent me out of

England into Normandy, an exile of tender years, to enter the service of the eternal king. Thereupon I was received by Abbot Mainer,'

and clothed in the honourable

habit of the monastic

order; since then, joined for ever to the community of monks by a solemn vow, I have gladly borne the easy yoke of the Lord for forty-two years, and with my companions have joyfully walked in the way of God, as the Rule prescribes, to the best of my ability, striving to learn the customs and service of the Church and always devoting my mind to work of some worth. If our bishops and other rulers were so holy in their lives that miracles might be performed by God’s will for them and through them—as they so often were by the Fathers of old—and spread abroad in books to warm the hearts of their readers, reminding men of this age of the glory and wondrous works of their first masters, then I would shake off sloth and exert myself to write down things worthy to be told for the eager eyes of future readers. But indeed since now is the time when the love of many waxes cold and iniquity abounds,? miracles, which are the proofs of holiness, grow rarer, whilst crimes and sorrowful complaints are multiplied all over the world. The altercations of prelates and bloody wars of princes provide more material for the historian’s pen than the treatises} of theologians or the fasts and prophecies of ascetics. The time of Antichrist draws near, preceded, as God made known to the blessed Job,* by a drying up of miracles and a growing frenzy of vices in those who give themselves up to fleshly lusts. Nevertheless, holy father, I will press on boldly with what I have begun in the name of the Lord, trusting confidently that your loving care will correct the failings due to my ignorance. 2

In the year of our Lord 1075, the thirteenth indiction, King William celebrated Easter at Fécamp, and gave his daughter Cecilia to be consecrated to God by the hand of Archbishop John.5 states (Fauroux, no. 231, p. 446) that Duke William and his wife offered their daughter to Holy Trinity with the approval of Archbishop Maurilius on 18 June

1066, when the church was dedicated. But Cecilia must have been only a child at that time, and the reference here is probably to her full profession as a nun, after being brought up in the abbey.

10

li. 304

V

Quz cum grandi diligentia in cenobio Cadomensi educata est et multipliciter erudita? ibique sanctz et indiuiduze Trinitati dicata, sub uenerabili Mathilde abbatissa uirgo permansit sancta regulae fideliter subiugata. Defuncta uero predicta matre post annos xl et vii regiminis sui hzc successit? et fere xiiii annis sanctimonialium regimen laudabiliter gessit,! annoque dominicz incarnationis MCXXVII°, tercio idus Iulii, de hoc seculo migrauit. Sic quinquaginta duobus annis habitu et ordine studioque pio laudabilis monacha postquam a patre oblata est Deo seruiuit’ annoque xxvi? regni Henrici fratris sui obiit.? Dum rex Guillelmus in Neustria consisteret, terramque suam cum Dei auxilio contra omnes aduersarios tutaret/ praesules Anglorum

li. 305

BOOK

Lanfrancus

Cantuariensis,

et Thomas

Eborachensis,

atque Remigius Lincoliensis Romam abierunt, et a domno Gregorio papa senatuque Romano honorificentissime suscepti sunt.? De diuitiis Anglicis larga munera cupidis Romanis ubertim dederunt? suaque sic largitate cum facundia geminaque scientia mirabiles Latiis uisi sunt. Legationes Guillelmi regis quas antistites iam dicti cum muneribus detulerunt, papa clerusque Romanus gratantissime susceperunt? et priuilegia quz per eos petierat antecessoribus suis olim concessa libenter annuerunt. Anno ab incarnatione Domini MLxxvir? indictione xv? praefati pontifices alacriter Roma redierunt, in quorum aduentu rex et omnes indigenze Normannici magnifice letati sunt. 'l'unc basilicae plures in Normannia cum ingenti tripudio dedicate sunt? ad quas rex et regina cum filiis suis Rodberto atque Guillelmo et ingenti frequentia optimatum et populorum affuerunt. Matrices zecclesize Baiocensis et Ebroicensis episcopatus et Beccensis cenobii dedicate sunt in honore sanctz Dei genitricis et perpetuz Virginis Mariz.+ Eodem quoque anno cenobialis basilica in honore Sancti Stephani prothomartiris apud Cadomum dedicata est: cui a rege t Matilda died probably on 6 July 1113; during the last few years of her life she was incapacitated by old age and Cecilia took charge of the administration.

Orderic’s calculation was correct if it is assumed to extend from the formal dedication of the church in 1066 until 1113. Cecilia’s 14 years would be the period of her abbacy, 1113-27, not the longer period of her administrative control. In his interpolations in William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 183) Orderic

had previously given the length of Matilda’s abbacy as about forty years, but this passage may have been written about 1106. The statement on Matilda’s obituary roll that she died in the fifty-fourth year of her rule must have calcu-

BOOK

V

II

She had been brought up and carefully educated in the abbey of Caen, and there, dedicated to the holy and undivided Trinity, she

remained as a nun faithful to the blessed Rule under the holy abbess Matilda. When the mother abbess died, after ruling the house for forty-seven years, Cecilia succeeded her and governed the nuns in exemplary fashion for fourteen years,! until she departed this life on 13 July 1127. So, a pious and honourable nun, she fulfilled the duties of her calling for fifty-two years after her father offered her to God, and died in the twenty-sixth year of her brother Henry's reign.? While King William remained in Normandy, protecting his lands with God's aid against all enemies, the English prelates, Lanfranc of Canterbury, Thomas of York, and Remigius of Lincoln journeyed to Rome, where they were honourably received by Pope Gregory and the Roman court.3 Witb their English wealth they made lavish gifts to the covetous Romans, and impressed the Latins by their generosity, as well as by their profound learning, both secular and sacred. The pope and Roman clergy graciously received the credentials which the bishops brought from King William with their gifts, and agreed to renew the privileges formerly granted to his predecessors, which he sought through his envoys. In the year of our Lord 1077, the fifteenth indiction, the two prelates returned in triumph from Rome, to be welcomed by the king and all the Normans with festivities. At that time several basilicas in Normandy were dedicated with great ceremonial, in the presence of the king and queen, their sons Robert and William, and a great throng of nobles and people. The mother churches of the bishoprics of Bayeux and Évreux, and the abbey church of Bec, were dedicated in honour of the Virgin Mary, the mother of God.* In the same year also the abbey church of St. Stephen, the first martyr, was dedicated at Caen; and the abbey received from king lated from the first beginnings of the foundation in 1059 (see Musset, Abbayes caennaises, pp. 13-14). 2 15 July 1127 was in the twenty-seventh, not the twenty-sixth, year of Henry I’s reign.

3 The date of this journey was 1071 when Alexander II, not Gregory VII, was pope. Amongst other business the two archbishops received their pallia, and the question

of the primacy

was

raised.

Cf. Douglas,

WC,

pp.

321-2;

GP, pp. 42-66. 4 All these dedications took place in 1077; Bayeux on 14 July and Bec on 23 October, in the presence of Lanfranc (Annales Beccenses, ed. A. A. Porée

in Chronique du Bec (Société de l'Histoire de Normandie, 1883), p. 3).

BOOK V et proceribus eius locuples dos atque multarum copia gazarum

data est.! Harum dedicationes zecclesiarum Iohannes Rothomagensis archiepiscopus et suffraganei eius episcopi Normanniz solenniter egerunt: cum quibus reuerendi metropolite Lanfrancus et Thomas et multi abbates et mira populorum multitudo affuerunt.

Venerabilis Herluinus abbas dedicata Beccensi zcclesia ualde gauisus est’ uisoque quod uehementer in hoc seculo desiderauerat ulterius inter mortales commorari dedignatus est Hic anno li. 306

dominicz incarnationis MXXXIIIIS, zetatis uero suze xlo; secularem militiam deseruit, uitam mutauit, et a domno Herberto Luxouiensi

episcopo sacrz religionis habitum suscepit. Deinde post tres annos ab eodem presule ordinatus est: atque abbas constitutus est. Inde initium Beccense coenobium cepit habere. Denique anno dominicz incarnationis M?LXX?VIII? ztatis autem suze Ixxxiiii° monachatus uero xliiii?/ vii? kal’ Septembris defunctus est, et in capitulo monachorum honorifice tumulatus est. Et interpositis paucis diebus post mortem ipsius? Anselmus qui tunc erat prior eiusdem loci abbas est electus. Sequenti anno in festiuitate Sancti Petri quz dicitur Kathedra? a domno Gisleberto Ebroicensi episcopo consecratus est abbas in Beccensi basilica. Hic monachile iugum anno uite suz xxvii? subiit/ et tribus annis claustralis monachus sine prelatione uixit.^ Deinde post Lanfrancum xv annis prior extitit? aliisque xv annis post Herluinum primum abbatem Beccensium abbas floruit. Inde ad archiepiscopatum Cantuariz post uenerabilem Lanfrancum assumptus est’? quem xvi annis rexit et multa aduersa perpessus est. Septimo decimo archiepiscopatus anno monachatus autem xlix? zetatisque suz Ixxvi° xi kal' Maii feria quarta ante cenam Domini transiit e mundo.5

li. 307

3 Quia imperiti homines fraudulenta prosperitate nimis extolluntur, uarioque aduersitatum flatu fragiles ut arundo facile hac et * 'The abbey church of St. Stephen's, Caen was dedicated on 13 September

1077. King William and his son Robert and Lanfranc were among those present (Musset, Abbayes caennaises, pp. 14—15, 58).

? Not all the bishops were present on each occasion, and John archbishop of Rouen was incapacitated by paralysis in July 1077, before the dedications of Caen and Bec (below, p. 18). There is no evidence that Archbishop Thomas of York was in Normandy at this time.

BOOK V

1

and magnates a generous endowment of land and an abundance of treasure.' The dedications of these churches were solemnly performed by John archbishop of Rouen and his suffragans, the bishops of Normandy, in the presence of the metropolitans Lanfranc and Thomas, many abbots, and an immense multitude of people. Herluin, the venerable abbot of Bec, was filled with joy at the dedication of the church of Bec; and since he had lived to see what

he desired above all else in this life he was ready for death.3 He had renounced his knightly way of life in 1034, when he was forty years old, and, changing his calling, had received the habit of a monk

from Herbert, bishop of Lisieux. Three years later he was ordained by the same bishop and made abbot. That was the beginning of the monastery of Bec. Finally in the year of our Lord 1078, in the eighty-fourth year of his life and the forty-fourth of his monastic profession, he died on 26 August and was honourably buried in the chapter-house. A few days later Anselm, prior of Bec, was elected abbot. Next year on the feast of St. Peter in Cathedra he was blessed as abbot in the abbey church of Bec by Gilbert, bishop of Évreux. He had made his profession as a monk in his twenty-seventh year, and had spent three years as a claustral monk without office. Succeeding Lanfranc, he held office for fifteen years as prior, and for another fifteen years after Herluin, first abbot, he flourished as abbot of Bec. 'T'hen, following Lanfranc,

he was raised to the archbishopric of Canterbury, and governed the province for sixteen years, enduring much adversity. In the seventeenth year of his archiepiscopate, the forty-ninth of his monastic

profession,

and the seventy-sixth

from

his birth, he

departed this life on 21 April, which fell on the Wednesday of Holy Week.5

3 Shallow men are too readily intoxicated by transient good fortune, and are blown hither and thither like weak reeds bending 3 The whole passage from ‘Hic anno . . . transiit

e mundo’ (p. 12) is derived

from entries in the Annales Beccenses, ed. Porée, pp. 1-2, 3, 4, 6. Orderic quotes

verbally, merely adapting the phrases to his prose rhythms. ^ St. Anselm was born at Aosta in 1033 and came to Bec as a pupil of Lanfranc in 1059. He made his monastic profession in 1060 and became

prior in 1063

(R. W. Southern, Saint Anselm and his Biographer (Cambridge, 1963), pp. 3, 27, 5 [n 1109. 30). He was archbishop of Canterbury from 1093 to 1109.

I4

li. 308

BOOK

V

illac agitantur" ideo moderator omnium Deus aspera blandis prouide intromiscet, ut mobiles mortalium ausus comprimat ac salubriter temperet. Vnde dum Guillelmus rex seculari pompa multum tumeret, et populus Neustrie multimodo luxu fedus maderet, nec sibi futura pro ingenti scelerum congerie prouideret: terribilis tonitrui fragor in sanctuario Luxouiensis basilice personuit, et plebem in ecclesia pontificali astantem intolerabilis ictus fulminis prostrauit. Nam quodam dominico die in estate, dum mane celebrarentur sacre misteria misse" et infulatus presbiter nomine Herbertus astaret ad altare, ingens choruscatio repente facta est? quam formidabilis sonus et grauis ictus ilico subsecutus est. Crucem quz super pulpitum turris stabat percussit/ confregit, et deiecit. Deinde terribiliter in edam sanctam descendit, et super crucifixum irruit, eique manum et pedem percussit, miroque modo ferreos de cruce clauos euulsit. Tenebrosa caligo uisus trementium hebetauit? et scintillans ignis per totam basilicam uolauit, et octo uiros unamque mulierem peremit. Barbas et penes aliosque pilos uirorum et mulierum exussit: teterrimumque foetorem uulgi naribus infudit. Vna mulier nomine Maria in angulo zcclesiz non sine magno pauore stetit? totumque populum quasi exanimem per pauimentum iacentem pauens ipsa prospexit. Euentus huiuscemodi ante natiuitatem sancti Iohannis Baptiste contigit" et mox eodem tempore Hugo Luxouiensis episcopus egrotare coepit. Mense Iulio! languore ingrauescente mortem prasul ineuitabilem sibi adesse persensit? seseque ut Dei seruus ad domini sui curiam iturus sollerter circumspexit, et pro uillicatione sua rationem redditurus? in timore magno se preparauit. Confessione et penitentia purgatus, oratione et fletuum imbre ablutus? salutaris misterii communione

feliciter instructus, cleri-

cos et laicos qui secum erant commonuit, absoluit, benedixit. Ad

ultimum uero rem quandam unde praecipue mestus erat recoluit? pro qua omnes sibi astantes sic exorauit, Viam uniuersz carnis scio me ad presens ingressurum, sed ualde contristor quod a sede mea elongatus sum: nec uideo sponsam meam cui ordinante Deo fere xl annis legitime coniunctus sum. Vnde nunc precor uos

BOOK V

E

before the winds of adversity; so God, the governor of all things, wisely mixes the rough with the smooth, and thus restrains and moderates the fickle endeavours of mortal men. Therefore while Duke William was puffed up with worldly pride, and the people of Normandy were wallowing shamefully in every kind of luxury, giving no thought to the expiation of their countless sins, a terrible crash of thunder resounded in the chancel of the basilica at Lisieux, and a fatal thunderbolt struck down the populace standing in the cathedral church. It happened on a Sunday morning in summer, during the celebration of Mass; a priest named Herbert was standing before the altar wearing his chasuble when suddenly there was a blinding flash of lightning, followed immediately by a terrifying crash and the fall of a thunderbolt. It struck the cross on the top of the tower and shattered it; then crashing into the church itself it struck the rood, breaking off a hand and foot of Christ and tearing the nails from the cross in an amazing way. Black smoke half-blinded the trembling populace and flickers of lightning flashed through the church, killing eight men and one woman. It burned the beards and pubic and other hair on the bodies of men and women, suffocating the crowd with the foul stench. One woman named Mary remained standing, petrified with fright, in a corner of the church, and trembling saw the whole congregation stretched out as if dead on the stone floor of the

church. This disaster took place before the feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist; and about the same time Hugh bishop of Lisieux fell sick. In July! as his illness grew worse the bishop recognized that death was not far off; and he looked carefully into his heart as a servant of God bound for the courts of his lord, preparing in great awe to render an account of his stewardship.? When he had been purified by confession and absolution, cleansed by prayer and abundant weeping, and fortified by holy communion, he spoke words of counsel to the clerks and laymen who were with him, absolved them, and gave them his blessing. Last of all he spoke of one matter that specially grieved him, and implored

the help of all who were present: ‘I know that I must shortly go

the way of all flesh; but it is a great sorrow to me to be so far from my cathedral church, and not to see the bride to whom by God’s grace I have been lawfully joined for almost forty years. So now ! July 1077.

2 Cf. Luke xvi. 2.

16

li. 309

BOOK

V

omnes quos olim amaui? nutriui, promoui et honoraui? ut me hinc eiciatis, et ad karissimam sponsam meam me deducatis. ZEcclesiam sancti Petri principis apostolorum quam uenerabilis Herbertus predecessor meus cepit perfeci, studiose adornaui, honorifice dedicaui et cultoribus necessariisque diuino seruitio uasis aliisque apparatibus copiose ditaui. Hanc ccelesti domino supplex commendo, et in eius gremio recumbere desidero? ibique secundum saluatoris aduentum fideliter exspectabo.' His dictis omnes protinus consurgunt, decenti ad gestandum ferculo presulem imponunt" et de uico qui Pons Episcopi dicitur Luxouium deducunt, ipsique illustres clerici et honorabiles laici amatissimum patrem deuehunt. Tandem dum festinare ad urbem nituntur? morte obiter accelerante in quandam planiciem herbosam digrediuntur, ibique cum lacrimis et orationibus exitum presulis sui sub diuo prestolantur. Sol erat in Cancro radians splendore choruscoSparsis pontificem uelat radiis morientem.

In tanta claritate et loci amenitate nobilis antistes Hugo collocatus iacuit, et inter manus suorum Deo commendatus xvi kal’ Augusti exspirauit. Sic obiit nostro uir non reparabilis zuo? Gemma sacerdotum, patrizque decus pater Hugo.

Summus pontifex Christus cuius uices ad horam in terris gessit? semper ei propicius sit. Pons Episcopi quattuor leugis distat a Luxouio. In campo secus uiam ubi flamen occubuit crux erecta est? quz usque hodie Crux Episcopi nuncupata est.? Corpus uero eius Luxouium delatum est? sed sepultura eius usque ad viii dies pro litigio canonicorum et monacharum protelata est. Clerici enim

in episcopio eum sepelire uolebant? sed sanctimoniales simul acerrime ii. 310

prohibentes

dicebant,

‘Pater

noster

Hugo

abbatiam

sancte Mariz dominz nostre construxit, nos illuc ad Dei famu-

latum aggregauit, ac ut pater filias in timore Dei nos educauit.3 In zcclesia quam condidit? locum sepulture sibi memor mortis * In places this echoes the eulogy of Hugh by William of Poitiers, Gesta Guillelmi, ed. R. Foreville (Paris, 1952), pp. 138—42, especially‘terris, thesauro,

pretiosorum ornamentorum decore sanctam sponsam ditavit". ^ According to Le Prévost the place was in the commune Vicomte, just outside Lisieux (Le Prévost, ii. 474).

of Ouillie-le-

BOOK V

7

I beg all of you, whom in the past I have loved, taught, promoted, and honoured, that you bear me from this place and bring me to my beloved spouse. The church of St. Peter, chief of the apostles, begun by my venerable predecessor, Herbert, was completed by me; and I have spared no pains to adorn it, dedicate it with all ceremony, provide it with clergy, and enrich it abundantly with all manner of vessels for the service of God.! Now I humbly commit it to the care of the heavenly king; and I long to rest in its bosom and there in faith await the second coming of my Saviour.’ When he had finished all present rose up, placed the bishop on a litter suitable for travel, and set out from the village called Pont l'Évéque towards Lisieux, the highest clergy and noblest laymen bearing their beloved father. But though they hastened to reach the town death came even more swiftly, and they turned aside into a smooth meadow; there under the open sky they stood waiting for the death of their bishop, weeping and praying. High in the south the sun, in dazzling splendour, With radiant brightness clothed the dying bishop.

So in clear sunlight in this sweet spot the noble prelate Hugh was laid down, and died in the arms of his own people, commending his soul to God, on 17 July. So died a man unequalled in our era; Hugh, bishop, pearl of priests, his country's glory.

May Christ the high priest, whose vicar on earth he had been for a season, have mercy on him. Pont |’Evéque is four leagues distant from Lisieux. In the field beside the road where the prelate died a cross was set up, which to this day is known as Bishop’s Cross.? His body was carried to Lisieux, but for eight days his burial was hindered by a dispute between the canons and the nuns. The clerks wished to bury him in the cathedral, but the nuns as a body protested vehemently, saying, 'Our father Hugh founded the abbey for Our Lady, the Blessed Mary, established us there for the service of God, and as a father teaches his daughters

brought us up in the fear of God.* Mindful that he must die he chose a place for his burial in the church of his own foundation. 3 The nuns were brought from Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive soon after 1049 by Lesceline, widow of William count of Eu, and her son Hugh bishop of Lisieux. For Duke William's confirmation of the foundation (1049-58) see Fauroux,

no. I40.

18

BOOK

V

elegit. Eterna maledictione puniatur? qui soma patris nostri filiabus suis auferre conatur.' Rotomagum igitur ad curiam regis itur, et ab utrisque partibus querimonia depromitur? sed regalis censura fragiliori magis sexui compatitur. Denique rex accersito Iohanni archiepiscopo commendat, ut Luxouium celeriter eat? et episcopi corpus in oratorio sanctze Mariz decenter sepeliat. At ille quia ferox et turgidus erat, et noxium rancorem iam dudum contra prefatum presulem animo gesserat? regis preceptum furibundus contempsit, nec ad tumulandum coepiscopum suum ire uoluit. Qui dum de curia regis per urbem super mulam suam rediret, tumideque loquens de causis imminentibus domui suze appropinquaret? diuino nutu subita passio illum percussit, turba palam spectante ad terram deiecit? biennioque quo postmodum uixit, elinguem reddidit. Tunc Gislebertus Ebroicensis episcopus cum multo fidelium agmine Luxouium uadit? et corpus episcopi astante Rodberto Aucensi comite qui germanus eius erat in choro sanctimonialium conuenienter sepeliuit. Mausoleo tanti presulis congruus lapis appositus est; et epitaphium adonico metro quod dactilo spondeoque constat ii 311. editum in lamminis cupri litteris aureis sic exaratum est. Hic iacet Hugo Lexouiensis Clarus honore Pontificatus.

Nobilis zeque Sanguine patrum; Preeditus idem Stemmate morum. Non sine bino Munere sensus?

Relligione glorificandus. 'l'ransitus eius

Rege Philippo? 'Tum Gilielmus

Rex erat Anglus; Luce sequenti Phebus iniuit

Signa leonis? Det Deus isti Gaudia cceli. Amen.

Ad regendum Luxouiensem presulatum Gislebertus cognomento Maminotus regis archiater et capellanus electus est? et

BOOK V

39

May eternal punishment fall on him who tries to deprive us, his daughters, of their father's mortal remains.’ The case was taken to the king's court at Rouen and a plea was lodged by both parties; but the king's judgement favoured the weaker sex. Finally he sent for Archbishop John, and commanded him to go at once to Lisieux and have the bishop's body honourably buried in the church of St. Mary. But since John was a proud and headstrong man, who had harboured hatred of the bishop in his heart for many years, he contemptuously ignored the royal command, and took no steps to bury his fellow bishop. As he was returning home from the king's court, riding on his mule through the city, and haughtily speaking of the business in hand, he suddenly suffered a stroke, by God's will, and fell from his mount

in the sight of the crowd. He lived for two years afterwards, but never recovered his speech. So Gilbert bishop of Évreux came to Lisieux with a great multitude of the faithful, and had the bishop's body decently interred in the nuns' choir, in the presence of Robert, count of Eu, his brother. A fitting stone was set up on the tomb of this great bishop; and an epitaph composed in the adonic metre, which consists of a dactyl followed by a spondee, was engraved in gold-leaf letters on a copper plate. Hugh is at rest here, Bishop of Lisieux, Honoured and worthy, Nobly descended; Crowned with all virtues,

Equally shining Both through his talents And through his goodness. Under King Philip Death overtook him, Whilst royal William Governed in England; While the sun's chariot Waited to enter The sign of the Lion. Gracious God, grant him Joy everlasting. Amen.

Gilbert Maminot, the king's physician and chaplain, was elected bishop of Lisieux. He was consecrated by Michael, bishop of

20

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a Michahele Abrincatensi episcopo in presentia domni Iohannis archiepiscopi qui iam ut diximus ommutuerat consecratus est. Hic filius Rodberti de Curuaspina strenui militis fuit?! xxiii annis episcopatum tenuit, et zcclesi& res potenter optinuit. Artis medicinz peritissimus erat’ sed semetipsum in pontificatu nunquam satis curare poterat.? Scientia litterarum et facundia pollebat, diuitiis et deliciis indesinenter affluebat, proprie uoluptati et carnis cure nimis seruiebat. Ocio et quieti affatim studebat" ludisque alearum et:tesserarum plerunque indulgebat. In cultu zcclesiastico erat piger et negligens? sed ad uenatum auiumque capturam promptus et nimis feruens. Secularibus itaque exercitiis et actibus omni uita sua inhesit? et sic usque ad decrepitam zetatem uixit. Plura de actibus eius scribere possum? sed reprimo calamum, quia ab ipso ad subdiaconatus gradum cum aliis ut opinor plus quam trecentis promotus sum. Vnde sicut quaedam de illo protuli reprehensibilia? sic decet ut laudabilia promam et imitabilia. Elemosinas pauperibus libenter porrigebat, largitate et dapsilitate sollerter et honorifice uigebat. In iudicio ueritatem subtiliter inuestigabat/ et rectitudinem procaciter defendere satis inhiabat, iusticiamque cunctis postulantibus gratis exhibebat. Peccatores reatus suos humiliter confitentes dulciter suscipiebat, et uere poenitentibus rectum et salubre consilium prouide suggerebat. Sacros ordines et dedicationes et alia huiusmodi ministeria religiose et sollicite peragebat, sed ad hzc agenda lentus erat et uix assurgebat: necnisi multis multorum precibus incitatus cogeretur inchoare uolebat. In zcclesia Luxouiensi eo tempore honorabiles erant personz et illustres archidiaconi atque canonici, Guillelmus de Glandiuilla, decanus et archidiaconus, Ricardus de Angeriiuilla et Guillelmus Pictauinus^ archidiaconi, Goisfredus de Tregauilla thesaurarius, Turgisus cantor et Radulfus filius eius, aliique plures quos Hugo presul educauerat, officiisque datis ecclesiasticis honorauerat. Hos nimirum prefatus successor eius sibi copulauit, fertilique documento arithmetice et astronomize * His family came from Courbépine, just north of Bernay, and his brother Hugh held land in Canterbury. See D. C. Douglas, The Domesday Monachorum of Christ Church Canterbury (London, 1944), p. 29; W. Urry, Canterbury under the Angevin Kings (London, 1967), p. 125.

? He was bishop of Lisieux from 1077 to 11or.

3 Cf. Luke iv. 23.

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3i

Avranches, in the presence of Archbishop John who had already, as I have explained, lost the power of speech. The son of a valiant knight, Robert of Courbépine,! he occupied the see for twentythree years? and governed his church with firmness. A most skilled physician, he was nevertheless unable to cure himself?

of his failings as a bishop. A man of great learning and eloquence,

he enjoyed an abundance of wealth and luxuries, but was a slave to his own desires and to bodily ease. He was a great lover of leisure and repose, and continually indulged in every kind of dice game. Casual and negligent in his worship, he was a tireless devotee of hunting and hawking. So he gave himself up to secular interests and activities all his life, right up to extreme old age. I could say more about his habits; but I restrain my pen, for I cannot forget that it was he who ordained me sub-deacon, together with (as far as I recall) rather more than three hundred others. So, as I have revealed some of his faults, it is only right that I should now tell of his praiseworthy and exemplary qualities. He gave alms generously to the poor, and had a high reputation for an openhandedness and hospitality appropriate to his high station. When sitting in judgement he took great pains to seek out the truth, never hesitating to defend the right with courage, and give justice freely to all who sought it. He dealt mercifully with those wrongdoers who humbly confessed their guilt, and gave sound advice for amendment of life to all who were truly penitent. He was dignified and reverent when he performed consecrations, dedications, and other duties of that kind; but he was reluctant to undertake them

and unwilling to bestir himself: indeed only repeated prayers from all and sundry could goad him into action. At that time there were a number of distinguished priests and renowned archdeacons and canons in the church of Lisieux: William of Glanville, dean and archdeacon; Richard of Angerville and William of Poitiers,* arch-

deacons; Geoffrey of Triqueville, treasurer; Turgis, precentor, and Ralph his son, and a number of others whom Bishop Hugh had educated and honoured by presenting them to ecclesiastical offices. His successor Gilbert was happy to gather these men into a group round himself. Through his inspiring teaching they

became learned in arithmetic and astronomy, the many branches 4 The historian, author of the Gesta Guillelmi. For further details of the early archidiaconate in Normandy see David Douglas, "The Norman episcopate before the Conquest’, Cambridge Historical Journal, xiii (1957), 111-12. 822219 X

D

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et multiplicis phisice aliarumque profundarum rerum erudiuit, et familiares collegas conuiuiorum et colloquiorum sibi benigniter applicauit. 4 11:315

Anno ab incarnatione Domini Mrxxix? Iohannes archiepiscopus octauo anno regiminis sui defunctus est?! et in baptisterio basilica ad aquilonem tumulatus est. Monumentum eius ex albo lapide? factum est? in quo huiusmodi epitaphium sollerter insertum est. Metropolita tuus iacet hic urbs Rotomagensis: Culmine de summo quo moriente ruis. /Ecclesiz minuuntur opes, sacer ordo tepescit/ Prouida relligio quem sua constituit. Hec neglecta diu canonum decreta reformans? Instituit caste uiuere presbiteros, Dona Dei sub eo uenalia nulla fuere, Huic et opes largas contulit zecclesize. Lingua diserta, genus, sapientia, sobria uita: Huic fuit, exiguus quem tegit iste lapis. Nona dies Septembris erat cum carne Iohannes Expoliatus abit, sit sibi uera quies. Amen.

li. 314

Defuncto Iohanne metropolitano Guillelmus Cadomensis abbas? canonice electus est? et de monasterio suo ubi regulariter ut probatus monachus Deo famulabatur ad tutandam Rotomagensem zecclesiam adductus est. In ecclesia sanctz Dei genetricis Marize a magno Gisleberto Ebroicensi episcopo consecratus est? et xlvi"* post beatum Nigasium quem sanctus Dionisius Parisiensis pontifex primum praesulem Rodomensibus praefecit Rotomagensem metropolim sortitus est. Hic bonus et iocundus ac mansuetus extitit" gregemque sibi diuinitus commissum xxxii annis custodiuit. Matricem basilicam omnimodis ornatibus cultui diuino necessariis affatim locupletauit? et claustrum episcopii domosque conuenientes a fundamentis eleganter renouauit.ó Corpus sancti 1 John died on 9 September 1079 in the twelfth year of his pontificate (E. Vacandard, ‘Un essai d'histoire des archevéques de Rouen’, Revue catholique de

Normandie, iii (1893), 117 n. 1). 2 Possibly alabaster, but more probably marble. There is now no trace of the tomb. 3 William Bonne-Ame. See above, ii. 68—70, 254. 4 This incorrect assertion anticipates the history of the archbishop. of Rouen (below, pp. 36 ff.).

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of natural science, and other profound subjects; and he welcomed

them as his friends and boon companions at table and in conversation.

4 In the year of our Lord 1079 Archbishop John died in the ninth year of his office,! and was buried in the baptistery of his cathedral on the north side. His tomb was made of white marble, carefully | inscribed with this epitaph. Rouen, now mourn, plunged in the abyss of death From your high pinnacle; here your bishop lies. So is the Church made poor; the priestly order, Shaped by his pious foresight, now grows lax. He re-established old, neglected laws, Prescribing chastity of life for priests, Forbidding sale of spiritual gifts,

And giving bountifully to his church. Eloquence, lineage, wisdom, sober life Were his; this little stone now covers all. Nine times September's sun had risen, when John Put off this flesh; may lasting peace be his. Amen.

After the death of Archbishop John, William abbot of Caen? was canonically elected, and was translated from his monastery, where he had long served God under the Rule as a monk, to govern the church of Rouen. He was consecrated in the church of Our Lady by Gilbert, the renowned bishop of Évreux; and so it fell to him to rule the church as the forty-sixth prelate after the blessed Nicaise, whom St. Denis, bishop of Paris, first appointed as metropolitan in Rouen.* He was a good man, cheerful and peaceloving by nature, who cared for the flock entrusted to him by God for thirty-two years.5 He greatly enriched his cathedral church with all kinds of vessels and trappings necessary for the divine service, and completely rebuilt in a handsome style the cloister of the episcopal palace and the domestic buildings. He had the body 5 He died on 9 February 1110, in the thirty-second year of his office. 6 Part of the wall of the cloister has been discovered in the cour d’Albane, and two vaulted cellars under the archiepiscopal palace still survive from this period (Georges Lanfry, La Cathédrale de Rouen (Album hors série de la Revue de Rouen), pp. 6—7).

24

i, 315

li. 316

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Romani praesulis de propria ade in metropolitanam basilicam gloriose transtulit? et in scrinio auro argentoque cum preciosis lapidibus operose cooperto reuerenter locauit.! Solennitatem quoque eius x kal’ Nouembris per totam diocesim suam festiue celebrari constituit, et generali edicto festiuam stationem ad sancti pontificis corpus extra urbem singulis annis fieri decreuit? ad quam parrochianos pene omnes monitis et absolutionibus atque benedictionibus inuitauit.2 Monachis et clericis omnibusque sibi subiectis ut dulcis pater blandiens profuit? psalmis et ymnis et canticis spiritualibus sacrisque misteriis indesinenter sese mancipauit. Omnis ab illo fraus et amaritudo procul fuerunt. Nullum querebat ledere? sed quibusque indigentibus prout ratio iubebat succurrere. Cantor peritissimus erat’ aptissimamque ad canendum uocem habebat. In usu ecclesiastico doctissime instructus erat/ et ad predicandum indoctis uerbum Dei clara idoneaque locutione uigebat. Patientia et benignitate cunctos secum coessentes mulcebat’ magnamque partem oneris sui decanis et archipresbiteris sine inuidia distribuebat, bonosque nichilominus ad participationem honoris auide asciscebat. 5 Anno ab incarnatione Domini millesimo octogesimo rex Guillelmus in festiuitate Pentecostes apud Illebonam resedit? ibique Guillelmum archiepiscopum et omnes episcopos et abbates comitesque cum aliis proceribus Normanniz simul adesse precepit. Vt rex iussit factum est. Igitur octauo anno papatus domni Gregorii papz septimi celebre concilium apud Iuliam bonam celebratum est: et de statu aecclesiz Dei totiusque regni prouidentia regis cum baronum suorum consilio utiliter tractatum est. Statuta uero concili sicut ab iis qui interfuerunt ueraciter annotata ' The body of St. Romanus had originally been buried in the crypt of an earlier basilica. Whether the sites of the earlier cathedrals were outside the walls

or in the heart of the city has been the subject of prolonged controversy. See René Herval, Origines chrétiennes (Rouen/Paris, no date), pp. 48-9; G. Lanfry, Chanoine Deriviére, M. Morisset, La Cathédrale depuis quinze siécles au cur de la cité (Cahiers Notre-Dame de Rouen, 1963), especially pp. SX IE T22 ff5 and BSAN lvii (1963-4), 712.

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of St. Romanus, archbishop of Rouen, translated from his own church to the cathedral with splendid ceremonies, and reverently placed it in a reliquary of gold and silver, thickly encrusted with precious stones.! He ordained that his feast day should be solemnly celebrated throughout the diocese on 23 October; and established by general decree that the relics of the holy bishop should be carried in procession to a celebration outside the city, and that men and women from the whole diocese should be encouraged to attend by injunctions and indulgences and special blessings.? He watched over the welfare of the monks and clerks and all others committed to his care like a kind father, and devoted himself con-

tinually to the sacred mysteries of the Mass, and to chanting psalms and hymns and spiritual canticles. Deceit and harshness were utterly foreign to his mind. Far from seeking to harm any man, he always found ways of helping the distressed according to their need. He had studied the art of singing, and had a most beautiful voice. Deeply versed in all the customs of the church, he could expound the word of God to simple men clearly, in language they could understand. He won the friendship of all who came into contact with him by his patience and kindness; he both delegated many duties ungrudgingly to his deans and archpriests, and generously shared honours with those who discharged the work well. 5 In the year of our Lord 1080, King William celebrated the feast

of Pentecost at Lillebonne, and summoned

there Archbishop

William together with all the bishops, abbots, counts, and other

leading men of Normandy. The king’s mandate was obeyed. So in the eighth year of Pope Gregory VII a famous council was held at Lillebonne; and by the king’s foresight and the advice of his barons sound provision was made for the prosperity of God’s church and the whole kingdom. I have decided to insert here the statutes of this council, as they were accurately set down by those 2 The fair of St. Romain, or the Pardon, was later held at Rouen on 23 October. 3. For the Institutions, Henry I, in Layettes du

canons of the Council of Lillebonne, 1080, see Haskins, Norman pp. 30-8. Another early copy of the canons, attested by the seal of the Archives Nationales has been printed by J. B. A. T. Teulet, Trésor des Chartes (Paris, 1863-75), 1. 25, no. 22.

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sunt! uolo hic inserere; ut posteri discant quales in Normannia leges fuerunt sub Guillelmo principe. Pax Dei que uulgo treuia dicitur sicut ipse princeps Guillelmus eam in inicio constituerat? firmiter teneatur? et per singulas parrochias dictis excommunicationibus renouetur. Qui uero seruare contempserint, uel aliquatenus fregerint episcopi secundum quod prius statutum est eos

iudicando iusticiam faciant.3 Si quis uero episcopo suo inde inobeediens fuerit, domino in cuius terra habitat episcopus hoc demonstret, et ille subdat eum

episcopali iusticie. Quod si et dominus facere contem-

pserit’ regis uicecomes per episcopum inde requisitus omni remota excusatione faciat. ii. 317

De his qui de parentela sua uxores tenent? uel uxores parentum

suorum, episcopi canonicam iusticiam exequantur. Rex enim inde nullum sustinet uel tuetur, sed potius episcopos adiuuando admonet" ut lex Dei firmiter teneatur. Presbiteri, diaconi, subdiaconi, et omnes canonici et decani nullam omnino feminam habeant. Quod si aliquis post eandem culpam uisus fuerit incurrisse? si per ministros episcopi inde prius fuerit accusatus, in curia episcopi se purgabit. Si uero parrochianorum uel dominorum suorum aliquis eum prius accusauerit/ habeat accusatus inducias, ut cum episcopo possit loqui. Et si se purgare uoluerit, in eadem parrochia cui seruit presentibus parrochianis pluribus ante episcopi ministros, et

eorum iudicio se purgabit. Si uero purgare se non potuerit: zecclesiam perdet irrecuperabiliter.5 Hoc predictus rex statuit, non perenniter episcopis suis debitam auferendo iusticiam, sed quia episcopi eo tempore minus quam conuenisset inde fecerant? donec ipse eorum emendationem uidendo eis redderet pro benefacto quod tunc de manu

eorum temporaliter tulerat pro commisso.$ t Orderic, who appears to have used the archives of Rouen cathedral for this part of his work, probably took his text from the lost copy of the Rouen, which was still there in 1431 (Longnon, Povillés de la province p. 74). Other early texts (Bibl. d'Avranches, MS. 149; Vat. Reg. 596) show slight textual variations, and it is not certain from which

canons at de Rouen, MS. Lat. exemplar

they were copied. 2 The Truce of God was established in Normandy by Duke William in a provincial council shortly before

1048, possibly just after his victory at Val-és-

Dunes in 1047. See M. de Bouard, ‘Sur les origines de la tréve de Dieu en

Normandie' in Znnales de Normandie, ix (1959), 169-89. 3 It is likely that the enforcement of the truce had been entrusted to the bishops soon after its establishment, though the exact date is not known.

Ibid., pp. 186-7.

^ At this date canon law prohibited marriage within the seventh degree of kinship according to the Germanic method of calculation; this was regarded

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27

who were present,! so that future generations may learn what kind of laws existed in Normandy in William’s reign. The peace commonly known as the Truce of God shall be steadfastly observed as it was when it was first established by Duke William himself,? and shall be renewed in all dioceses under threat of excommunica-

tion. All who refuse to observe it, or break it in any way, shall receive just sentence from the bishops according to the ordinance already established.3 If anyone then disobeys his bishop, the bishop shall make this known to the lord on whose land he lives, and the lord shall compel him to submit to episcopal justice. But if the lord refuses to do this, the king’s vicomte, on being requested by the bishop, shall act without pre-

varication.

Let the bishop impose canonical sentences on all who take wives from among their kindred or the former wives of their kinsfolk.* The king will not help and protect any man who offends in this way, but rather supports the bishops by his decrees, so that the law of God may be firmly kept. Priests, deacons, sub-deacons, and all canons and deans shall have no wives or kept women. If anyone is suspected of transgressing this ordinance in the future, let him clear himself in the bishop's court, if the accusation is made through officers of the bishop. But if the accusation is made by any of his parishioners or his lords, let the accused be granted a stay of proceedings to confer with his bishop. And if he is willing to purge himself he shall do so in the parish that he serves, in the presence of the bishop's officers. If he cannot purge himself, let him lose his church for ever.5 The king ordained this, not through any wish to deprive his bishops in perpetuity of their proper jurisdiction; but, since up to that time the bishops had been somewhat negligent in taking action, only until he could have proof of their amendment and be able

to restore to them, as something deserved, the right that he was temporarily suspending for their default.$ as the limit of effective legal kinship. See A. Esmein, Le Mariage en droit canonique

(Paris, 1891), pp. 335-56. 5 This is a repetition of the condemnation of clerical marriage made in the earlier councils of Lisieux and Rouen (above, ii. 290), with the procedure

against offenders more precisely defined. 'l'he storm of protest at Rouen had probably deterred the bishops from attempting to take effective action.

6 This explanatory clause may have been added at the time of the council of Lillebonne. If Orderic's claim to have used a copy made by those present in 1080 is correct (above, p. 26 n. 1) it is not a later addition; and it is certainly in the version confirmed by Henry I. In any case Bóhmer's doubts about the

authenticity of the canon in its present form (Kirche und Staat in England und in der Normandie, Leipzig, 1899, pp. 127 ff.) are without justification: see Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 35.

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Nullus laicus in redditibus altaris! uel in sepultura uel in tercia parte decima aliquid habeat, nec pecuniam pro horum uendicione uel donatione aliquatenus habeat, nec presbiter inde seruitium faciat, nisi

legationem domini sui portet, ita ut in eadem die ad seruitium zecclesize reuertatur, et ad orationes per Normanniam solummodo uictum domini sui habens,

si dominus

uoluerit

secum

uadat,

seruitium

zcclesiz

presbiter interim curet. Presbiteri ab episcopis uel ab eorum ministris preter iustos redditus ii. 318 episcopi? ui uel minis nil dare cogantur. Propter eorum feminas nulla pecuniz emendatio exigatur. Archidiaconi per archidiaconatus suos semel in anno presbiterorum suffraganeorum suorum uestimenta et calices et libros uideant? designa-

tis ab episcopo in uno quoque archidiaconatu solummodo tribus locis ubi uicini presbiteri ad hac monstranda conuocentur. Quod cum diaconus ad hec uidenda uenerit: a presbiteris qui conueniunt triduo si expedit uictum habeat sibi quinto. Si presbiter forisfacturam fecerit de forestis regis uel baronum eius" nullam inde emendationem habebit episcopus.?

Presbiteri semel in anno circa Pentecosten cum processionibus suis ad matrem zecclesiam ueniant, et de singulis domibus cerz denerata uel idem ualens ad illuminandam zecclesiam altari offeratur. Quod qui facere noluerit? a presbitero suo per ministerium suum cogatur hoc

soluere, sine emendatione pecunia. Laicus presbiterum non det uel

li. 319

adimat zecclesiz nisi ex consensu praesulis. Quem tamen si recipiendus est episcopus non repellat? et si repellendus est non retineat. In cimiteriis zecclesiarum quze in ciuitatibus uel castellis uel burgis* sunt? quicquid episcopi tempore Rodberti comitis uel Guillelmi regis eius consensu habuerunt, episcopi rehabeant. In cimiteriis uero quz in marchis sunt si guerra fuerit, et aliqui ad habitandum ibi faciant mansionem dum guerra durauerit, et ipsi propter guerram in atrio5 manserint? nullam forisfacturam ab eis episcopus habebit, nisi quam habuisset antequam ad atrium confugissent. Cum autem pax facta ! The distinction between ecclesia and altare had been spreading in Normandy for the preceding twenty years. See J. F. Lemarignier, Les Priviléges d'exemption et de juridiction ecclésiastique des abbayes normandes (Paris, 1937), p. 87 n. 12.

? On the forest laws cf. Haskins, Norman Institutions, pp. 47-8. 3 The

clergy and parishioners

protested immediately,

according to a later

tradition, against the expense and inconvenience of such processions: certainly later the priests went alone with the money from their parishes. See Longnon, Pouillés de la province de Rouen (Paris, 1903), pp. 74-5. 4 This clause is a general one, covering a number of fortified or unfortified urban agglomerations, in contrast to villages. The technical terms used were perhaps intended to be comprehensive when taken together rather than individually precise, and the phrase tended to become common form in legal documents (cf. 1164 Constitutions of Clarendon, c. ro (W. Stubbs, Select

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29

No layman shall have any share in the altar dues! or burial dues, or the

third part of the tithe, nor receive money in any way for the sale or

grant of these things; and no priest shall perform any secular service for

his office, apart from carrying letters for his lord, provided that he can

return to recite the office in his church on the same day. If his lord so

wishes he may accompany him as chaplain, receiving his maintenance, but only within Normandy; and a priest must undertake service in his church during his absence. Bishops and their officers are not to compel priests either by force or

by threats to give them more than the lawful episcopal dues. Pecuniary fines are not to be exacted if they keep women. Once a year archdeacons are to hold inspections in their archdeaconries of the vestments, altar vessels, and books of the priests under their jurisdiction; and the bishops are to appoint three places only in each archdeaconry where the priests of each region may meet for these inspections. When the archdeacon carries out this inspection he shall receive sustenance for himself and four attendants for three days if necessary from the priests who attend it. If a priest incurs a fine for an offence in the royal or baronial forests,

the bishop shall have no share in it.?

Once a year about the time of Pentecost priests shall lead a procession to their mother church, and every house shall provide a pennyworth of wax or the value of it, to be offered to the altar for lighting the church.? If anyone refuses to do so the priest shall compel him to make payment by spiritual coercion, not by a pecuniary fine. No layman shall present a priest to a church or deprive him of it without the bishop's consent. But the bishop is not to reject an accept-

able candidate, nor approve an unsuitable one. Concerning cemeteries of churches in cities or castles or burghs,4 the bishops shall recover whatever rights they had in the time of Duke Robert, or of King William with his consent. As for cemeteries in frontier regions in time of war, if any persons build habitations for themselves in the churchyard during hostilities, and live within the outer sanctuary5 for safety, the bishop shall have no right to amercements from them other than he enjoyed before they fled to the sanctuary. Charters, oth edit., p. 166)). Ciuitas was often applied to a city where there was a bishop's seat; oppidum normally implied a fortified town, or a castle with a dependent settlement; burgus might be used either of an old fortified town or of a new town, in which case it might be equivalent to ‘suburb’. For a fuller discussion of the terms see R. Génestal, La Tenure en bourgage (Paris, 1900),

pp. 210-15. 5 The term atrium was used at this date to cover the churchyard (a wider area than the burial ground) of a church and the houses built round the peri-

meter; in fact the whole privileged precinct or outer sanctuary. Cf. Ducange

i. 453-

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fuerit qui propter guerram illuc confugerant de atrio exire cogantur,

aut episcopalibus legibus! supponantur. Qui uero in predictis cimiteriis antiquitus manserunt: in antiqua quietudine permaneant. ZEcclesie uillarum quantum cimiterii tempore Rodberti comitis? habuerunt, uel quantum usque ad illud suprascriptum concilium habue-

runt tantum habeant, et in eis illas consuetudines! habeant episcopi, quas tempore Rodberti comitis uel Guillelmi regis eius consensu habuerunt, nisi episcopi concedente rege Guillelmo aliquam quietudinem fecerint. Si post concilium aliqua noua fit zecclesia intra uillam" faciat episcopus cimiterium consideratione dominorum et parrochianorum eiusdem

eecclesize. Si uero extra uillam noua fit ecclesia’ undique habebit quinque perticas cimiterii.

Si donatur monachis zcclesia? presbiter qui eandem tenet ecclesiam honorifice teneat quicquid de eadem ecclesia habuit, antequam monachi eam haberent, et tanto melius quanto sanctioribus associatur hominibus. Eo autem mortuo uel aliquatenus deficiente? abbas idoneum querat presbiterum, et episcopo eum uel per se uel per nuncium suum ostendat. Quem si recipiendus est episcopus recipiat. Si uero presbiter cum monachis religiose uiuere uoluerit? uideat ut aecclesia quam episcopali licentia intrauit, honeste tractetur tam in uestimentis quam libris, et ceteris zcclesiz seruiendae necessariis secundum eiusdem ecclesiz il. 320

facultatem. Quod si presbiter cum monachis uiuere noluerit, tantum det

ei abbas de bonis zcclesiz:? unde et bene uiuere et zcclesize seruitium conuenienter ualeat presbiter adimplere. Quod si abbas facere noluerit: ab episcopo conuenienter cogatur ut faciat. Presbiter uero episcopo suo iuste subditus sit? et episcopales redditus persoluat. Que uero superabundant, in usus monasterii sui abbas habeat. Hoc idem in zecclesiis canonicorum obseruetur.? Violatio zcclesiz et atrii sicut superius determinatum est et commissa pro quibus diuinum officium remanet? episcopis per pecuniam emendetur. Assultus in itinere zecclesize similiter. Si quis iratus persequitur alium in atrium uel in ecclesiam" similiter. Si laicus arat uel aedificat in atrio sine licentia pontificali? similiter. Si ? Add uel Willelmi regis filii ejus in Teulet’s edition t In these clauses the terms episcopal "leges! and episcopal ‘consuetudines’ appear to be used in the same sense. They represent the public rights that had passed into the bishops’ hands, and include sometimes the cognizance of crimes, sometimes merely the profits of jurisdiction. For an earlier list of episcopal customs cf. Fauroux, no. 131. See F. Lot and R. Fawtier, Histoire des

institutions frangaises au Moyen Age, iii. 71; and C. Morris in EHR Ixxxii (1967),

452-3.

2 The surrender by laymen of parish churches

to monasteries, in response

to the demands of eleventh-century reformers, created acute practical problems at first. This clause is concerned with the need to secure proper support for

BOOK V

T

But when peace is restored those who fled there during the war must either leave the sanctuary or be subject to the episcopal laws.! Those

who have lived in these outer sanctuaries from time immemorial shall continue to enjoy their ancient immunities. Village churches shall have cemeteries of the extent that they had in

the time of Count Robert, or [of his son King William] at least up to the time of this council; and the bishops shall enjoy the customs! in them

which they had in the time of Count Robert or of King William by his consent, unless they have granted any exemption with the king's ap-

proval. If after the council any new church is built in a village the bishop shall establish a cemetery with the approval of the lords of the land

and inhabitants of the parish. But if a new church is built away from a village it shall have five perches of land all round it for a cemetery.

If a church is given to monks, the priest who holds the church shall continue to hold honourably whatever rights he had in the church before the monks acquired it, and shall be all the more secure because it is now the property of holier men. But on his death or resignation for any cause the abbot shall find a suitable priest and present him to the bishop either in person or through his representative. And if he is a fit person the bishop shall admit him. If indeed the priest wishes to live with the monks, sharing their life, he shall see that the church to which he has been admitted by the bishop is provided with suitable vestments and books and other things necessary for the cult, according to the wealth of the church. But if the priest does not wish to live with the monks, the abbot shall provide him with a portion out of the revenues of the church, sufficient to enable him to live decently and make adequate provision for the church services. If the abbot refuses he shall be compelled to do this by the bishop. The priest shall be subject to his bishop as is right, and shall pay all the episcopal dues. If there is any surplus, the abbot shall receive it for the needs of the monastery. The same shall

apply in churches belonging to canons.? Desecration of churches and outer sanctuaries as defined above, and offences for which the divine office is suspended shall be compensated by fines to the bishops. Likewise attacks on those going to church. Likewise if anyone in anger pursues his victim into an outer sanctuary or a church. Likewise if a layman ploughs the land or puts up a building in an outer sanctuary without the bishop's licence. the church and for the priest, whether he was a monk, a chaplain sharing the monks’ table, or a secular clerk. The principles of subjection to the bishop and adequate provision for the priest in charge, which were later to characterize canon law on the subject of vicarages, appear here for the first time among surviving canons. Similar provisions were certainly promulgated to the church at large in the Council of Clermont,

1095 (Hefele, v. 403, canon 33). See also for

England the Council of Westminster, 1102 (Wilkins, Concilia, i. 383, canon 22).

32

BOOK

V

clericus raptum! fecerit uel furtum, uel aliquem percusserit, aut uulnerauit, aut occiderit, si duellum sine licentia episcopi susceperit, aut namnum ceperit, aut assultum fecerit, aut aliquid iniuste saisierit, aut

incendium fecerit, aut manupastus eius aut habitator atrii? similiter episcopis per pecuniam emendetur. Si clericus adulterium fecerit aut incestum fecerit? similiter. Si presbiter de ministerio suo forisfecerit/ li. 321

similiter. Presbiteri qui ad sinodum uenire neglexerint? similiter. Et qui sino-

dum et circatam statutis terminis non reddiderit? similiter. S1 clericus coronam suam dimiserit? similiter. Si monachus uel monacha qui sunt sine regula habitum suum dimiserint? similiter.

Si presbiteri preter treuiz Dei infractores et latrones sine licencia episcopi excommunicauerint: similiter. Si erraticum habere quod uulgo weridif dicitur in curiam sacerdotis uel clerici qui in atrio maneant uenerit, uel in elemosinam eiusdem zcclesiz uel in atrium episcopi erit. Si quid per contentionem in domo presbiteri uel clerici, uel in atrio

sacerdoti uel clerico uel eorum manupasto relictum fuerit? episcopi erit. Si quid in zcclesia uel in atrio inueniatur uel relinquatur: episcopi erit. Si quis presbiterum aut monachum

aut monacham

assallierit, aut

percusserit aut ceperit aut occiderit, aut domos eorum in atrio incenderit? similiter emendabit.

Si quis adulterium uel incestum fecerit, uel cum matrina uel cummatre uel filiola coierit? similiter.? Si mulier hoc idem fecerit? similiter.

Si quis uxorem suam uel si qua mulier uirum suum sine iudicio presulis reliquerit? similiter. Qui mortuos consulunt uel maleficia tractant? similiter. 111322

Qui intentum sibi crimen inficians uel negans ferri iudicio conuincitur excepta Dei treuia:? similiter. Qui iusticiz resistens excommunicari se patitur? similiter.* Parrochianorum crimina episcopo pertinentia ubi consuetudo fuit? episcoporum iudicio examinentur. * The word can mean any crime of violence, including rape (Ducange, vii.

17). The context here and below, p. 34, suggests violent robbery. 2 For the canon law relating to spiritual kinship see A. Esmein, Le Mariage en droit canonique, pp. 362—72. 3 By the time of Henry I the bishop had secured the right to fines from

violators of the Truce of God convicted in the duke’s court. See Haskins,

Norman Institutions, pp. 31, 37.

BOOK

V

33

If a clerk or anyone in his surety, or anyone dwelling in an outer sanctuary is guilty of robbery with violence,' or of theft, or strikes or

wounds or kills anyone, or undertakes a judicial duel without the

bishop’s permission, or makes a distraint, or takes part in an attack, or unjustly takes seisin of anything, or is guilty of arson, likewise a fine is

due to the bishop. Likewise if any clerk commits adultery or incest.

Likewise if any priest fails in his spiritual duties. Likewise if priests fail to come to a synod. Likewise if any fail to pay synodal and visitation dues at the ap-

pointed times.

Likewise if any clerk abandons his tonsure. Likewise if any monks or nuns, living without a rule, abandon their

monastic life.

Likewise if any priests, without episcopal permission, excommunicate anyone other than violators of the Truce of God and robbers. If any stray beast, colloquially called a ‘waif’, comes into the courtyard of any priest or clerk dwelling within the church enclosure, or into the churchyard itself or the land making up the spiritual endowment of a church, it shall belong to the bishop. If as the result of a dispute anything is left in the house or in the courtyard of any priest, or with a clerk or anyone in their surety, it shall belong to the bishop. If anything is found abandoned in a church or sanctuary, it shall belong to the bishop. If anyone assaults or strikes or captures or kills a priest or monk or nun, or burns their houses within the precinct, a fine shall go to the bishop. Likewise if anyone commits adultery or incest, or has intercourse with his godmother, or the mother of his godchild, or his god-daughter.?

Likewise if any woman sins in the same way. Likewise if any man separates from his wife, or any woman from her husband, except by judgement of the bishop. Likewise if any consult the dead, or practise magic. Likewise if anyone repudiating or denying a crime with which he is charged fails at the ordeal of hot iron, except for offences against the Truce of God.3 Likewise if anyone incurs excommunication through resisting justice.4 Where the crimes of inhabitants of a diocese are subject by custom to

the bishop they shall be judged by the bishop. 4 In all the

cases

enumerated

above

the council

merely

established

the

bishop’s pecuniary right: in many cases it is unlikely that this was the sole penalty. There is no indication of the courts involved; some cases may have been heard in the duke’s court (ibid., p. 31). The next few canons deal with the

competence of various courts.

34

BOOK V Si contradictio iudicationis facta fuerit/ ante episcopum diffiniatur. Siferriiudicium fuerit iudicatum’ apud matrem zcclesiam terminetur.

Si plana lex facienda erit? ibi fiat ubi placitum prius fuit. In parrochia episcopi sine licencia eius? nullus audeat predicare. Qui in predictas culpas inciderit, si sponte ad poenitentiam uenerit? penitentia ei pro qualitate criminis iniungatur, et pecunia nullatenus exigatur.

Si laicus raptum in atrio fecerit" episcopo emendabit. Si uero alibi fecerit? quocumque modo faciat, episcopus nichil habebit. Has consuetudines habeant episcopi in illis locis, in quibus eas tempore Rodberti comitis uel Guillelmi regis eius concessione hactenus habuerunt. Que uero quieta fuerunt, eam quietudinem habeant? quam

hucusque solide tenuerunt. In his omnibus iusticiis et consuetudinibus rex sibi retinet? quod huc usque habuit. Si presbiter domini sui iudicium contradixerit de zecclesiastica causa’ et eum in curiam episcopi eundo iniuste fatigare fecerit, domino suo

decem solidos emendabit. Si episcopi aliquid quod hic non sit scriptum in regis curia monstrare li. 323

possunt, se habuisse tempore Rodberti comitis uel Guillelmi regis eius concessione:? rex eis non tollit quin habeant, tantummodo illud nulla-

tenus saisiscant donec in curia eius monstrent quod habere debeant. Similiter et laicis propter hoc scriptum rex nil tollit quod in curia eius monstrare possint episcopos non debere habere tantummodo episcopos inde non disaisiscant donec in curia regis monstratum sit? quod episcopi

inde habere non debeant.3 Hzec sinodus in uico regali secus Sequanam celebrata est? ubi antiqua urbs fuit quae Caletus* ab incolis dicta est, a qua circumiacens pagus a mari usque in Talaucium Calcegius usque hodie appellatus est. Hanc ut in antiquis Romanorum legitur gestis Gaius Iulius Cesar obsedit, et pro nimia bellatorum obstinatione intus acerrime repugnantium subuertit. Deinde postquam hostes ibidem ad libitum compressit" considerata oportunitate loci ! See Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 34. Some churches maintained their ancient rights against the bishop; there is a record of an ordeal being held a few years earlier before archdeacons and laity at Saint-Vigor, Bayeux, not at the cathedral (Archaeologia, xxvii (1838), 26—7). The ordeal of William Pantulf

(below, pp. 160-2) took place before the clergy at Rouen. ? 'This phrase is the earliest official expression of the conception that public

rights described as consuetudines were held by delegation from the duke. See J. Yver, ‘Les premiéres institutions du duché de Normandie’, in I Normanni e la loro espansione in Europa nell'alto medioevo (Spoleto, 1969), pp. 348-9.

BOOK V

35

If an objection is raised to judicial competence it shall be settled before the bishop.

If ordeal by hot iron is adjudged, it shall be settled at the cathedral church.! If there is to be compurgation, let it be made where the plea was first begun. No one may preach in a bishop’s diocese without his consent. If anyone being guilty of the above crimes voluntarily comes to do penance, penance shall be imposed according to the gravity of the crime, and no fine shall be demanded. If a layman commits violent robbery within an outer sanctuary, the fine shall go to the bishop. But if he commits it anywhere else in any way whatever, the bishop shall have nothing. These are the customs which the bishops are to enjoy in those places where they have enjoyed them in the time of Count Robert or of King William by his grant. Whatever immunities they enjoyed they shall continue to enjoy as securely as before. In all these liberties and customs the king shall retain all that he has held up to this time. If a priest refuses the jurisdiction of his lord in an ecclesiastical case, and burdens him unjustly by dragging him to the bishop’s court, he

shall pay a fine of ten shillings to his lord. If the bishops can prove in the king’s court that they held any rights not recorded here in the time of Count Robert or of King William by his grant,? the king does not deprive them of these rights; but he will in no wise grant them seisin until they prove in his court that they ought to have them. Likewise the king does not deprive any laymen by this ordinance of any rights that they can prove in his court the bishop ought not to have; only he will not disseise the bishops of them until it is proved in the king’s court that the bishops ought not to have them.3

This synod was held in a royal village by the Seine which is the site of an ancient city locally known as Caletus,* from which the surrounding pagus from the sea to Le Talou originally took and still bears the name of Caux. Gaius Julius Caesar besieged this city, as you may read in the ancient histories of the Romans, and levelled it to the ground in revenge for the long, fierce resistance of its inhabitants. After he had imposed his will relentlessly on his enemies, he recognized the strategic position of the place, and 3 The laity were allowed to keep their rights as in the past, but in 1096 the council of Rouen went beyond this point and ruled, (Nullus laicus habeat consuetudines episcopales! (Le Prévost, iii. 473).

4 Orderic's authority for this fanciful derivation is not known. He appears to have used a legendary Gesta Romanorum,

now lost. See above, p. xxv.

36

BOOK V

presidium Romanorum prouide constituit, et a nomine suo Iuliam bonam quam barbari nunc corrupto nomine Illebonam nuncupant appellauit. 6 ii. 324

Denique idem Cesar omnem Neustriam sollerter explorauit, et super Sequanam fluuium urbem Rotomagum construi praecepit: in loco aptissimo ubi ad orientale caput urbis Albula fluuius cum Rodebecco et ab occasu Marrona in Sequanam diffluit. Rodomus autem quasi Romanorum domus ab ipsis conditoribus appellata est’ ubi legio Quiritum! prouinciales undique gubernans et com-

primens tute commorata est.

ii. 325

Rodomensis ciuitas populis est ac negociorum commerciis opulentissima, portus quoque confluentia, et riuorum murmure ac pratorum amoenitate iocundissima:;? fructuum et piscium cunctarumque rerum exuberantia ditissima, montibus et siluis undique circumdata, muris ac uallis et propugnaculis ualidissima,3 meeniis et zedificiis domorum ac basilicarum pulcherrima. Ad hanc a sancto Dionisio tempore Domitiani Cesaris beatus Nigasius* episcopus cum sociis suis destinatus est:/5 sed obiter in quodam foro quod Scamnis dicitur a Sisinnio Fescennino comprehensus est, et constanter in fide Christi perseuerans cum Quirino presbitero ac Scuuiculo diacono quinto idus Octobris decollatus est. Corpora uero eorum auibus improbis canibus ferisque uoranda a persecutoribus derelicta sunt? sed iussu omnipotentis Dei ab angelis intacta custodita sunt. Deinde postquam prophani satellites recesserunt, succedenti nocte sancti martires diuina ope mirabiliter erecti sunt? et apprehensis capitibus suis fluuium ! Whatever the precise meaning of the term Quirites in Orderic's source, he used the word elsewhere as exactly equivalent to ‘Romans’ (cf. Le Prévost, iv. 396), including the Romans of the papal curia in his day (ibid. iv. 311—12). Probably he intended the same meaning here.

2 Cf. De commendacione Turonicae provinciae, ‘amenitate pratorum et pascuis uberrimis jucunda' (ed. A. Salmon, Recueil de chroniques de Touraine (Tours, 1854), p. 296), which incorporated an eleventh-century source (Halphen and Poupardin, Chroniques des comtes d' Anjou (Paris, 1913), pp. liv-lv). 3 There are many references to the early fortifications of Rouen. Cf. J. Yver,

"Les chateaux forts en Normandie’, in BSAN liii (1955-6), 28-115, especially

D233:

4 St. Nicaise was venerated in the region of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte;

none

of

the lists of archbishops of Rouen compiled before 1079 considered him as the

BOOK

V

37

established a Roman garrison there. He called it after himself Julia bona, which the provincial peoples have corrupted into its present name of Lillebonne.

6 Afterwards Julius Caesar overran the whole of Neustria, and ordered the city of Rouen to be built on an ideal site beside the Seine. Here, on the eastern side of the city the streams of Aubette and Robec, and on the west the river Maromme, flow into the Seine. It was called Rodomus or ‘dwelling of the Romans’! by its founders, and a Roman legion was established there to keep order and govern the provincial peoples of the surrounding parts. Rouen is a populous and wealthy city, thronged with merchants and a meeting-place of trade routes. A fair city set among murmuring streams and smiling meadows,? abounding in fruit and fish and all manner of produce, it stands surrounded by hills and woods, strongly encircled by walls and ramparts and battlements,? and fair to behold with its mansions and houses and churches. Hither the blessed bishop Nicaise+ and his companions were sent by St. Denis5 in the time of the emperor Domitian; but on the way in a certain market called Scamnis® he was arrested by Sisinnius Fescenninus, and on 11 October together with Quirinus the priest and Scuviculus the deacon he was beheaded, standing firm to the last in the faith of Christ. The bodies were left by their persecutors to be devoured by carrion birds, dogs, and wild beasts, but at the bidding of almighty God they were preserved whole by angels. Then, on the following night, when the impious guards had gone away, the holy martyrs miraculously rose up through the power of first bishop of Rouen. The list was modified to include him in the time of William Bonne-Ame (1079-1110) and he appears in the Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium and subsequent lists (Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 201-2). His inclusion established a claim to apostolic origins for the see. Nothing certain is known of the date or acts of St. Nicaise. His feast was celebrated on 11 October (LT'K vii. ; 5 Te life of St. Denis, first bishop of Paris, is obscured by legend: he died probably during the persecutions of 258 (DHGE xiv. 263-5). Before 8oo the legend that he had been sent to Gaul by Pope Clement, the immediate successor of St. Peter, was current; from the ninth century he was confused with St. Denis the Areopagite (Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 464-5; see also Walter Goffard,

The Le Mans Forgeries (Harvard, 1966), p. 195). $ Probably Gasny (Eure). Cf. Chanoine Bonnenfant, diocése d' Evreux, i. 1. 822219X.

E

Histoire générale du

38

BOOK

V

Eptam uado antea hominibus incognito transierunt, et in insula eiusdem fluminis amcenissima requieuerunt. Ob memoriam sanctorum ille locus extunc usque in hodiernum diem Vani! id est uadum Nigasii nuncupatus est? in quo Deus martirum meritis multa beneficia fideliter poscentibus largitus est. Prisca gentilitas obiter martirizato predicatore Rotomagum diu possedit? et innumeris idolorum spurciciis usque ad sanctum Mellonem archiepiscopum repleuit.

7 Eo tempore fides Christi Euanticorum id est Ebroas urbem super Ittonam fluuium sitam possidebat" ac salubriter illuminabat. Nam illuc beatus Taurinus a Dionisio Machario directus fuerat,? ii. 326

et a Deo confortatus multa miracula fecerat. Deus enim cum eo semper erat, et omnia opera eius gloriose dirigebat: pro quo dura et aspera huius seculi zequanimiter perferre elegerat. Romanum Tarquinium patrem suum Euticiamque matrem piissimam Christi cultricem cum aliis amicis et cognatis Rome reliquerat? et iussu Clementis papz cum Dionisio Ionico Gallias tenellus exul penetrarat.

ii. 327

Grassante nimium secunda persecutione quz sub Domitiano in Christianos furuit’ predictus Dionisius Parisiensis episcopus Taurinum filiolum suum iam quadragenarium praesulem ordinauit, et uaticinatis pluribus quz passurus erat Ebroicensibus in nomine Domini direxit. Viro Dei ad portam ciuitatis appropinquanti daemon in tribus figmentis se opposuit" scilicet in specie ursi et leonis et bubali terrere athletam Christi uoluit. Sed ille fortiter ut inexpugnabilis murus? in fide perstitit? et ceptum iter peregit, hospitiumque in domo Lucii suscepit. Tercia die dum Taurinus ibidem populo predicaret, et dulcedo fidei nouis auditoribus multum placeret, dolens diabolus Eufrasiam Lucii filiam uexare cepit, et in ignem deiecit. Quze statim mortua est? sed paulo post ! This derivation of Gasny is fanciful. ? [n fact St. ‘Taurin flourished in the late fourth century, and was not a con-

temporary of St. Denis (Beaunier-Besse, vii. 168-9). For Orderic's source see above, p. xxvi.

BOOK V

39

God, and taking up their heads crossed the river Epte by a ford previously unknown to men, and found rest in a very beautiful river island. The place is known to this day as Vani [Gasny],! that is, the ‘ford of Nicaise’, to commemorate

the saints; and there

through the merits of the martyrs God has granted many boons to those who ask in true faith. Rouen, after the martyrdom of her evangelist, long remained in the grip of her former paganism, defiled

with

innumerable

idols until the time

of St. Mallon,

archbishop.

7 At this time the Christian faith took hold of the city of the Evanti on the river Iton, called Evreux, and the light of salvation

shone there. For the blessed Taurin was sent there by St. Denis,” and performed many miracles by God’s aid. For God was always with him and guided all his actions to a glorious end, wherefore he willingly endured toil and hardship in this world with patience. He left his father, Tarquinius Romanus, his mother Eutychia who was

a devout

Christian,

and his other friends and kinsmen in

Rome, and at the command of Pope Clement went into exile in Gaul with the Greek Denis while still a youth. Whilst the second persecution of the Christians unleashed under Domitian grew harsh beyond endurance, this same Denis bishop of Paris ordained his godson Taurin, now past forty, bishop; and, prophesying many things that were to come to pass, sent him to the men of Evreux in the name of the Lord. As the man of God drew near to the city gate, a demon barred the way in three different guises, trying in the shape of a bear, a lion, and a wild ox to strike terror into the champion of Christ. But he stood firmly in his faith like an unbreachable rampart,? and reaching the end of his appointed journey accepted a lodging in the house of Lucius. On the third day whilst Taurin was preaching to the people there and the glad tidings of the faith sounded sweetly in the ears of his new hearers, the demon, frustrated, began to molest Lucius’ daughter Euphrasia, causing her to fall into the fire. She perished instantly: but shortly afterwards, when Taurin prayed and bid her arise in 3 Cf. the first antiphon for the Magnificat, 1st Vespers, on certain Sundays in November (The Hereford Breviary, ed. W. H. Frere and L. E. G. Browne (Henry

Bradshaw

Soc.

1904-15),

i. 458; Breviarium

ad usum

Procter and C. Wordsworth (Cambridge, 1882), p. mccclxxv).

Sarum,

ed. F.

40

BOOK

V

orante Taurino ac iubente ut resurgeret in nomine Domini resuscitata est. Nullum in ea signum adustionis apparuit. Omnes igitur hoc miraculum uidentes subito territi sunt? et obstupescentes in Ihesum Christum crediderunt. In illa die centum uiginti homines baptizati sunt. Octo ceci illuminati, et quatuor muti sanati? aliique plures ex diuersis infirmitatibus in nomine Domini sunt curati. Deinde Taurinus phanum Dianz intrauit zabulumque coram populo uisibilem astare in uirtute Dei coegit, quo uiso ethnica plebs ualde timuit. Nam manifeste apparuit eis /Ethiops niger ut fuligo barbam prolixam habens et scintillas igneas ex ore mittens. Deinde angelus Domini splendidus ut sol aduenit? cunctisque cernentibus ligatis a dorso manibus damonem abduxit. In illa igitur die duo milia uirorum baptizati sunt? et omnes infirmi ope diuina curati sunt. Hec Deodatus Eufrasiz frater uidit et credidit? et baptizatus presbiterque factus hzc ueraciter scripto retulit. Tunc Taurinus fedum Diane phanum intrauit, exorcismis et orationibus emundauit? Deoque templum in honore sancte Dei genitricis Mariz dedicauit. Deinde cepit circumquaque idola destruere, et zecclesias Christo consecrare, omnem

diocesim circum-

ire, canonice ordinare, hospitalitatem in omnibus constituere.

ii. 328

Inuidus Sathan tot bona uidens doluit? uariisque machinationibus uirum Dei ledere sategit, et multos in illum aduersarios excitauit. Duo magi Cambisses et Zaraa sacerdotes Dianze fuerunt, uisaque conuersione populi ad Deum ingemuerunt? et xx discipulos suos ut 'Taurinum perimerent concitauerunt. Qui uenientes a uiro Dei a longe uisi et cogniti sunt? ipsoque signum crucis contra illos porrigente ilico fixi steterunt. Illo iterum iubente soluti sunt? et prouoluti pedibus eius crediderunt, et in nomine sancte et indiuiduz Trinitatis baptizati sunt. Magi autem ut sua figmenta nichil in militem Christi ualere compererunt: propriis se cultris interemerunt. Interea Licinius consul famam beati pontificis audiuit? ipsumque sibi Gisaico uilla presentari fecit. Qui cum traheretur? obuium habuit unum paraliticum, sororemque eius cecam, surdam, et mutam. Protinus ille aquam benedixit, egros perfudit? et mox

BOOK V

41

the name of the Lord, she was restored to life. No trace of her burns was visible; and all who saw this miracle were filled with

awe and amazement and believed in Jesus Christ. That day a hundred and twenty men were baptized. Eight blind persons received their sight, and four who were dumb their speech: many others were healed of various infirmities in the name of the Lord. After this T'aurin entered the temple of Diana, and by the power of God commanded the devil to come forth before the people. At the sight of him the heathen populace trembled with fear. For he appeared to them clearly as an Ethiopian, black as soot, with a flowing beard, breathing sparks of fire from his mouth. Then came an angel of the Lord, radiant as the sun, and in the sight of all he bound the demon's hands behind his back and led him away. On that same day two thousand persons were baptized, and all the sick were healed by divine might. Deodatus the brother of Euphrasia saw these things and believed; when he had been baptized and had become a priest he wrote a true record of them. Then Taurin entered the foul temple of Diana, cleansed it by exorcisms and prayers, and consecrated it as a church of God in honour of Mary, the blessed mother of God. From that time he began to destroy the idols all around, consecrate Christian churches, visit

the whole diocese, perform canonical ordinations, and establish hospitality everywhere. Satan mourned at the sight of so much good, and enviously strove by various devices to harm the man of God, stirring up many enemies against him. Cambises and Zaraa, two sorcerers who were priests of Diana, lamented when they saw the people's conversion to God, and incited twenty of their followers to destroy Taurin. But as they drew near they were seen and recognized by the man of God; and as he made the sign of the cross against them they were instantly rooted to the spot. At another command from him they were freed; and falling at his feet they believed and were baptized in the name of the holy and indivisible Trinity. But the sorcerers, seeing that their false tales could not prevail against the soldier of Christ, slew themselves with their own knives.

Meanwhile the governor Licinius heard of the reputation of the holy bishop, and had him brought before him at Gisay. As he was being dragged there he met a paralytic and his sister who was blind, deaf, and dumb. He straightway blessed water, poured it over the sufferers, and restored them immediately to health. His

42

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V

sanitati restituit. Carnifices hoc uiderunt/ et in Deum

statim

crediderunt. Dum presul et consul de ydolatria et theusebia procaciter altercarentur? et presul iussu consulis irrationabiliter furentis nudus uirgis cederetur, Deum fideliter deprecatus est: et mox uoce de colo ad eum missa confortatus est. Manus quoque carnificum statim aruerunt, Licinius uero Leonillam uxorem suam li. 329

quia loquebatur pro uiro Dei? ira succensus iussit cruciari. Dum hzc agerentur? nuncius uenit dicens filium eius in uenatione circa castellum Alerci! precipitio mortuum cum armigero suo. Licinius ergo cum omni exercitu suo nimis contristatus est? et uirum Dei quem cruciare ceperat nutu Dei rogare coactus est. Taurinus autem postquam in ecclesia sancte Mariz prostratus orauit? cum populo ad corpora defunctorum perrexit. Ibi deuote Deo supplicauit, finitisque precibus manum Marini iuuenis consobrini sui? apprehendit? eumque in nomine Domini a morte resuscitauit. Quod Licinius et uxor eius et omnes optimates eius

uidentes gauisi sunt? et procidentes ad presulis pedes sacrum sibi baptisma dari petierunt. Baptizati sunt itaque in illa die mille ducenti uiri. Deinde Marino poscenti pro armigero suo Taurinus adquieuit, ad corpus accessit? Deum inuocauit, Paschasium inclamauit et in uirtute Dei uitz restaurauit. Ambo sibi superstites uiuis retulerunt? quz defuncti apud inferos uiderunt. Paschasius Marino predixit? quod in die quo albas deponeret moreretur. Quod ita factum est. Nam Marinus leui febre correptus est? et octaua die baptismatis

mortuus est.

li. 330

His aliisque multis miraculis Taurinus Ebroarum primus pontifex claruit? et multa milia hominum ad cognitionem ueritatis et iusticie. perduxit. Denique dum Sixtus papa in sede apostolica resideret? et Helius Hadrianus rempublicam gubernaret, plenus dierum et uirtutum Taurinus iii? idus Augusti de celo uocatus est! et zcclesia populo astante densa odoriferaque nebula repleta est. Transacto unius hore spacio nebula recessit? et pontifex in kathedra sedens et quasi orans extensis manibus oculisque ad colum uersis apparuit. Ingens luctus parrochianorum casu ' Identified by Le Prévost as Mediolanum Aulercorum, or Old Evreux (Le Prévost, ii. 328 n. 1, 329 n. 2). ? The word ‘consobrinus’ is taken from the Vita S. Taurini; the context there shows that there was no blood relationship between Taurin and Marinus,

so spiritual kinship must be implied.

BOOK V

43

tormentors saw this and at once believed in God. After the bishop and the governor had debated keenly about idolatry and worship the bishop, condemned by the governor in a blind rage, was given up to be stripped and beaten with rods; praying to God in whom he trusted he was strengthened by a voice sent to him from heaven. Moreover

the hands of his tormentors

withered.

But Licinius,

blinded by his anger, even ordered his wife Leonilla to be tortured

because she had interceded for the man of God. Meanwhile a messenger arrived to announce that whilst his son had been hunting near the fortress of Alercus! he had had a headlong fall with his attendant, and was dead. At this Licinius was plunged into despair, as were all his troops, and was compelled by God’s will to send for the man of God whom he had put to the torture. After Taurin had prostrated himself in prayer in the church of St. Mary he went with the throng to where the bodies of the dead men lay. There he devoutly prayed to God, and when his prayers were ended, taking the hand of his young brother in Christ,? Marinus, he raised him from the dead in the name of the

Lord. When Licinius and his wife and all the dignitaries saw this they were overjoyed, and falling at the bishop’s feet besought him to give them holy baptism. And so one thousand two hundred men were baptized on that day. Then when Marinus interceded for his attendant Taurin consented and, going up to the body, invoked God’s aid. Calling on Paschasius by name, through God’s aid he restored him to life. Restored to life, they told each other what they had seen in the lower world when they were dead. Paschasius foretold to Marinus that he would die on the day he put off his baptismal robes. This indeed came to pass. For Marinus was seized with a hectic fever, and on the eighth day after his baptism he died. Through these and many other miracles Taurin, the first bishop of Evreux, won renown and brought many thousands of men to the knowledge of truth and righteousness. At length whilst Pope Sixtus occupied the papal see, and Aelius Hadrian ruled the empire, Taurin being full of years and virtue was called from heaven on 11 August. The church, thronged with people, was filled with a thick, fragrant cloud. After the space of one hour had passed the cloud cleared, and the bishop appeared seated in his chair as if praying, with hands outstretched and eyes turned to heaven. Great mourning fell on all his parishioners at the loss of their

44

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V

pastoris factus est’ iussuque angeli qui populo in specie uiri honorabilis apparuerat extra urbem quasi ad terciam partem miliarii ad occidentem uir Dei sepultus est. Locus ille diu postmodum sine honore habitus est? sed nunc ibi gratia Dei electus grex monachorum in militia salubri constitutus est. In sepelitione uenerabilis episcopi res accidit inusitata. Dum in mausoleo presul ex more poneretur? populusque nimis fleret, ille quasi uiuus de fossa erigens se ait, ^Filioli mei quid hoc facitis? Nolite timere. Istum uirum audite.’ Et inclinato capite siluit. Sepulto itaque seruo Christi? dixit ad populum angelus Dei, ‘Recedite uelociter’ ne inuoluamini ab hostibus. Nunc ciuitas ista subuertetur? sed nullus uestrum periclitabitur. Per multa tempora incognitus erit locus iste.' His dictis nusquam comparuit, et completa sunt omnia ut predixit. Nam sepulchrum sancti antistitis et anniuersarium transitus eius diu homines latuerunt, sed reuelante ii. 331

Deo postmodum gloriose patuerunt.? Signa quoque nonnulla per eum apud Ebroas adhuc cotidie fiunt. Dzemon enim quem de Dianz phano expulit? adhuc in eadem urbe degit, et in uariis frequenter formis apparens neminem ledit. Hunc uulgus gobelinum appellat? et per merita sancti Taurini ab humana lesione cohercitum usque hodie affirmat. Et quia iussis sancti antistitis sua frangendo simulacra obsecundauit? in baratrum non statim mersus fuit, sed in loco ubi olim regnauerat poenas luit? uidens saluari homines quibus iam dudum ad detrimentum multimode insultauit. Fertur aliud ab incolis et est uerum? quod in Ebroicensi urbe animal uiuere nequit uenenatum. Nam pinguis humus imbuta fluentis Ittonz fluminis colubros et serpentes pariebat: et huiusmodi animantibus Ebroica ciuitas nimis abundabat. Ciuibus autem pro tali peste conquerentibus? deprecatus est Dominum beatus Taurinus,

ut urbem

ab hoc incommodo

liberaret? nec ulterius

uenenatum reptile intra monia urbis uiuere sineret. Orauit, et * According to a Roman custom, practised by early Christians, E body was buried outside the town (Chanoine Bonnenfant, I? Église Saint- Taurin-d' Evreux

et sa chasse (Paris, 1926), p. 1).

BOOK

V

45

bishop; and by the command of an angel who appeared to the people in the likeness of a worthy man the man of God was buried outside the city, about a third of a mile to the west. For long afterwards the place was not honoured in any way: but now by the grace of God a chosen band of monks has been enrolled there in the armies of salvation. At the burial of the venerable bishop a strange thing came to pass. Whilst the prelate was being laid in the grave in the usual way, and the crowd wept bitterly, he raised himself from the grave as if he were alive and said: ‘My little children, why do you so? Fear not: hear the words of this man.’ And sinking back he was silent. So when the servant of Christ had been buried the angel of God said to the people, 'Disperse at once, lest we be surrounded by our enemies. This city will shortly be destroyed, but not one of you shall perish. For many years this place will remain unknown.' After saying these things he vanished from their sight, and all that he had foretold was fulfilled. For the burial place of the holy bishop and the anniversary of his death were unknown to men for many years; but later by divine revelation they were gloriously revealed.2 Some marvels are still performed daily by him at Évreux. For the demon whom he drove out of the temple of Diana still frequents the city, often appearing in various shapes, but harming no one. The common people call it a goblin, and hold that up to this day it is restrained by the power of St. Taurin from injuring anyone. And because it obeyed the command of the holy bishop by breaking its own images it was not plunged at once into the pit, but instead it undergoes punishment in the place where once it reigned, looking on whilst men for whom it once spread every kind of evil snare are now brought to salvation. The inhabitants tell another story, which is true, that no venomous creature can live in the city of Évreux. For the rich earth, watered by the flooding of the river Iton, used to spawn forth snakes of all kinds, and the town of Évreux was infested with such

creatures. When the citizens complained of this plague the blessed Taurin prayed to the Lord to free the town from this misfortune, and never again to allow a poisonous reptile to live within its walls. 2 The ninth-century legend ends here. The folk-lore that follows was probably drawn by Orderic from oral sources. Bede (Hist. Eccl. I. i) records a similar story of the absence of snakes from Ireland: ‘no reptile is found there nor could a serpent survive.’

46 BOOK V exauditus est. Si casu coluber seu bufo in fasciculo herbz defertur: ii. 332

statim dum intra muros urbis uenerit moritur. Post longum tempus religio Christiana creuit, et clerus Ebroicensis cum fidelibus indigenis primi presulis sui Taurini poliandrum quesiuit? Deoque monstrante inuenit. Deinde reuerenter de terra leuatum est: et post aliquot tempus a fidelibus Fiscannum translatum est. Ibi uenerabile cenobium monachorum ad deitatis cultum iugiter agendum constructum est" ibique in capsa preciosa sancti uiri corpus ueneranter aptatum est!. Almi presulis Taurini precibus et meritis nos Deus eruat ab omni ueneno uiciorum et perfecto sanctarum decoret nos iubare uirtutum, et in sanctis mansionibus suorum coniungat collegio sanctorum, ubi possimus ipsum regem regum digniter laudare per omnia secula seculorum. Amen. 8

11. 333

Helio Adriano et Antonino Pio imperantibus rabie hostili nouella christianitas in Gallia uehementer afflicta est? et sancta mater ecclesia per annos fere clx admodum humiliata est. Nulla nobis ystoria manifeste prodit, quz gens illa fuerit? uel unde uenerit, siue sub quo principe seu tiranno seuierit’ quz intolerabiliter Christianos et ydolatras oppresserit.2 In plurimis tamen gestis sanctorum illius temporis liquido patescit’ quod sub predictis principibus quidam crudelis et barbarus exercitus regnum Galliz nimis attriuerit. Eo tempore nullus rex in Gallia erat, sed imperator Romanorum a Gaio Iulio Cesare cisalpinis omnibus imperabat? et presides aliasque potestates singulis urbibus ad libitum suum dirigebat. Silentium de Deo magnum fuit in Neustria post obitum sancti presulis Taurini, usque ad tempora Diocletiani et Maximiani" a quibus facta est decima clades furoris diabolici, que grauius et diuturnius aliis seuit in zecclesiam Christi. Ceterum ille qui suis semper se affuturum esse promisit? in immensis tribulationum procellis sponsam suam mirabiliter confortauit, ac liberauit, protexit et exaltauit? et honorabilibus triumphis palam magnificauit, insuper eterno diademate coram patre suo in celesti Ierusalem ! The relics were finally brought back to Saint-Taurin-d’Evreux; the surviving reliquary dates only from the thirteenth century (Bonnenfant, L’Eglise Saint- Taurin-d' Evreux, p. 101). 2 The antedating of the legends of St. Denis and the first conversion of Gaul by over a hundred and fifty years left a gap in the recorded history of the

Church. Understandably Orderic could find no historical account to explain the fate of the Church. 'T'he events suggested are imaginary.

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47

His prayer was heard. If a snake or toad is accidentally carried in in a bundle of grass, the moment it comes within the walls of the city it dies. Much later the Christian religion spread, and the clergy and faithful of Evreux sought for the burial place of their first bishop, Taurin. Guided by God they found it. Then the body was reverently lifted from the earth, and some time later translated by the faithful to Fécamp. There a holy monastery was built for monks to serve God day and night, and there the body of this holy man, preserved in a precious reliquary, was treasured with reverence.! May God, by the prayers and merits of the good bishop Taurin, save us from every trace of the poison of vice, adorn us with the glorious radiance of his holy virtues, and unite us with the company of the saints in the heavenly mansions, where we may worthily praise him, the King of kings, for ever and ever. Amen. 8 Whilst Aelius Hadrian and Antoninus Pius were emperors the new Christian community in Gaul was once again sorely troubled by a savage attack, and for a hundred and sixty years the holy mother Church was almost brought to nothing. No book of history explicitly tells us the race of the people who brutally overthrew Christians and idolaters alike, or whence they came, or under what prince or tyrant they wrought havoc.? But from many of the lives of the saints of that time it 1s clear that during the reigns of these emperors a cruel barbarian army laid waste the kingdom of Gaul. At that time there was no king in Gaul, but the Roman Emperor ruled over all the people north of the Alps from the time of Julius Caesar, and directly appointed governors and other officials in each town as he thought best. So the name of God was scarcely heard in Neustria from the death of the holy bishop "Taurin until the time of Diocletian and Maximianus, who instigated the tenth persecution, diabolical in its

fury, which ravaged the church of Christ longer and more fiercely than all the others. However he who promised that he would never forsake his followers miraculously strengthened his spouse in the fierce tempests of tribulation and freed, protected, and raised her

up again, glorified her with splendid triumphs, and finally rewarded her with an eternal crown in the presence of his Father in

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V

remunerabit. Ergo quam tantum diligit/ inter furias persequentium pedagogis illustribus destitui diu non desiit. 9 ‘Dum decima persecutio per decem annos Christianis fortiter immineret, et innumera martirum milia multis suppliciorum generibus trucidaret, et cruore precioso gloriose decorata ad celos transmitteret?

Quintinus

et Lucianus,

Valerianus,

Rufinus

et

ii. 334 Eugenius, Mallonus et Auiciamus, aliique plures de clero et nobilitate Romanorum Roma exierunt, et fiducialiter uerbum Dei predicantes per Gallias diffusi sunt. Tunc Quintinus Ambianis

et Lucianus expetiit Beluacum: et Mallonus cum Auiciamo et quibusdam aliis idoneis uiris Rotomagum. Diocletiano et Herculio Maximiano regni fasces sponte deponentibus, Constantius uir magne ciuilitatis suscepit imperium in occiduis partibus? quod deposuerat Herculius. Is erga homines multa clementia? erga Deum uero religione utebatur maxima. Nam neque ex consortii rabie ut Cesariensis Eusebius allegat, regnum suum piorum sanguine maculauerat? neque orationum domus et conuenticula

christicolarum

ut Maximianus

fecerat, hostili

uastatione destruxerat.? Hic in Neustria ciuitatem condidit, quam ii. 335 a nomine suo Constantiam nominauit? et in ipsa prouincia concubinam nomine Helenam habuit, ex qua Constantinum magnum conditorem postea Constantinopolis genuit.3 In illo tempore uenerabilis Mallonus cum aliis quibusdam fidelibus Rotomagum incoluit, et primus ibi uolente Deo pontificalem kathedram optinuit? post quem usque in hodiernum diem metropolitana dignitas ibidem consistit. Sex autem urbes ei subiacent, Bolocasium id est Baiocas, Euanticorum, id est Ebroas, Luxouium, Abrincas, Constantia, Salarium, id est Sagium.5 li. 336

ZEcclesia Rotomagensis iam quadraginta sex pontifices habuit, et clerus eiusdem ad noticiam posterorum de singulis presulibus 1 The following paragraph contains some echoes of the Vita of St. Quentin. Cf. Vacandard, ‘Un essai d'histoire des archevéques de Rouen’, Revue catholique de Normandie, iii (1893), 123 n. 1. ? Cf. Eusebius of Caesarea, Ecclesiastical History, VIII. xiii. 12-13.

3 the + the

This fanciful account of the founding of Coutances is probably taken from Gesta Romanorum (above, p. xxv). This implies a clearly defined hierarchy that did not in fact exist before eighth century. Rouen was a metropolitan city in the Roman administration,

but its first bishops were

not styled metropolitans

(E. Lesne, La Horace

BOOK

V

49

the heavenly Jerusalem. So he did not suffer her whom he so deeply loved to be deprived of good teachers for long during the storms of persecution. 9 "When the tenth persecution had grievously troubled the Christians for ten years, bringing death with every kind of torment to countless thousands of martyrs, and sending them to heaven triumphantly adorned with their precious life-blood, Quentin and Lucian, Valerian, Rufinus and Eugenius, Mallon and Avitian, and

many others from among the Roman clergy and nobility left Rome, and going their various ways through Gaul faithfully preached the word of God. It was then that Quentin came to Amiens and Lucian to Beauvais, and Mallon, accompanied by Avitian and certain

other chosen men, to Rouen. After Diocletian and Herculius Maximianus

had voluntarily

abdicated their rule, Constantius, a man of great statesmanship,

succeeded to the government in the western parts, which Heraclius had renounced. He showed great humanity to men and true devotion to God. For as Eusebius of Caesarea relates he neither gave way to the cruelty of his colleagues by polluting his kingdom with the blood of holy men, nor violently attacked and destroyed the houses of prayer and meeting places of the Christians as Maximianus had done.? He founded a city in Neustria and called it Coutances after himself; and in that province he took a concubine named Helena, by whom he had Constantine the Great, afterwards the founder of Constantinople.3 At that time the venerable Mallon was settled in Rouen with a group of Christians; by the will of God he was the first to occupy the episcopal seat, and from his time to the present day the metropolitan dignity has remained there.* Six cities are subject to it, that of the Belocasi, or Bayeux, that of the Evantici, or Évreux, Lisieux, Avranches, Coutances, and that of the Salarii, or Séez.5

'The church of Rouen has now had forty-six pontiffs, and the

clergy of the cathedral have composed for the edification of later épiscopale en Gaule et Germanie (Lille/Paris, 1905), pp. 28 n. 2, 44-65; Cabrol, xv, cols. 108-23). 5 The spelling of the names is probably taken from the Preface to the Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium (Mabillon, Vetera Analecta (Paris, 1723),

p. 222); cf. above, Introduction, p. xxvi n. 7.

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V

disticon heroicum edidit?! quod huic operi karitatiue per ordinem inserere pigebit.

cum

quibusdam

necessariis

additamentis

michi

non

Antistes sanctus Mallonus in ordine primus? Excoluit plebem doctrina Rotomagensem. ?Hic tempore Eusebii papze et Melchiadis claruit, undecimoque kal’ Nouembris? ad Dominum migrauit? et in cripta in basilica sancti Geruasii martiris extra urbem sepultus diu iacuit. Mausoleum uero eius ibidem usque hodie seruatum est? sed corpus eius post multum temporis pro timore Dacorum inde ablatum est, et in castellum Vilcassini quod Pontisera* uocatur translatum est. Ilic in regia nomini eius dicata ueneranter seruatur? eique conuentus canonicorum celebriter famulatur. Post hoc precipuus, deuotus et Auidiamus Optinuit regimen curam quoque rexit erilem.

119337,

Hic Arelatensi interfuit concilio quod factum est tempore Siluestri papze sub Constantino augusto, qui cepit imperare anno ab urbe condita melxie. Tunc Nicena sinodus cccxviii patrum celebrata est: inter quos Nicholaus Mirreorum Licez aliique precellentissimi presules micuerunt. Successit presul fulgens uirtute Seuerus Moribus insignis? commissis ac sibi mitis.

Hic xv annis tempore Constantini et Constantii sub Marco papa et Iulio floruit. Tunc Maximinus Treuerorum et Hilarius Pictauorum

Athanasius

Alexandrinorum,

Eusebius

Vercellensium

et

Dionisius Mediolanensium presules ut astra claruerunt. li. 338

Eusebius dulcis et in ordine pontificali Constans enituit uirtutum floribus almis.

* Cf. above, p. 36 n. 4. The later lists of archbishops of Rouen, which began with Nicaise, counted William as forty-seventh. Rouen MS. 1405, pp. 36-9, contains what is probably the original version of the distichs. * The main source of Orderic’s synchronisms was the Annals of SaintEvroul, based on the Annals of Rouen. For corrections to these synchronisms see Vacandard in Revue catholique de Normandie, iii (1893), 117-27; Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 205-11; Cabrol, xv, cols. 114-37.

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51

generations heroic couplets for each bishop in turn.! These it is my pleasant duty to include chronologically in this work, with other relevant information. The holy bishop Mallon, first to rule Rouen, raised up its people by his teaching.

He flourished in the time of popes Eusebius and Miltiades; departed to the Lord on 22 October,? and was buried in the crypt of St. Gervase the martyr outside the city, where his body remained for a long time. His sepulchre is venerated there to this day; but his body was removed from it many years later for fear of the Danes, and translated to the fortress of Pontoise? in the Vexin.

There it is preserved in a royal chapel dedicated in his honour, served by a college of canons. Avitian next, his pious follower, Like a good master ruled his chosen see.

He was present at the Council of Arles,5 which took place in the time of Pope Silvester, under the emperor Constantine, who began to rule one thousand and sixty one years after the foundation of Rome. About that time the Council of Nicaea was held; among the three hundred and eighteen fathers who took part in it were Nicholas, bishop of Myra in Lycia, and many other distinguished bishops. Severus came next, a man of many virtues, Upright in life and gentle to his flock.

He flourished for fifteen years in the time of Constantine and Constans, under the popes Marcus and Julius. At that time the bishops Maximian of Tréves, Hilary of Poitiers, Athanasius of Alexandria, Eusebius of Vercelli, and Denis of Milan were the

leading lights in the church. 'The virtues of Eusebius$ bloomed like flowers, As he shone forth, a gentle, faithful bishop. 3 Cf. the Obituary of the cathedral, Rouen MS. 1194, f. 96. 4 For the college of canons at Pontoise see Beaunier—Besse, vii. 21. Among the possible meanings of ‘regia’ (cf. Ducange) are both basilica and royal castle

or residence. 5 'The 314 Council of Arles.

6 Possibly the Eusebius who was present at the council of Sardica c. 344 (Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 205).

52

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V

Hic xxv annis tempore Liberii papa et Felicis sub Constantio Iuliano apostata, Iouiniano, et Valentiniano fulsit. Marcellinus huic successit munere Christi Pastor precipuus, morum probitate decorus.

Hic xx annis tempore Damasi pape regnantibus Valentiniano

et Valente cum Gratiano et Valentiniano in ecclesia bene laborauit. Tunc Antonius monachus Z7Egiptiorum clarissimus obiit. Cesarauguste Petrus insignis orator claruit. Ambrosius Mediolanensis inexpugnabilis murus! Arrianis oppositus est. Constantinopolitana sinodus cl patrum contra Macedonium et Eunomium sub Damaso papa celebrata est. Peruigil in populo Petrus dignus quoque custos Sancte commissum sibi rexit pontificatum.

Hic xix annis tempore Siricii papz et Anastasii sub "Teodosio et Archadio claruit. Tunc Martinus "Turonensis et Maurilius Andegauensis, Basilius Cesariensis et insignis orator Augustinus Hipponiensis, et Ieronimus diuinz legis interpres micuerunt. Vitricius? uictor uiciorum fortis et ultor ZEcclesiam Domini mandatis imbuit almis.

il, 339

Hic xi annis tempore Innocentii papz sub Archadio et Honorio floruit. Tunc Donatus Epiri episcopus et Iohannes Ierosolimitanus fulserunt. Inuentio corporis sancti Stephani prothomartiris facta est, reuelante Deo Luciano Caphargamale presbitero. Tunc Orosius presbiter qui librum de ormesta mundi scripsit? ab Augustino ad Ieronimum pro quibusdam profundis questionibus missus Lucianum adiit, a quo reliquias sancti Stephani Auito presbitero missas in Hispaniam primus intulit. Successit presul huic Innocentius almus

ZEcclesiam recreans Domini plebemque reformans. Hic ix annis tempore paparum Zosimi, Bonefacii et Celestini sub Honorio et Teodosio Archadii filio uiguit. Tunc sinodus 1 Cf. above, p. 39 n. 3. *? For the life of St. Victrice see E. de Moreau,

‘Saint Victrice de Rouen,

apótre de la Belgica Secunda’, in Revue Belge de Philologie et d’ Histoire, v (1926), 71-9.

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53

He held the see for twenty-five years in the time of the popes

Liberius and Felix, under the emperors Constantine, Julian the Apostate, Jovian, and Valentinian. Next Marcellinus followed, by Christ’s grace A worthy shepherd, upright in his ways.

For twenty years in the time of Pope Damasus, during the reigns of Valentinian and Valens with Gratian and Valentinian he toiled for the good of the Church. At that time Anthony, the most famous monk of Egypt, died. Peter, an eloquent theologian,

was bishop of Saragossa. Ambrose, archbishop of Milan, stood as an unbreachable rampart! against the Arians. A synod of a hundred and fifty fathers was held at Constantinople under Pope Damasus, and attacked Macedonius and Eunomius. Peter, a worthy guardian of his people, With watchful care discharged his holy duty.

He flourished for nineteen years in the time of the popes Siricius and Anastasius, under the emperors Theodosius and Arcadius. At this time Martin of Tours, Maurilius of Angers, Basil of Caesarea,

the great Christian apologist Augustine of Hippo, and Jerome the translator of the Bible were among the luminaries of the Church. Victricius,? over sin a valiant victor, Guided God’s holy church with precepts sweet.

He flourished for eleven years in the time of Pope Innocent, under the emperors Arcadius and Honorius. Donatus bishop of Epirus and John of Jerusalem lived at the same time. The body of St. Stephen the first martyr was found through the revelation of God to Lucian, priest of Caphargamala. 'Then the priest Orosius, who wrote the history of the world called the Ormista, was sent by Augustine to ask Jerome a number of deep questions; and, meeting Lucian, received from him relics of St. Stephen for the priest Avitus, which he was the first to take to Spain. Next came the gentle prelate, Innocent,

Life of God’s church, reformer of the people. He held the see for nine years in the time of the popes Zosimus, Boniface, and Celestine, under the emperors Honorius and Theodosius son of Arcadius. At that time a council of two hundred 822219X.

F

54

BOOK

V

Ephesina ducentorum episcoporum cui Cirillus prefuit Alexandrinus aggregata est. Ad Scottos in Christum! ordinatus a papa Celestino Palladius primus episcopus mittitur. Eloquiis plenus sacris successit Euodus, Fortis et innocuus, prudens, pius atque modestus.

li. 340

Hic octo annis tempore Celestini et Sixti paparum floruit. Tunc Galli contra Romanos rebellauerunt, quibus Franci de Troianorum stirpe? orti sociati sunt? qui pariter iuncti Francum Ferramundum Sunnonis ducis filium sibi regem prefecerunt. Maximus Taurinensis episcopus in sermonibus componendis facundus habetur. Prefuit zcclesiz sanctus Siluester honeste Quam iuste rexit, prudenter et amplificauit.

Hic octo annis tempore Leonis pape Clodione et Meroueo regnantibus in Francia claruit. Presul Malsonus diuino dogmate fultus? Extitit in populo uenerabilis undique pastor.

Hic ix annis sub Marciano et Valentiniano uiguit’ quando Leo papa contra Euticen et Dioscorum apud Calcedonem sinodum dcxxx episcoporum celebrauit. 3Tunc Hengist et Horsa cum Saxonibus et Anglis tribus longis nauibus in Britanniam aduecti sunt? et a Vortigerno rege contra Pictos suscepti sunt. Tunc Germanus Autisiodorensis mirabiliter floruit. Inclitus antistes populi custos quoque perpes

Suscepit sedem Germanus pontificalem.

Hic octo annis Childerico imperante Gallis, et Leone Latiis claruit. Tunc Teodorus episcopus Ciriz zcclesiasticam historiam scripsit a fine librorum Eusebii usque ad tempus suum id est usque ad imperium Leonis sub quo mortuus est.^ Commissos coluit Crescentius ac decorauit Moribus egregiis uirtuteque crescere fecit. '* Cf. Bede, HE i. 13; correctly ‘in Christum credentes'. Orderic's condensa-

tion is ambiguous. ? For the legend of the 'Trojan origin of the Franks cf. above, ii. 275. 3 Cf. Bede; HE 1314, X5.

BOOK V

55

bishops assembled at Ephesus under Cyril of Alexandria. Palladius, ordained by Pope Celestine, was sent to the Christians in Ireland! to be their first bishop. Evodus next, fluent to preach God’s word; Strong, pure and faithful, moderate and wise.

He flourished for eight years in the time of the popes Celestine and Sixtus. At that time the inhabitants of Gaul rebelled against the Romans, joining in alliance with Franks descended from Trojan stock;? the two peoples together set up as their king the Frank, Pharamond, son of Duke Sunno. Maxim, bishop of Turin,

won a great reputation for his eloquent preaching. Silvester, holy and above reproach,

Wisely enlarged and justly ruled his church. He flourished for eight years in the time of Pope Leo, whilst Clovis and Merovius were kings in Francia. Malson, the reverend shepherd of his people, Ruled well, remembered for his holy doctrine. He held the see for nine years under the emperors Marcian and Valentinian; in his time Pope Leo held a council of 630 bishops at Chalcedon against Eutyches and Dioscorus. ?>Then Hengist and Horsa landed in Britain in three warships, and were set by King Vortigern to fight against the Picts. At this time Germanus of Auxerre achieved great fame. Germanus next attained the prelate’s seat,

A gifted, tireless guardian of his people. He held the see for eight years whilst Childeric ruled in Gaul and Leo in Rome. At this time Theodoret bishop of Cyrus continued the Ecclesiastical History from the end of Eusebius’ books up to his own time: that is, up to the reign of the Emperor Leo,

under whom he died. Crescentius, in his life a fine example, Inspired his flock to greater holiness. 4 Theodoret bishop of Cyrus continued the Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius from 324 to 439. He was one of the three continuators translated and paraphrased by Cassiodorus in his Historia Tripartita (Migne, PL lxix. 879-80).

56 li. 341

BOOK V

Hic xxvi annis tempore Hilarii papz et Simplicii regnante Leone fulsit. Tunc Childericus Merouei filius in Gallia regnauit. Fulsit Gildardus pastor sacer atque benignus,

Dapsilis et constans uerbi quoque lumine flagrans. Hic xv annis tempore Felicis, Gelasii, Anastasii et Simmachi paparum sub Zenone augusto emicuit, et beatum Laudum Constantiniensem episcopum consecrauit. Tunc Remigius Remensis et Solennis Carnotensis ac Vedastus Atrebatensis claruerunt? et Merouingum Clodoueum regem Francorum anno ab incarnatione Domini ccccrxxxvure baptizauerunt.! Tercio postmodum anno Mamertus Viennensis archiepiscopus ob imminentem cladem sollenes letanias, id est rogationes ante ascensionem Domini instituit.) Victorius Paschalem ciclum dxxxi annorum papa Hilario iubente scripsit. Odoacer rex Gothorum Romam optinuit, quam exinde reges eorum Teodericus Triarius et 'leodericus Walamer diutius tenuere. Honericus rex Wandalorum arrianus in Affrica diffugatis plus cccxxxiili episcopis katholicis zecclesias eorum clausit, uariüisque plebem suppliciis affecit. Gildardus Rotomagensis et Medardus Suessionensis Nectardo Nouiomensi patre et Protagia matre nati sunt’3 amboque vi? idus Tunii^ ad Dominum migrauerunt. De illis nempe insignis Audoenus sic uersificauit,

Hi sunt Gildardus fratres gemini atque Medardus, Vna dies natos utero uiditque sacratos" Albis indutos, et ab ista carne solutos.5 Flauius insignis uirtutum flore refulsit? Commissosque sibi diuina lege repleuit.

ii. 342

Hic

xxxv

annis

tempore

Simmachi,

Hormisdz,

Iohannis,

Felicis, Bonefacii, Iohannis et Agapiti paparum sub Anastasio et Iustino seniore ac Iustiniano floruit. Defuncto Clodoueo? Sigismundus$ aliique filii eius successerunt. Lotharius autem omnibus superstes annis li in Francia regnauit, cuius tempore Launomarus * From the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost, v. 146), which, however, mention only Remigius.

EXT bid: 3 Some details were probably derived from the Vita Gildardi (Rouen MS.

1405, Pp. 44-57).

4 Cf. Rouen MS.

1194, f. 53.

BOOK V

37

He flourished for twenty-six years in the time of the popes Hilary and Simplicius, when Leo was emperor. At that time Childeric son of Meroveus reigned in Gaul. Next bishop Gildard, holy and benign, Generous and faithful, spread the light of truth.

He ruled with distinction for fifteen years in the time of the popes Felix, Gelasius, Anastasius, and Symmachus, under the emperor Zeno, and consecrated St. Lo as bishop of Coutances. At that time the bishops Remigius of Rheims and Solin of Chartres and Vedast of Arras flourished and baptized the Merovingian Clovis, king of the Franks, in the year of our Lord 488.! The third year after this Mamertus archbishop of Vienne in a time of great peril instituted solemn litanies, that is rogations, before Ascension

Day.? Victorius composed his Easter cycle of 532 years at the command of St. Hilary. Odoacer king of the Goths took Rome, which was held for long afterwards by the Gothic kings Theodoric Triarius and Theodoric Walamer. Hunneric, the Arian king of the Vandals, expelled more than 334 catholic bishops from Africa and closed their churches, terrorizing the people with all kinds of punishments. Gildard of Rouen and Medard of Soissons were the children of Nectard of Noyon and Protagia;? and both departed to the Lord on 8 June.^ It was doubtless of them that the famous

Ouen composed these verses: These are twin brothers, Gildard named and Medard, The same days saw their birth, and holy baptism In robes of white, and freed them from earth's prison.5 Flavius, distinguished by his many virtues,

Nourished his flock with truths of holy Scripture. He flourished for thirty-five years in the time of the popes Symmachus, Hormisdas, John, Felix, Boniface, John, and Agapitus, under the emperors Anastasius and Justin the Elder and Justinian.

After the death of Clovis, Sigismund$ and his other sons succeeded him. But Chlotar outlived all the others and reigned in Francia for fifty-one years; during his reign Laumer, Évroul, and other saints 5 These lines occur in a long poem attributed to St. Ouen in the Rouen version of the Vita Gildari (Rouen MS. 1405, p. 57). 6 Clovis had no son Sigismund, but his bastard son Theodoric was married

to a daughter of Sigismund of Bavaria. His son Chlotar I ruled from 511 to 56r, being sole king for the last thirty years.

58

BOOK V

et Ebrulfus aliique sancti uiri floruerunt in regno eius. Transa-

mundus

Vandalorum

rex zcclesias catholicas clausit et ccxx

episcopos exilio Sardiniam misit, quibus papa Simmachus omni anno pecunias et uestes ministrauit. Anastasius imperator quia

heresi fauens Eutichetis katholicos insecutus est? diuino fulmine periit. Iohannes papa sub Iustino seniore Constantinopoli cecum illuminauit, quem dum Rauennam rediret Teodericus peremit, Simmachum quoque patricium et Boetium necauit, et ipse anno sequente subita morte periit, cui nepos eius Athalaricus in regnum ii. 343 successit. Hildericus Vandalorum rex episcopos ab exilio reuerti, et zecclesias instaurare precepit, post annos Ixxiiii heretice prophanationis. Benedictus abbas uirtutum gloria claruit? quas beatus papa Gregorius in libro Dialogorum scripsit.! Biliziarius patricius? a lustiniano in Affricam missus Vandalorum gentem deleuit, Gelismerum regem eorum captum Constantinopolim misit. Cartago quoque anno excessionis suz xcvi recepta est. Dionisius paruus Paschales circulos scribit, incipiens ab anno dominice incarnationis DXXXII? quo anno Codex Iustiniani promulgatus est. Victor Capuanus episcopus librum de Pascha scribens Victorii arguit errores. Cassiodorus Senator et Priscianus grammaticus et Arator subdiaconus claruerunt. Occubuit martir Prztextatus Fredegundis

Reginz monitu pro Christi nomine Ihesu. Hic xlviii annis tempore Agapiti, Siluerii, Vigilii, Pelagii, Iohannis et Pelagii paparum sub Iustino et;Tiberio Constantino augustis floruit. Narses patricius Totilam Gotorum regem in Italia superauit et occidit. Gens Langobardorum comitante fame et mortalitate omnem inuadit Italiam regi Albuino subiecta. ZEcclesiam multis rexit Melantius annis?

il. 344

Subiectos docuit, iuste quoque uiuere fecit.

Hic xii annis tempore Pelagii, Benedicti et Gregorii magni doctoris Mauricio primo Grecorum Romanis imperante Rodomensibus prefuit’ sed indigne quia proditor Pretextati ut fertur 1 St. Gregory the Great, Libri Dialogorum, iii.

28

fsPanbvHPS sz: The title ‘patricius’ is given to both Belisarius dd Narses

by Paul, and must be taken in its later general sense of leader. SUC. bid: ii. 1-14 for the substance of this passage.

BOOK V

59

flourished in his kingdom. Thrasamund king of the Vandals closed the catholic churches and sent 220 bishops into exile in Sardinia, where Pope Symmachus provided money and clothing every year for their needs. The emperor Anastasius was struck dead by lightning from heaven, because, supporting the heresy of Eutyches, he persecuted the Catholics. In the time of Justin the elder, Pope John restored the sight of a blind man in Constantinople; but on his return to Ravenna Theodoric put him to death. He also slew the patrician Symmachus and Boethius, but himself died a sudden death the following year. His grandson Athalaric succeeded to his kingdom. Childeric king of the Vandals ordered the bishops to be recalled from exile, and the churches to be restored after seventy-four years of heretical profanation. Abbot Benedict showed many virtues in his life, which St. Gregory the Great described in one book of the Dialogues.! The leader, Belisarius,? sent by Justinian into Africa, overpowered the Vandal people and sent Gelismer their king as a prisoner to Constantinople. Carthage was recovered in the ninety-sixth year after its separation from the empire. Dionysius Exiguus composed the Easter cycles, beginning in the year of our Lord 532. In the same year the Codex of Justinian was promulgated. Victor bishop of Capua wrote a book about Easter, refuting the errors of Victorius. Cassiodorus Senator and Priscian the grammarian and the subdeacon Arator flourished at this time. Praetextatus, a martyr for Christ’s name, Died by the mandate of Queen Fredegonde.

He flourished for forty-eight years in the time of the popes Agapitus,

Silverius, Vigilius, Pelagius, John, and Pelagius, under

the emperors Justin and Tiberius Constantine. The leader Narses overcame Totila king of the Goths in Italy, and killed him. The Lombard people under their king Alboin overran all Italy, bringing death and destruction wherever they went. For many years Melantius ruled the church, Teaching and guiding men to a just life.

He governed the see of Rouen for twelve Pelagius, Benedict, and Gregory, the great when Maurice was the first Greek emperor he ruled undeservedly, for it is said that he

years in the time of father and teacher, of the Romans. But betrayed his master

60

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V

magistri sui fuerat, quem Fredegundis uxor Hilperici regis occidi fecerat. Nobilis Hildulfus prefato pontificatu Sedit et excoluit diuini dogmate uerbi. Hic xxviii annis tempore Gregorii magni doctoris, Sauiniani, Bonifacii, Deusdedit, Bonefacii et Honorii paparum imperantibus Mauricio, Focate et Heraclio claruit. Tunc in Francia regnauerunt Childebertus et filii eius Teodericus ac Teodebertus, et Lotharius

magnus. In Anglia uero /Edilbertus Cantuariorum, Eduinus Nordanhimbrorum et Redualdus Gewissorum ac Penda Merciii. 345 orum, ad quos Gregorius papa misit predicatores uerbi Dei Augustinum, Mellitum, Iohannem aliosque plures monachos timentes Deum, per quos ad Christum Angli conuersi sunt.? In Italia Langobardis Autarith Cleponis filius et Ago Agilulfus cum Teodelinda laudabili regina prefuerunt. In Neustria xii? anno Hildeberti regis sanctus Ebrulfus Vticensis abbas? iam octogenarius iii1? kal. Ianuarii obiit. Per idem tempus Cassiniense monasterium a Langobardis noctu inuasum est’ et fugatis monachis tempore Boniti quinti abbatis destructum est. Benedictus, Constantinus,

Simplicius, Vitalis et Bonitus eidem coenobio iam prefuerant. Cosdrue rex Persarum grauissime rempublicam bellis attriuit/ et sanctam zcclesiam incendiis et rapinis ac cedibus uehementer afflixit. Anastasius Persa monachus cum aliis Ixx glorioso martirio coronatus

est. Eraclius

Persas uicit, Cosdroen

occidit, crucem

Domini Ierosolimis reportauit, et omnes christianos de captiuitate reduxit. Sanctus Romanus preclaro nobilis actu Moribus emicuit sacri quoque lumine uerbi.

Hic xiii annis tempore Honorii, Seuerini et Iohannis paparum Eraclio regnante miraculis choruscauit, decimoque kal. Nouembris* ad Dominum gloriose transiit. Tunc in Gallia christiani principes uigebant Dagobertus et Lodoueus. In Anglia Osualdus, Osuinus et Osuius. ii. 346

In Italia Agilulfus, Adaloaldus, Arioaldus,

et Rodoaldus.

Arioaldo

regnante

beatus

Rotharith

Columbanus

genere

* Orderic’s faulty chronology and the confusion of Chlotar II with Chlotar I

are taken from the Annals of Saint-Evroul. ? Cited chiefly from Paul. HL iii. 25, with some echoes of Bede, HE i. 23.

* For the date of the life of St. Évroul see above, pp. xv-xvi.

* Cf. Rouen MS.

1194, f. 96’.

BOOK

V

61

Praetextatus, who was murdered at the command of Fredegonde, wife of King Chilperic. The noble Hildulf sat in government, And fed his flock with doctrine of God’s word.

He flourished for twenty-eight years in the time of Gregory, the great doctor, Sabinianus, Boniface, Deusdedit, Boniface, and Honorius, under the emperors Maurice, Phocas, and Heraclius. At

that time Childebert and his sons Theodoric and Theodebert and Chlotar the Great ruled in France. In England Ethelbert was king of the men of Kent, Edwin of the Northumbrians, Redwald of the

Gewissae, and Penda of the Mercians. To them Pope Gregory sent as missionaries Augustine, Mellitus, John, and a number of other

God-fearing monks, through whose efforts the English were converted to Christ.? In Italy Autarith, the son of Cleph, and Ago Agilulf with his excellent queen Theodelinda ruled over the Lombards. In Neustria St. Evroul, abbot of Ouche,? having reached the age of eighty, died on 29 December in the twelfth year of King Childebert. At about the same time the monastery of Monte Cassino was attacked at night by the Lombards: the monks were driven out, and it was destroyed in the time of the fifth abbot, Bonitus. Up to that time the monastery had been governed by the abbots

Benedict,

Constantine,

Simplicius,

Vitalis,

and

Bonitus. Chosroes, king of the Persians, waged war against the empire, draining its strength and bringing great affliction to the church of God by fire and sword and rapine. Anastasius, a Persian monk, with seventy others won a glorious martyr's crown. Heraclius conquered the Persians, slew Chosroes, brought back our Lord's Cross to Jerusalem, and led forth all the Christians from captivity. The noble saint, Romanus, brightly shone, Both by his life and doctrine eminent.

His light shone forth through his miracles for thirteen years in the time of the popes Honorius, Severinus, and John, under the emperor Heraclius, and he departed gloriously to the Lord on 23 October.* At that time the Christian kings Dagobert and Clovis

ruled in Gaul. In England the kings were Oswald, Oswine, and

Oswy; in Italy Agilulf, Adalwald, Ariwald, Rothari, and Rodwald. During the reign of Ariwald the blessed Columbanus, of Irish

62

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V

Scottus postquam in Gallia Luxouiense monasterium construxerat? in Italia in Alpibus Cotiis Bobiense condidit. Audoeuns huic successit pontificali Ordine splendescens uirtutibus atque refulgens.

Hic xliii annis tempore Teodori, Martini, Eugenii, Vitaliani, Adeodati, Doni, Agathonis, Leonis, Benedicti, et Iohannis paparum Heraclona filio Eraclii et tribus Constantinis imperantibus insigniter fulsit, diu et bene uixit, multum

laborauit, zcclesiz-

que Dei mirabiliter profuit. Vis michi ad enarrandum deficit? quanta nobilitate et sanctitate omnique probitate uir iste uiguit. Martinus papa sinodum cv presulum Rome tenuit, et postmodum pro fide katholica per Teodorum exarcum iussu Constantini nepotis Eraclii raptus est, et apud Cersonam relegatus sancto fine quieuit.! Teodorus archiepiscopus et Adrianus abbas uir zque doctissimus a Vitaliano papa missi Britanniam plurimas Anglorum ecclesias zecclesiasticee doctrine fruge fecundarunt? Ex quo Gregorius papa dispensatores diuini seminis misit in Angliam" Augustinus et Laurentius, Mellitus Lundoniensis et Iustus Rofensis,

Honorius

et

Deusdedit

Cantuariensem

zecclesiam

rexerunt, et Cantie reges Edilbertum et Eadbaldum et Ercombertum et Egbertum cum subiecta gente ad fidem Christi pertraxerunt. Septimus ad presulatum Vigardus ab Osuio et Egberto regibus electus est, et Romam ad ordinandum missus est. Ibi dum consecrationis statutum diem prestolaretur defunctus est? il. 347 pro quo 'Teodorus Grecus sanctitate et sapientia prestantissimus ordinatus est. In Neustria Philibertus nobilitate et sanctitate et miraculorum fulgore gloriosus, permissu Lodouei regis et Baltildis reginze cenobium decc monachorum apud Gemmeticum construxit, cui post aliquot annos sanctum Aicadrum quem de Heriomonasterio assumpserat preposuit. Tunc Guandregisilus Fontinelle monasterium condidit, ibique ad Dei militiam ferme cccc monachos aggregauit, ex quibus ecclesia Dei postmodum ad regimen sui plures episcopos et abbates idoneos gaudenter assumpsit. Sidonius quoque et Ribertus, Geremarus, Leudfredus aliique plures monachi florebant in Rotomagensi diocesi? quibus * These facts may have been derived from the Liber Pontificalis. ? The information relating to England is from Bede, HE iv. 1.

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63

birth, founded the monastery of Bobbio in Italy in the Cottian Alps, after he had established a monastery at Luxeuil in Gaul. Ouen, the jewel of the pontificate, A fountain of all virtues, followed him.

For forty-three years in the time of the popes Theodore, Martin, Eugenius, Vitalian, Adeodatus, Donus, Agatho, Leo, Benedict, and John, under the emperors Heracleon son of Heraclius and

three Constantines, he flourished most gloriously, lived long and virtuously, toiled with all his might, and achieved marvels for the church of God. I cannot find words to describe the excellence and holiness and virtue of every kind that this man exemplified. Pope Martin held a council of 105 bishops at Rome; afterwards he was arrested by the exarch Theodore at the behest of Constantine, grandson of Heraclius, since he stood firm in the catholic faith; and, being banished to Cherson, made a holy end there.! Archbishop Theodore and Abbot Hadrian, two men equally distinguished by their learning, were sent by Pope Vitalian into Britain, and enriched many English churches with the fruits of their teaching on church doctrine. From the time that Pope Gregory had first sent faithful missionaries to spread the seed of God’s work in England, Augustine and Laurence, Mellitus of London and Justus of Rochester, Honorius and Deusdedit had governed the church of Canterbury, and converted the Kentish kings Ethelbert and Eadbald and Earconbert and Egbert together with their subject peoples to the Christian faith. Wigheard, the seventh in line, chosen as bishop by the kings Oswy and Egbert, was sent to Rome for ordination. He died there before the day appointed for his consecration had come; and Theodore, a Greek of outstanding

holiness and wisdom was ordained in his stead. In Neustria Phili-

bert, renowned for his excellence and holiness and many miracles, established a monastery of eight hundred monks at Jumiéges with the approval of King Clovis and Queen Bathilde; and some years later set over it St. Aicardre, whom he had brought from Noirmoutier. At that time Wandrille founded the monastery of Fontenelle, and brought together there about four hundred monks to serve God. This was later to provide many holy bishops and abbots to

rule the church of God for its good. Moreover Sidonius and Ribert, Herimar and Leudfroi, and a number of other monks who flourished in the diocese of Rouen, were all helped and furthered

64.

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V

omnibus ad omne bonum fauebat studium et auxilium Audoeni uenerabilis archiepiscopi, sicut feruidi lectores in eorum gestis possunt lucide contemplari. In Italia Ariperto rege post ix annos apud Ticinum defuncto? duo filii eius adhuc adolescentuli successerunt, Godebertus ii. 348

quidem "Ticini, Bertarith uero in ciuitate

Mediolanensi sedem habuit regni.! Non multo post Grimoaldus Beneuentanorum strenuus dux Godibertum ense peremit, et Bertarith fugauit, eorumque regnum cum sorore eorum accepit, et per ix annos potenter et utiliter optinuit. Quo mortuo Bertarith xviii annis regnauit? et Cunipertum filium suum quem de Rodelinda regina susceperat consortem regni constituit.? Ambo amatores iusticiz fuerunt? Deique et eius zcclesiz beniuoli cultores pauperumque defensores uiguerunt. Alacheris Brexianus dux contra eos rebellauit, totamque regionem multoties diuque perturbauitdonec Cuniperto pugnante peremptus malignari desiit. Agatho papa rogatu Constantini, Eraclii et Tiberii principum piissimorum Iohannem Portuensem episcopum et Iohannem diaconum aliosque legatos sancte Romanz ecclesiz Constantinopolim misit, ibique per eos concilium cl episcoporum contra Georgium patriarcham regie urbis et Macharium Antiochie aliosque hereticos tenuit. Finito conflictu Georgius correctus est? et pertinax Macharius cum suis complicibus anatematizatus est. Inclitus Ansbertus probitatis culmine comptus ZEcclesiam rexit" quam sancte nobilitauit. Hic xviii annis tempore Leonis, Benedicti, Iohannis, Cononis,

et Sergii paparum, sub Constantino et Iustiniano iuniore claruit. Tunc in Gallia Lotharius, Teodericus, et Hildericus regnauerunt,

et maioratum domus primus habuerunt.

ii. 349

regie Leodegarius,

Ebroinus,

et Pipinus

Insignis Grippo successit in ordine sancto Actibus egregius, meritis pastor uenerandus.

Hic xxiii annis

Gregorii

paparum

tempore

floruit.

lohannis,

Tunc

Leo,

Sisinnii,

Constantini,

Tiberius,

et

Iustinianus,

Philippicus, Anastasius, Teodosius, et Leo reipublice praeerant,

et in Gallia Clodoueus, Childebertus, et Dagobertus iunior regnabant. Reuerentissimus ecclesiz Lindisfarnensis in Britannia ex anachorita presul Cuthbertus totam ab infantia usque ad senium uitam miraculorum signis inclitam duxit?3 cuius corpus tempore ICE Paul HT iv. st 2) Cfibids.vs 35: * Derived from Bede, HE iv. 27-31.

BOOK

V

65

in their many good works by the venerable archbishop Ouen, as avid readers may find written in the records of their lives. In Italy when King Aripert died at Pavia after a reign of nine years his two young sons, who were still mere youths, succeeded him, Godipert holding his court in Pavia and Perctarit in Milan.! Not long afterwards Grimwald, the powerful duke of Benevento, put Godipert to the sword and drove out Perctarit; and winning both their kingdom and the hand of their sister ruled well and strongly for nine years. After his death Perctarit ruled for eighteen years, and took as co-ruler of the kingdom Cunicpert, his son by Queen Rodelinda.? Both were lovers of justice and were honoured as reverent servants of God and his church and protectors of the poor. Alacharis, duke of Breschia, rebelled against them, and for many

years repeatedly threw the whole province into disorder until, defeated and slain by Cunicpert, he ceased to do evil. Pope Agatho, at the request of the princes Constantine, Heraclius, and Tiberius,

sent John the holy bishop of Porto, John the Deacon, and other legates of the holy Roman Church to Constantinople, and through them held a council of 150 bishops against George, patriarch of the imperial city, Macharius

of Antioch, and other heretics. At the

end of the debate George accepted correction, but the stubborn Macharius was anathematized with his supporters. Illustrious Ansbert reached the peak of merit And ruled the church made greater by his virtue.

He flourished for eighteen years in the time of the popes Leo, Benedict, John, Conon, and Sergius, under the emperors Constantine and Justinian the younger. At that time Chlotar, ''heodoric,

and Childeric ruled in Gaul, and Leudegar, Ebroin, and Pippin I held the office of mayor of the palace. Next the great bishop Grippo was ordained, In deeds outstanding, and for merits famed.

He flourished for twenty-four years in the time of the popes John, Sisinnius, Constantine, and Gregory. At that time Leo, Tiberius, Justinian, Philippicus, Anastasius, Theodosius, and Leo governed the empire, and Clovis, Childebert, and Dagobert the

younger ruled in Gaul. The holy hermit Cuthbert became bishop of the church of Lindisfarne in Britain, and led a life which from

childhood right up to old age was remarkable for miraculous works.?

66

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V

Henrici regis Anglorum Radulfus Rofensis! episcopus incorruptum inuenit, et uestes eius astante et reuerenter intuente Alexandro Scottorum rege cum monachis et clericis mutauit. Iustus et insignis Ranilandus in ordine fulsit? Compatiens cunctis meritisque refertus opimis.

li. 350

Hic iii annis tempore Gregorii papz floruit. Tunc Leo imperabat. Franci uero mortuo Dagoberto Danihelem clericum in regem leuauerunt. Sarraceni cum ingenti exercitu triennio Constantinopolim obsident, sed ciuibus magis precibus quam armis pugnantibus uincuntur, et fame, frigore pestilentiaque periclitantes aufugiunt.? Liuthprandus Langobardorum rex donationem patrimonii Alpium Cottiarum,? quam Aripertus aureis scriptam litteris Romam direxerat:+ et ille repetierat, admonitione Gregorii pape confirmauit. Idem ossa sancti Augustini doctoris dato magno precio emit, et de Sardinia quam Sarraceni depopulati fedarant in Ticinum transtulit et honorifice condidit.5 Profuit in populo Domini uenerabilis Hugo? Et tribuit sanctz subiectis dogmata uitae.

li. 351

Hic consobrinus Pipini principis Francorum fuit? et octo annis tempore Gregorii secundi papz archiepiscopus fuit. /Ecclesiis etiam Parisiensi praefuit et Baiocensi, abbatiis quoque Gemmeticensi et Fontinellensi. Cuius corpus cum corpore sancti Aicadri a Gemmeticensibus in Lotharingiam translatum est? ibique in uico qui Haspis dicitur in territorio Cameracensi nunc usque in argenteo scrinio honorifice seruatum est. Tunc' Constantinus imperabat. “Anglicus Beda famulus Christi et presbiter monasterii beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli quod est ad Wiremudan in Giruum claruit. Hic in territorio eiusdem monasterii est natus" et septennis educandus reuerentissimo abbati Benedicto ac deinde Ceolfrido a propinquis datus, et cunctum eo tempus uite in eiusdem monasterii habitatione peregit: omnemque meditandi scripturas operam dedit, et inter obseruantiam disciplinz regularis et cotidianam cantandi in ecclesia curam ut ipse scribens asserit? T In 1104. Ralph

was abbot of Séez at the time. There is a full account in Simeon of Durham, De miraculis et translationibus, in Opera (RS), i. 258—9. 2 Cf. Paul. HL vi. 47. 3 Cf. ibid. vi. 43. * Cf. ibid. vi. 28. 5 Cf. ibid. vi. 48.

$ From ‘Anglicus Beda...’ to‘... curauit’ Orderic cites almost word for word

from Bede, HE v. 24.

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V

67

In the time of Henry king of England, Ralph bishop of Rochester! found his body incorrupt, and changed his garments, whilst Alexander king of Scotland and certain monks and clerks stood reverently by as witnesses. Raniland brought distinction to his order Just, merciful to all, and rich in merits.

He flourished for three years in the time of Pope Gregory. Leo was then Emperor. The Franks after Dagobert’s death raised the clerk Daniel to the throne. The Saracens besieged Constantinople for three years with a huge army; but, being defeated by the citizens who fought with prayers rather than arms, they took to flight ravaged by starvation, cold, and pestilence. Liutprand king of the Lombards, at the behest of Pope Gregory, confirmed the donation of the patrimony in the Cottian Alps? which Aripert had sent to Rome? written in letters of gold, and which he had sought to recover. He also paid a high price for the bones of St. Augustine, the great doctor, and translating them from Sardinia, which the Saracens had laid waste and desecrated, interred them honourably in Pavia.5 The blessed Hugh, bountiful to God's people, Showed forth the teaching of a holy life.

He wasa cousin of Pippin, ruler of the Franks, and was archbishop for eight years in the time of Pope Gregory II. He also governed the churches of Paris and Bayeux, and the abbeys of Jumiéges and St. Wandrille. His body, together with the body of St. Aicardre, was carried from Jumiéges into Lotharingia; up to this day it has been honourably preserved in a silver reliquary in a place called Haspres in the region of Cambrai. At that time Constantine was emperor. "Bede the Englishman, a servant of Christ and priest in the monastery of the blessed Peter and Paul at Wearmouth near Jarrow, flourished then. He was born in the territory of that same monastery, and at the age of seven was given by his kinsfolk into the charge of the reverend abbot Benedict and afterwards of Ceolfrith to be educated. From then he passed the whole of his life within the confines of the monastery, where he devoted himself entirely to the study of the Scriptures and, as he tells us himself in his writings, always found delight in learning or teaching or

writing, during the intervals of the monastic observance and the

68

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V

semper aut discere aut docere aut scribere dulce habuit. Nonodecimo autem uitze sue anno diaconatum, tricesimo uero presbiteratus gradum? utrunque iubente Ceolfrido abbate suo suscepit per reuerentissimi lohannis episcopi ministerium. Exinde postquam sacerdotium accepit, usque ad quinquagesimum nonum

etatis suo annum a salubri studio non cessauit? sed multa in sanctam scripturam ex opusculis uenerabilium patrum breuiter annotauit, et ad formam sensus ac interpretationis eorum superadicere curauit. Laborum eius ac studiorum fructus ecclesize Dei utillimus et dulcis fuit? cui de lege Dei et de necessariis indaga-

tionibus septuaginta duos libros edidit, quos ipse omnes in calce historie Anglorum diligenter computat et describit. Tunc in Langobardia Paulus Cassiniensis claruit monachus? et in Gallia Fortunatus poeta Pictauorum almus episcopus. Sedem Ratbertus digne pastoris adeptus Viribus enituit sanctis sancte quoque uixit.

1352

Hic quattuor annis tempore Gregorii secundi papze imperante Constantino floruit. Tunc in Francia Karolus Tudites id est Martellus dominabatur, qui cum Eudone duce contra Sarracenos in Aquitania pugnauit, et eorum ccclxxv milia prostrauit. Itemque in Narbonensi prouincia fortiter eos bello reppulit? et maxima cede adtriuit. Grimo deuotus pastor pius, inclitus actu Suscipit zecclesiam diuino iure regendam.

Hic quattuor annis tempore Gregorii papze tercii uiguit.? In Anglia defuncto Berchtwaldo Dorobernensi archiepiscopo? Tatwinus successit. 'l'unc duo reges Anglorum Coenredus Merciorum et Offa filius Siheri regis orientalium Saxonum terrena pro Christo sceptra reliquerunt et Romam aggressi Constantino papa benedicente monachi facti sunt? ac ad limina apostolorum in precibus, ieiuniis et elemosinis usque ad ultimum diem permanserunt.3 Wilfridus uenerabilis Eborachensis archiepiscopus xlv episcopatus sui anno in prouincia Undalum iiii? idus Octobris regnantibus Coenredo et Osrede filio Alfridi Nordanhimbrorum regis defunctus est.4 ! Cf. Bede, HE v. 24. 2 For his career see J. Laporte,

‘Grimo

abbé de Corbie

Rouen' in Corbie Abbaye Royale (Lille, 1963), pp. 47-60. 3 Cf. Bede, HE v. 19.

et archevéque

4 Cf. ibid. v. 20.

de

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V

69

daily task of chanting in the church. In his nineteenth year he was ordained deacon and in his thirtieth year priest, both on the direction of his abbot Ceolfrid, by the ministry of the reverend bishop John. Thereafter from the time he was ordained priest until the fifty-ninth year of his life he never ceased from sound study, but made it his business to make many brief extracts from the works of the venerable fathers on the holy Scriptures, and to add notes of his own to clarify their sense and interpretation. The fruit of his toil and learning was both profitable and delectable to the church of God, for which he wrote seventy-two books on the Bible and his investigations connected with it, all of which he carefully enumerated and described in the epilogue to his History of the English People. At that time the monk Paul of Monte Cassino flourished in the Lombard kingdom, and Fortunatus the poet, the beloved bishop of Poitiers, in Gaul. Worthily Radbert gained the bishop’s seat; His holy life with holy virtues shone.

He flourished for four years in the time of Pope Gregory II under the emperor Constantine. At that time Charles Martel, which means ‘the hammer’, held the power in France: he fought with Duke Eudo against the Saracens in Aquitaine, and slaughtered 375,000 of their number. On another occasion he courageously repulsed them in battle in the province of Narbonne, and inflicted heavy losses on them. Grimo, devout in life, active in duty, Received the church to rule it by God’s laws.

He flourished for four years in the time of Pope Gregory III.? In England after the death of Beorhtweald archbishop of Canterbury Tatwine succeeded him. At that time two kings of the English, Coenred of Mercia and Offa son of Sighere, king of the East Saxons, abandoned their earthly rule for Christ and, journeying to Rome, were blessed by Pope Constantine and became monks; there on the threshold of the apostles they remained to the end of their days, devoting themselves to prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.? Wilfrid, the venerable archbishop of York, died in the forty-fifth year of his episcopate in the province of Oundle on 12 October, whilst Coenred and Osred son of Aldfrith king of the Northumbrians were reigning.* Not long afterwards the most wise abbot 822210X

G

70

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V

Non multo post Adrianus sapientissimus abbas obiit? cui Albinus discipulus eius multipliciter edoctus successit. 111355

Culmine pastoris nituit Rainfridus in omni? Actu magnificus, constructor pontificatus.!

Hic xvii annis tempore Zachariz et Stephani paparum uiguit. Karlomannus et Pipinus maioratum domus adepti sunt. Remigius presul regali stirpe creatus? Deuote uixit, commissos dogmatizauit.

Hic filius Karoli Martelli et frater Pipini regis fuit? eiectoque Ragenfredo xvii annis Rothomagensem kathedram tempore Pauli, Constantini, Stephanique paparum tenuit. Constantinus imperator Leonis filius Constantinopoli sinodum cccxxx episcoporum congregauit. Stephanus papa persecutione Haistulfi Langobardorum regis uexatus Franciam adit? et Pipinum regem ac filios eius Karolum et Karlomagnum consecrauit. Tunc Bonefacius Magontie archiepiscopus et Wido Fontinelle abbas floruerunt. Constantinus et Habdallas Amiras rex Sarracenorum pariter in li. 354 ortodoxos seuiunt. Leo filius Constantini Ixx*» primo loco ab Augusto regnauit annis quinque. Anno ab incarnatione Domini DCCLXVIII?? Pipinus rex viii? kal’ Octobris obiit? eique Karolus magnus filius eius successit. Presul Meinardus bonitatis odore refertus Subiectos docuit, uiciorum sorde piauit.

Hic octo annis tempore Adriani papz claruit. Karolus viv anno regni sui Romam uadit, inde reuersus Papiam cepit, Desiderium regem Langobardorum qui multas persecutiones Adriano papz fecerat captiuum in Franciam duxit, et filium eius Adalgisum de Italia expulit. Iste nimirum Desiderius trigesimus primus rex Langobardorum fuit, et in illo regia dignitas pro sceleribus suis defecit? nec unquam postea proprium regem habuit, sed regibus Francorum aut imperatoribus Alemannorum gens Langobardorum semper subdita fuit. Primi duces Guinilorum Ibor et Aio fuerunt? qui cum matre ! C. 745—c. 760. He was deposed from his bishopric and had previously been

deposed as abbot of St. Wandrille (Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 208); the estates that he gave to the cathedral church of Rouen probably earned him the praise of this verse (cf. Vacandard, Revue catholique de Normandie, iii (1893), 125).

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V

71

Hadrian died and was succeeded by his pupil Albinus, a man of wide and varied learning. Raised to the highest cure, Rainfrid was lavish; An architect of the archbishopric.!

He flourished for seventeen years in the time of the popes Zacharias and Stephen. Carloman and Pippin held the office of mayors of the palace. Remigius, prelate sprung from royal stock, Lived piously and taught his flock sound doctrine.

He was a son of Charles Martel and brother of King Pippin, and after Rainfrid was expelled he held the see of Rouen for seventeen years in the time of the popes Paul, Constantine, and Stephen. The emperor Constantine, son of Leo, held a council of 330 bishops at Constantinople. Pope Stephen, molested by the persecutions of Aistulf king of the Lombards, came to Francia and anointed king Pippin and his sons Charles and Carloman. At that time Boniface archbishop of Mainz and Guy abbot of St. Wandrille flourished. Constantine and the emir Abdullah, king of the Saracens, both persecuted the orthodox Christians with great severity. Leo, son of Constantine, the seventy-first emperor after Augustus, reigned for five years. King Pippin died on 24 September in the year of our Lord 768, and his son Charlemagne succeeded him. Refulgent with sweet goodness, Bishop Meinard Guided his flock and cleansed them from foul sin.

He flourished for eight years in the time of Pope Adrian. Charles went on an expedition to Rome in the sixth year of his reign, and on his way home took Pavia. He led back as a prisoner to France Desiderius king of the Lombards, who had inflicted many indignities on Pope Adrian, and expelled his son Adolgiso from Italy. This Desiderius was the thirty-first king of the Lombards; because of his sins the royal line ended with him, and

thereafter the Lombard people never had a king of their own stock, but were always subjected to the kings of the Franks and the emperors of the Germans. The first chiefs of the Winnili were Ibor and Aio, who with their

mother Gambara led the Winnili out of the island of Scandinavia

à

BOOK V

sua Gambara de Scandinauia insula sorte! Guinilos eduxerunt.

li. 355

li. 356

Deinde reges eorum isti fuerunt, Agelmundus, Lamissio, Lethu, Hildehoc et Godehoc, Claffo, et Tato, Wacho, Waltarith, Audon, et Alboinus. Agelmundus Langobardos adduxit in Bulgariam" Audoin in Pannoniam? et Alboin adiuuante Narsete patricio in Italiam. Postquam Alboinus rex ab Helmechis armigero? suo instinctu Rosemundz coniugis suze peremptus est: Clepo electione populi regno potitus est. Post quem Flauius Autarith filius eius regnauit? qui Teodelindam Garibaldi regis Baioariorum filiam uxorem duxit. Autarith post sex annos regni sui ueneno periit? et Agilulfus Ago Taurinacius dux reginam et regnum optinuit, moriensque post xxv annos filio suo Adaloaldo regnum reliquit. At postquam Adaloaldus cum matre sua Teodelinda decem annis regnauit? super Langobardos Arioaldus xii annis regnum tenuit, cui Rotharith uiribus fortis sed Arrianz hereseos perfidia maculatus successit.* Hic ubi xvi annis regnauit? Radoaldo filio suo regnum dimisit, qui post quinque annos’ dum in mechia reperiretur a riuali percussus Langobardo interiit. Aripertus autem Gundualdi filius T'eodelindz reginz nepos successit: et post ix annos moriens filis suis Bertarith ac Godiberto regnum dimisit. Porro Grimoaldus Beneuentanorum dux Rodelindam Ariperti regis filiam coniugem accepit, et fratres eius Godibertum ense peremit, atque Bertarith de regno fugauit. Quo post ix annos mortuo, Bertarith regnum recepit? et Garibaldum Grimoaldi filium qui post patrem tribus mensibus regnarat exturbauit. Post xviii annos Bertarith, Cunibertus xii annis regnauit/ quo defuncto in duobus annis quatuor reges gens Langobardorum habuit, id est Liutpertum Cuniperti filium, Raginbertum ducem Taurinensium Godeberti filium, et Aripertum eius filium, et Rotharith ducem Bergamensium. Denique Aripertus fortior omnibus Liutpertum et Rotharith occidit? Ansprandum uero nutricium Liutperti de insula Commacina fugauit, et Sigisbrandum filium eius oculis priuauit, nouemque annis postnodum regnauit, sanctoque Petro plura quz antecessores eius abstulerant reddidit. Ipse postea in * The reference is to the legend that lots were drawn to decide which group ur Winnili should leave their homeland and settle elsewhere. Cf. Paul. i. 1-3.

BOOK

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73

by lot. Subsequently their kings were Agelmund, Lamissio, Lethu, Hildehoc, and Godehoc, Clefto, and Tato, Wacho, Waltari, Audoin, and Alboin. Agelmund led the Lombards into Bulgaria, Audoin into Pannonia, and Alboin, by alliance with the governor Narses, into Italy. After the murder of King Alboin by the hand of his armour-bearer? Helmechis, through the stratagem of his wife Rosamund, Cleph became king by choice of the people. He was succeeded by his son Flavius Autarith, who married Theodelinda, daughter of Garibald king of the Bavarians. Autari was poisoned? after reigning for six years, and Agilulf Ago duke of Turin gained possession of the queen and the kingdom; when he died twenty-five years later he left the kingdom to his son Adalwald. After Adalwald and his mother Theodelinda had ruled the Lombards for ten years, Ariwald held the kingdom for twelve years.

His successor

was

Rothari,

a brave man,

unfortunately

stained with the error of the Arian heresy.* After sixteen years of rule he passed on the kingdom to his son Rodwald, who was slain five years later* by a Lombard enemy who surprised him in adultery. Aripert, son of Grundwald and nephew of Queen Theodelinda, succeeded him, and when he died nine years later he left the kingdom to his sons Perctarit and Godipert. Then Grimwald duke of Benevento married Rodelinda, daughter of King Aripert, and put her brother Godipert to the sword and drove her other brother Perctarit into exile. When he died nine years later Perctarit recovered the kingdom, and expelled Grimwald's son Garibald, who had ruled for three months after his father. After Perctarit had ruled for eighteen years Cunicpert ruled for twelve: and after his death the Lombard people had four kings in two years, namely Liutpert, son of Cunicpert, Raginpert duke of Turin, son of Godipert, and Aripert his son, and Rothari duke of Bergamo. Finally Aripert, the strongest of all, slew Liutpert and Rothari, drove Liutpert's guardian Ansprand out of the island of Comacina, and had his son Sigisbrand blinded. Afterwards he reigned for nine years and restored to St. Peter many possessions that his ancestors had appropriated. Finally whilst he was 2 Cf. ibid. ii. 28, *qui regis scilpor, hoc est armiger . . . erat". 3 Paul. HL iii. 35 is less positive, ‘veneno, ut tradunt, accepto’. 4 Cf. Paul. HL iv. 42. | 5 An

error

is a mistake Vi. 241).

of chronology

for ‘months’

copied

from

(T. Hodgkin,

Paul.

HL

.

iv. 48. Possibly

Italy and her Invaders,

‘years’

2nd edit.

74 BOOK V Pado dum nataret grauatus auro corruit? et suffocatus aquis interiit." Ansprandus autem uir sapiens tribus solummodo mensibus regnauit, et Liutprandus audax filius eius fere xxxii annis in solio regni sedit. Hildebrandus nepos eius in regem leuatus est"

sed ante biennium defunctus est. Deinde filii Penmonis Foroiulani ducis Ratchisus et Haistulfus regnauerunt? quorum prior sponte diadema deposuit, et monachus Rome factus est. Haistulfus uero tempore Stephani papz multis modis zcclesiz Dei aduersatus est" sed ad ultimum iusto Dei iudicio in uenatione ictu sagitte necatus est. Ad extremum dux Desiderius adminiculante Stephano papa rex factus est Langobardorum" et adepto regno persecutus est papam et clerum plebemque Romanorum. Vnde Adrianus papa coactus est expetere uires Francorum" quibus destructum est et deiectum usque hodie cornu seuiciz regni Langobardorum. Hoc tempore Meinardi Rotomagensis archiepiscopi anno ab incarnatione Domini DCCLXxIIII° contigit. Presul successit cui Guillebertus in omni Constans et lenis populi pastorque fidelis.

1105357

Hic xlviii annis tempore Adriani, Leonis, Stephani et Paschalis paparum claruit. Tunc Leo, Constantinus, Nicheforus et Stauratius filius eius, Michahel, Leo et Michahel augusti Constantinopoli florebant. Karolus rex Francorum mire uiguit? et probitas eius super omnes uicinos eius laudabiliter excreuit. Pampeloniam destruxit, Cesaraugustam obsidione subiugauit, Wasconiam,

Hi-

spaniam, Saxoniam, subegit et Baioariam, Sclauorum qui Vulti dicuntur et Hunorum? regiones deuastauit. Tempore Constantini et Hirene matris eius Constantinopoli quidam lapideam inuenit archam,

et in ea uirum

iacentem

cum

hac scriptura,

‘Christus

nascetur ex Maria uirgine, et credo in eum. Sub Constantino et Irene imperatoribus O sol iterum me uidebis.’ Sub Leone papa terre motus magnus factus est? qui pene totam Italiam concussit, et tectum ecclesie beati Pauli cum suis trabibus magna ex parte deiecit Anno ab incarnatione Domini pccce indictione viii t Cf. Paul. HL vi. 35, where the river named is the Ticino, a tributary of

the Po. ? The term ‘Huns’ was very loosely used; here the reference is probably to the Avars.

BOOK V

75

swimming across the Po, he sank from the weight of gold he carried and was drowned.! Ansprand, wise man though he was, reigned for only three months, and his brave son Liutprand occupied the throne for about thirty-two years. Hildebrand his nephew was raised to the throne but died within two years. Then Ratchis and Aistulf the sons of Penmon, duke of Friuli, reigned: but the former abdicated voluntarily and became a monk at Rome. Aistulf oppressed the church of God in many ways in the time of Pope Stephen, but finally by the just judgement of God he was slain by an arrow when hunting. Lastly Duke Desiderius became king of the Lombards with the help of Pope Stephen; but once established in the kingdom he persecuted the pope and the clergy and people of Rome. Consequently Pope Adrian was compelled to seek the help of the Franks, and by their aid the cruel power of the Lombard kingdom was overthrown and it has been trampled under foot to the present day. This defeat took place in the lifetime of Meinard archbishop of Rouen, in the year of our Lord 774. To him succeeded Willibert, most gentle, Steadfast in all things and a faithful shepherd.

He flourished for forty-eight years in the time of the popes Adrian, Leo, Stephen, and Paschal. At that time Leo and Constantine, Nicephorus and his son Stauracius, Michael, Leo, and

Michael ruled as emperors at Constantinople. Charles king of the Franks rose to matchless heights, and by his prowess extended his rule over all his neighbours to great advantage. He destroyed Pampeluna, besieged Saragossa and reduced it to subjection, conquered Gascony, Spain, and Saxony, and devastated the lands of the Bavarians, the Slavs who are called Wiltzes, and the Huns.?

In the time of Constantine and his mother Irene a stone coffin was found in Constantinople, and in it lay the body of a man with this inscription: ‘Christ shall be born of the Virgin Mary, and I believe in him. O sun, thou shalt see me again in the reigns of Constantine and Irene.' In the time of Pope Leo a violent earthquake was felt all over Italy, and brought down the greater part of the roof and roof-timbers of St. Paul's church.? In the year of our Lord 800, 3 The account of the earthquake is from the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost, v. 151) for 799. Actually it occurred in 8or, bringing down the roof of S. Paolo fuori le mura in Rome (Gregorovius, History of the City of Rome in

the Middle Ages (London, 1894-1902), iii. 11).

76

BOOK V

Karolus rex a Leone papa imperator consecratus est: et a Romanis augustus appellatus est. Completis in regno xlvii annis Karolus obiit! et Ludouicus filius eius xxvii annis regnauit, cui Guillebertus archiepiscopus a secretis fuit.! Rainowardus huic successit in ordine felix,

Hic aluit mites, compescuit atque rebelles.? Hic x annis tempore Eugenii, Valentini, et Gregorii quarti paparum sub Teophilo augusto floruit. His temporibus dissensio facta est in Gallia? dum Lotharius contra Ludouicum pium patrem suum rebellauit. Tunc primitus Normanni Britanniam? et alias terras uastauerunt: et de Herio insula corpus sancti Philiberti translatum est. Gumbaldus iustz tenuit moderamina uitae? ii. 358 Prospiciens populo uenerabilis undique pastor.

Hic xi annis tempore Gregorii et Sergii paparum Michahele augusto Teophili filio imperante uiguit. Anno ab incarnatione Domini DccxL Ludouicus imperator xii° kal’ Iulii obiit? cuius corpus Drogo archiepiscopus frater eius Mediomatricum urbem ad sepeliendum detulit. Diuisio regni facta est? et bellum inter tres filios Ludouici Ludouicum,

Lotharium et Karolum

Caluum

prope Autisiodorum vii? kal’ Iulii factum est, in quo christianus populus utrinque mutua cede prostratus est. Corpus sancti Audoeni translatum est? quando Normanni Rotomum uastauerunt, et monasterium illius idus Maii succenderunt.+ Insignis Paulus pastoris culmine dignus? Verbo doctrinz fulsit probitateque uitze.

Hic vi annis tempore Sergii papz sub Michahele augusto claruit. Lotharius partem regni Francie quam pater eius sponte dederat tenuit ibique regnauit, quod usque hodie Lotharingia id est Lotharii regnum uocatur. Karolus Caluus rex Francorum et imperator Romanorum uir bonus et fortis constitutus est. Wanilo uir prudens diuino dogmate pollens: 7Eternz docuit commissos iura salutis. * Archbishop Willibert is mentioned in a capitulary of 82 5 as missus dominicus (Duchesne, Fastes, ii. 209). ^ Ragnoard occurs in 828, 831, and 835 (ibid.). At this point Orderic begins to use the Gesta Normannorum Ducum of William of Jumiéges.

BOOK V

7

the eighth indiction, King Charles was crowned emperor by Pope Leo and was hailed as ‘Augustus’ by the Romans. After reigning for forty-seven years he died; and his son Louis reigned for twenty-seven years. Archbishop Willibert served Louis in his chancery.! Next in the holy office Ragnoard came; He fed the meek and curbed the turbulent.?

He flourished for ten years in the time of the popes Eugenius, Valentine, and Gregory IV, under the emperor Theophilus. At this time civil disturbances broke out in Gaul when Lothair rebelled against his father Louis the Pious. The Northmen began to ravage Brittany? and other lands; and the body of St. Philibert was moved

from the island of Noirmoutier. Gunbald kept all his life to a just course, A venerable bishop, good to all.

He held the see for eleven years in the time of the popes Gregory and Sergius under the emperor Michael, son of Theophilus. The emperor Louis died on 20 June in the year of our Lord 840, and his brother Archbishop Drogo had his body taken to Metz for burial. The kingdom was divided, and on 25 June Louis’s three sons, Louis, Lothair, and Charles the Bald, clashed near Auxerre

in a battle, in which Christian peoples were slaughtered on both sides. The body of St. Ouen was removed when the Northmen sacked Rouen and burnt his monastery on 15 May.^ 'The worthy Paul, deserving of high office, Showed forth sound doctrine and a virtuous life.

He flourished for six years in the time of Pope Sergius, under the

emperor Michael. Lothair held the part of France which his father had assigned to him and reigned there, and to this day it is called Lotharingia, that is the ‘kingdom of Lothair'. Charles the Bald, a man both good and brave, was made king of the Franks and emperor of the Romans. Wanilo, wise and deeply read in Scripture, "Taught laws of true salvation to his flock. 3 Cf. Le Prévost, i. 158. AS 4 Almost the whole of the brief notice on Frankish history is copied literally from the Annals of Saint-Évroul (Le Prévost, v. 152-3).

78

BOOK V

Hc x annis tempore Leonis, Benedicti et Nicholai paparum floruit. Quinto anno regiminis eius gelauit a pridie kal' Decembris usque nonas Aprilis. Indole precipuus, bonitate nitens Adalardus? Iura sacerdotii tenuit pie pastor erilis.

li. 359

Hic tribus annis tempore Nicholai papz uiguit. Basilius Michahelem dominum suum occidit, et pro eo xx annis Constantinopoli regnauit. Fames ualida et mortalitas hominum et pestis animalium tribus annis furuit in mundo.! Felix atque probus preclara stirpe Riculfus Contulit zcclesiz quam plurima przdia terre.

Hic tribus annis tempore Nicholai et Adriani paparum floruit. Nobilis antistes diuino iure Iohannes Ordine pontificis uirtutum lampade fulsit.

Hic duobis annis Rotomagensibus prefuit. Witto commissum conscendens pontificatum Claruit in populo uir prudens dogmate sancto.

Hic uno anno zcclesiam rexit, tempore Adriani papz et Basilii augusti. Successit Franco plebis bonus auxiliator? Qui lauachri sancti Rollonem fonte sacrauit.

li. 360

*Hic xliiii annis tempore Iohannis, Marini, Adriani et Stephani paparum floruit. Tunc Leo et Alexander filii Basilii xxii annis regnauerunt. Anno Domini DcccLxxvi° Rollo cum suis Neustriam penetrauit, et per annos xxx Galliam bellis rapinis et incendiis admodum afHixit. Contra Ricardum ducem Burgundionum et Ebalum Pictauensium aliosque principes Galliarum pugnauit, crebrisque uictoriis elatus multa detrimenta christicolis inflixit. Denique Karolus Simplex filius Ludouici Nichil-fecit, non ferens guerram Rollonis pacem cum eo fecit, Gislam ei filiam suam coniugem

dedit,

et Neustriam

concessit.

Tunc

Alexander,

et

* This notice comes from the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost, v. 153). ? The account of Franco is based on the Annals of Saint-Évroul (ibid.

V. 153-4) and William of Jumiéges (Marx, pp. 2 T7):

BOOK

V

79

He flourished for eleven years in the time of the popes Leo, Benedict, and Nicholas. In the fifth year of his reign there was frost from 30 November to 5 April. Adalard, great by nature, full of virtue,

As a good bishop kept the church's laws.

He held the see for three years in the time of Pope Nicholas. Basil assassinated his lord Michael and reigned at Constantinople for twenty years in his place. A severe famine with heavy mortality of men and pestilence amongst beasts raged for three years all over

the world.!

Riculf, of noble stock, both good and fortunate, Made gifts of many manors to his church.

He flourished for three years in the time of the popes Nicholas and Adrian. A noble bishop, justly chosen, John, Brought honour to his order by his virtues.

He governed the see of Rouen for two years. Next Witto mounted to the bishop’s throne, Eminent for his prudence and his doctrine.

He ruled the Church for one year in the time of Pope Adrian and the emperor Basil. Franco, a strong defender of his people, Cleansed Rollo in the holy font of baptism.

?He flourished for forty-four years in the time of the popes John,

Marinus,

Adrian,

and

Stephen.

At that time

Leo

and

Alexander the son of Basil reigned for twenty-two years. In the year of our Lord 876 Rollo invaded Neustria with his followers, and for thirty years greatly ravaged Gaul with fire and sword and plunder. He fought against Richard, duke of the Burgundians, and Eblis of the Poitevins and the other princes of Gaul, and intoxicated by his many victories inflicted great suffering on the Christians. At length Charles the Simple, the son of Louis the Stammerer, unable to endure more war made peace with Rollo, gave him the hand of his daughter Gisla in marriage, and ceded Neustria to him. At that time Alexander and Constantine with his

80

BOOK

V

Constantinus cum matre sua Zoe, et Romanus Armeniacus augusti Constantinopoli regnauere. Sedem pontificis Gunhardus in ordine sumpsit" Vtilis in populo prudens quoque consiliator.

li. 361

ii. 362

Hic xxiii annis tempore Romani Armeniaci Augusti et Constantini claruit. Tunc in Gallia Rodbertus dux diadema sibi assumpsit/ contra quem Karolus rex eodem anno pugnauit, et periurum interfecit" Hugo tamen perempti ducis filius uictoriam optinuit. Non multo post Herbertus Parronz comes Hugonis magni sororius regem dolo cepit, et in carcere tribus annis ad mortem scilicet regis eum tenuit. Ludouicus autem filius regis in Angliam cum Edgiua matre sua Edelstanum auunculum suum filium Eduardi senioris regem Anglorum expetiit" et Rodulfus nobilis filius Ricardi Burgundionum ducis nepos Karoli vii annis regnauit. Quo defuncto Willelmus Longaspata! dux Normannorum rogatu Francorum de Anglia Ludouicum reduxit, patrioque solio legitime restituit. His temporibus Agapitus, Basilius, Stephanus, Formosus, Iohannes et Stephanus in sede apostolica floruerunt. Guillelmus Rollonis filius Gemmeticense cenobium restaurauit: ibique monachus sub Martino abbate fieri peroptauit, sed abbas eum recipere donec filius eius ad tenendum Normanniz ducatum idoneus esset refutauit. Interea dum idem dux postquam xxv annis Normanniz ducatum fortiter rexisset, et hostes uicinos-

que suos dolo seu ui compressisset? ad colloquium cum Arnulfo Flandrensi satrapa securus isset, eiusdem dolis in insula Summz fluminis xvi? kal’ Ianuarii? peremptus est? et Ricardus Sprotaides filius eius qui tunc decennis erat liv annis post patrem ducatu potitus est. Anno dominice incarnationis DCCCCXLH regnante Ludouico transmarino Guillelmus dux et Gunhardus archiepiscopus? obierunt. Successit Hugo legis Domini uiolator? Clara stirpe satus sed Christi lumine cassus.

Hic xlvii annis presulatu functus est? sed a nullo scriptorum qui de illo siue de coepiscopis eius locuti sunt laudatus est. ?^ Rotomagensis superscript in a later hand.

t All the Norman

historians

from

Dudo

of Saint-Quentin

onwards

name

William Longsword as the envoy of the king of France; the Frankish annals name William archbishop of Sens (Le Prévost, iii. 145 n. 4). For a critical

BOOK

V

81

mother Zoe, and Romanus the Armenian reigned as emperors at Constantinople. Next Gunhard came to the archbishop’s seat; A prudent counsellor, helpful to his people.

He flourished for twenty-four years in the time of the emperors Romanus the Armenian and Constantine. In Gaul at that time Duke Robert usurped the crown; in the same year King Charles defeated and slew the traitor, but in the end the duke’s son Hugh gained the upper hand. Not long afterwards Herbert count of Péronne, husband of the sister of Hugh the Great, captured the king by guile, and kept him in prison until his death three years later. But Louis the king’s son fled with his mother Eadgifu to England, to his uncle Athelstan the king of England, who was the son of Edward the Elder. Ralph, the noble son of Richard duke of the Burgundians and nephew of Charles, reigned for seven years. After his death William Longsword,! duke of Normandy, at the request of the Franks brought Louis back from England and restored him to his father's kingdom as the lawful ruler. At this time

Agapitus,

Basil,

Stephen,

Formosus,

John,

and

Stephen

occupied the apostolic see. William son of Rollo restored the monastery of Jumiéges, and expressed his desire to become a monk there under Abbot Martin; but the abbot refused to receive him

until his son was of age to govern the duchy of Normandy. But meantime, after the duke had ruled the duchy of Normandy firmly for twenty-five years, and had defeated his enemies and his neighbours either by force or by guile, he went under safe conduct to confer with Arnulf count of Flanders on an island in the river Somme, and was murdered by the count's treachery on 17 December.? Richard son of Sprota, his son, who was ten years old at the time, held the duchy for fifty-four years after his father. In the year of our Lord 942, during the reign of Louis d'Outremer, Duke William and Archbishop Gunhard both died. Hugh followed, violator of God's law,

Worthy enough by birth, but blind to Christ. He held the office of archbishop for forty-seven years, but he

received no praise from any of the writers who have described him account of the period see Philippe Lauer, Le Rógne de Louis IV d'Outre-mer (Paris, 1900), pp. 87-124. 2 r6 December is a more probable date (Lair, p. 86).

82

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V

Palam memorant quod habitu non opere monachus fuerit. Tunc ii. 363

Marinus,

Agapitus,

Octouianus,

Leo,

Benedictus

et lohannes

apostolice sedi prefuerunt, nimiisque perturbationibus regna terrarum concussa sunt. Ludouicus enim rex Rotomagum sibi mancipauit, doloque Ricardum ducem Laudunum adduxit, ibique in carcerem misit? sed ille nutu Dei et prudentia Osmundi nutritoris sui exiuit. Deinde Haigroldus rex Danorum consilio Bernardi

li. 364

Dani

cum

exercitu

in Normanniam

uenit, et contra

Ludouicum regem pro ultione Guillelmi Longe Spate pugnauit, in quo przlio Herluinus comes Mosteroli cum Lamberto fratre suo aliisque xvi comitibus Gallize super Diuam fluuium occisus est? et Ludouicus rex captus in arcem Rotomagi! seruandus missus est. Gerberga ergo regina Francorum, filia Henrici transrenani imperatoris consilio Hugonis magni cum Normannis pacem fecit, Lothariumque filium suum in obsidem et duos episcopos Hildierium Beluacensem et Guidonem Suessionensem pro seruanda fide misit. Sic a uinculis rex liberatus est? et Ricardus comes patrizque pater corroboratus est. Otto imperator Italiam sibi subiugauit. Stephanus et Constantinus filii Romani patrem suum de solio Constantinopolitano deponunt, sed Constantinus ambos similiter deponit et ipse cum Romano filio suo xvi annis regnauit, quibus Niceforus imperator successit. Liudulfus Ottonis regis filius Italia sibi subacta obiit, et Otto puerulus in palacio Aquisgranii rex eleuatus est. Iohannes occiso Niceforo per uxorem eius regnauit? cuius neptis Theophanu Ottoni imperatori nupsit. In Anglia Edmundus rex vi anno regni sui per proditionem occisus est’ et frater eius Edredus regno potitus est. Quo defuncto Edgarus Edmundi filius successit, diuque et utiliter tam sibi quam populo et zecclesize Dei regnauit. Tunc Dunstanus Cantuariensis, Osualdus Eborachensis et Adeluoldus Guintoniensis in zecclesize Dei regimine micuerunt, quorum studio et labore xxvi ccenobia rege Edgaro fauente et obcediente prefatis presulibus in Anglia constructa sunt. Ludouico defuncto Lotharius filius eius vi annis * Orderic’s sources for this paragraph are the Annals of Saint-Évroul (Le Prévost, v. 155-6) and William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 55). The reference to the

BOOK V

83

or his fellow bishops. They record frankly that he was a monk in dress but not in deed. At that time Marinus, Agapitus, Octavian, Leo, Benedict, and John ruled the apostolic see, and the kingdoms

of the earth were shaken by terrible disturbances. For King Louis laid claims to Rouen, treacherously lured Duke Richard to Laon, and there flung him into prison; but by the will of God and the cunning of Osmund his guardian he escaped. Then Harold, king of the Danes, incited by Bernard the Dane, came to Normandy with a great army, and fought against King Louis to avenge William Longsword; and in that battle on the river Dive Herluin count of Montreuil was slain with his brother Lambert and sixteen French counts. King Louis himself was taken prisoner and sent for safe custody to the fortress of Rouen.! In consequence Gerberga, queen of the Franks, the daughter of Henry, emperor beyond the Rhine, made peace with the Normans on the advice of Hugh the Great, sending her son Lothair as a hostage and the two bishops Hilderic of Beauvais and Guy of Soissons as pledges of good faith. So the king was released from his fetters, and Richard was confirmed as count and father of his country. The emperor Otto conquered Italy. Stephen and Constantine, the sons of Romanus, deposed their father from the throne of Constantinople: but Constantine gave them like treatment and deposed both, to reign himself for sixteen years with his son Romanus. The emperor Nicephorus succeeded them. Liudolf, son of King Otto, died after subduing Italy to his rule, and Otto, then a young boy, was raised to the throne in the palace of Aachen. After Nicephorus had been murdered through the machinations of his wife, John reigned,

whose niece Theophano married the emperor Otto. In England King Edmund was treacherously slain in the sixth year of his reign; and his brother Eadred seized the kingdom. After his death Edmund's son Edgar succeeded to the throne and reigned long and profitably both to himself and to his people and the church of God. At that time Dunstan of Canterbury, Oswald of York, and Ethelwold of Winchester were bright stars set over the church of God; and by their care and endeavours twenty-six monasteries were established in England. King Edgar gave them his support and let himself be guided by them. After the death of Louis his son Lothair ruled for six years, and after him the line of Charlemagne arx at Rouen is supplied by Orderic; William of Jumiéges says ‘apud Rothomagum sub vehementi custodia artatur'.

84

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regnauit in quo progenies Karoli magni a regno funditus destituta est. Karolus enim aliique filii Lotharii regis capiuntur et Hugo magnus Hugonis magni filius in regem eleuatur. Insignis presul claris natalibus ortus Rodbertus felix deuoto fine quieuit.

ii. 365

1Hic Ricardi senioris ducis ex Gunnoride

filius fuit, et xlviii

annis archiepiscopatum Rotomagensem et comitatum Ebroicensem tempore Rodberti regis Francie et Henrici filii eius rexit. Tunc Agapitus et Gerbertus Siluester, Iohannes et Benedictus, itemque Iohannes et Benedictus Romanz prefuerunt ecclesiz: Otto autem, Henricus et Cono imperatores per legitimam successionem dominabantur reipublice. Rodbertus archiepiscopus mundanis opibus affatim abundauit, secularibus negociis opido intentus extitit? et a carnalibus illecibris non ut pontificem decuisset abstinuit. Nam coniugem nomine Herleuam ut comes habuit? ex qua tres filios Ricardum, Radulfum et Guillelmum genuit, quibus Ebroicensem comitatum et alios honores amplissimos secundum ius seculi distribuit. In senectute tandem errorum memor suorum penituit? et pro reatibus multis magnisque multum timuit. Multas igitur elemosinas pauperibus erogauit’ zcclesiamque metropolitanam in urbe Rotomagensi sancte Dei genetrici Marie a fundamentis inchoauit/ quam magna ex parte consummauit.? Ricardus secundus dux xxx annis ducatum Normanniz laudabiliter tenuit, et pauperibus Christi clericis et monachis ut pius pater subuenit, et tria coenobia quae pater eius fundauit, id est Fiscannense,

Sancti

Audoeni

in suburbio

Rotomagi,

et sancti

ii. 366 Michahelis in periculo maris auxit et defensauit. Fontinellense quoque dux prefatus restaurauit/ et quaque Turstinus seu Gerardus Fleitellus aliique proceres dederant ei sua concessione sanxit. Moriens autem filiis suis Ricardo iuueni et Rodberto principatum dimisit? quibus honor concessus non plus quam nouem annis cessit. Nam Ricardus tercius ueneno infectus non plene biennio peracto periit? et Rodbertus frater eius post vii * Parts of this paragraph are based on the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost, v. 156) and William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 70); but Orderic adds some material of his own. 2 Parts of Archbishop Robert's romanesque crypt still survive (above,

p. 23 n. 6). The early history of Rouen cathedral is the subject of an unresolved

controversy

(cf. above, p. 24 n. 1). Unfortunately

the excavations

of 1954-6

BOOK V

85

was finally excluded from the kingdom. For Charles and the other sons of King Lothair were imprisoned, and Hugh the Great the son of Hugh the Great was raised to the throne. Robert, a prelate of the highest birth, Ruled fortunate, and made a pious end.

'He was a son of Duke Richard I and Gunnor, and ruled the

archbishopric of Rouen and county of Evreux for forty-eight years in the time of Robert king of France and Henry his son. At that time Agapitus and Gerbert Silvester, John and Benedict, and then again John and Benedict governed the Roman church. Otto,

Henry, and Conrad, succeeding each other lawfully as emperors, ruled over the state. Archbishop Robert was richly provided with worldly wealth, took a keen interest in secular affairs, and did not

deny himself the delights of the flesh as a bishop should. For in his capacity as count he took a wife named Herleve, and had by her three sons, Richard, Ralph, and William, amongst whom he

distributed the county of Evreux and his other wide honors according to secular law. At length in old age, mindful of the error of his ways, he grew penitent and greatly feared the consequences of his sins, which were many and grievous. So he gave abundant alms for the poor; also, he began to build from its foundations, in the city of Rouen, a cathedral church in honour of Mary, the holy mother of God, and completed much of it in his lifetime.? Duke Richard II governed the duchy of Normandy admirably for thirty years, like a pious father providing support for the poor of Christ, both clergy and monks; and enriching and protecting the three monasteries his father had founded, namely Fécamp, St. Ouen in the suburb of Rouen, and Mont-Saint-Michel. This same duke also refounded St. Wandrille, and ratified the gifts that Thurstan and Gerard Fleitel and other lords had given it. On his death he left the duchy to his sons, young Richard and Robert, but the honor granted them was theirs for only nine years. For Richard III was poisoned and died less than two years later; and did not positively establish whether an earlier church had existed on the same site or not.

If anything,

Orderic's

evidence

supports

the argument

that the

previous cathedral had been on the same site. His language does not imply anything more than a thorough rebuilding; he used the same expression, ‘a fundamentis inchoauit’, of Abbot Hugh of Cluny's rebuilding of his abbey church (Le Prévosi, iv. 298), and he would probably have commented more

unambiguously on a move to a new site. 822219X.

H

86

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V

annos et dimidium lerusalem peregrinus adiit Ducatum uero suum Guillelmo octo annorum puero non rediturus reliquit: ipsumque Alanno consanguineo suo Britonum comiti commendauit. Tunc Alfredus et Eduardus clitones in Normannia exulabant. Ricardus enim secundus Emmam sororem suam ii. 367 JEdelredo regi Anglorum in coniugem dedit? que Alfredum et Eduardum regem peperit. Eadem post funus mariti sui liberos suos in Neustriam misit, et Chunuto regi Dacorum nupsit? eique Hardechunutum regem Danorum et Anglorum peperit, et Gunnildem quz Henrico imperatori Romanorum nupsit. Malgerius iuuenis sedem suscepit honoris,

Natali clarus sed nullo nobilis actu. Hic filius Ricardi secundi ducis ex secunda coniuge nomine Paphia natus est: et xviii annis! tempore Clementis, Damasi et Leonis paparum sine apostolica benedictione et pallio Rodomensibus dominatus est. Voluptatibus carnis mundanisque curis indecenter inhesit, filiumque nomine Michahelem, probum militem et legitimum genuit? quem in Anglia iam senem rex Henricus ii. 368 honorat ac diligit. Tunc in mundo multe tribulationes exorta sunt? grauiterque terrigenas uexantes quassauerunt. Sarraceni Siciliam et Italiam aliasque regiones christianorum inuaserunt" cedes et rapinas ac incendia multa fecerunt. Manichetus imperator ii. 369 Constantinopoleos aggregatis imperii uiribus insurrexit, et repulsis post multa detrimenta ydolatris fines christianorum liberauit. Ossa quoque sancte Agathe uirginis et martiris aliorumque sanctorum corpora ne a redeuntibus fcedarentur paganis? de Sicilia Constantinopolim reuerenter transtulit. Succedente illi Diogene? Osmundus Drengot et Drogo aliique Normanni ceperunt Apuliam incolere, et in agarenos uel pseudochristianos arma uiriliter exercere. Denique Rodbertus cognomento Gui-

scardus’

post multa

bellorum discrimina prius ab Harduino

Langobardo et Melone nepote eius, postmodum

a Leone papa

! 1037-55; cf. M. de Bouárd in L’ Abbaye bénédictine de Fécamp (Fécamp,

1959-60), i. 89. ? Orderic gives a brief and very garbled account of earlier events (cf. above

li. 56-8). His statement that Melo, the Lombard rebel of IOI7, was a nephew

of Arduin, for whom the Normans had fought c. 1040, shows his ignorance of the traditions relating to Melo. But his acceptance that Robert Guiscard had

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87

his brother Robert departed on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem after seven and a half years. Setting out, never to return, he left his duchy to William, an eight-year-old boy, and entrusted him to the guardianship of his kinsman Alan count of Brittany. At that time the athelings Alfred and Edward were in exile in Normandy. Richard II had given his sister Emma in marriage to Ethelred, king of England, and she bore Alfred and Edward, afterwards king. After the death of her husband she sent her children to Normandy, and married Cnut, king of Denmark, to whom she bore Harthacnut, king of England and Denmark, and Gunhilda

who married Henry, emperor of the Romans. Mauger too young received the seat of honour, Noble by birth, ignoble in his acts.

He was the son of Duke Richard II by his second wife called Papia, and he governed the see of Rouen for eighteen years! in the time of the popes Clement, Damasus, and Leo, without receiving either apostolic blessing or the pallium. He was excessively addicted to the lusts of the flesh and distractions of the world; and

he had a son named Michael, a brave and worthy knight, who is now in England, loved and treated with honour in his old age by King Henry. At this time many disturbances broke out all over the world, bringing distress to mortal men. The Saracens invaded Sicily and Italy and other Christian lands, slaughtering, plundering, and burning everywhere. Maniaces the rival emperor of Constantinople led an insurrection, and mustering the imperial forces repulsed the infidels after many set-backs, freeing the frontiers of Christendom. Also he carefully carried the bones of St. Agatha, virgin and martyr, and of other saints back with him from Sicily to Constantinople, to save them from desecration if the pagans should return. When Diogenes?succeeded him, Osmund Drengot and Drogo and other Normans began tosettle in Apuliaand wage war valiantly against the Saracens and heretics. At length Robert called Guiscard, after winning victory in many battles, received a grant of Apulia first from the Lombard Arduin and his nephew Melo, and acquired a lawful claim to Apulia before he received anything from the pope

is further evidence of the widespread Norman belief that Norman power in southern Italy was merely enhanced by, and did not originate in, any papal grant. Cf. Dione Clementi, ‘Alexandri Telesini. ““Ystoria serenissimi Rogerii . "^, , in Bullettino dell'Istituto Storico Italiano per il Medio Evo e Archivio

Muratoriano, lxx (1965), 117-19.

88

ii. 370

BOOK

V

dono recepit Apuliam contra aduersarios sancti Petri perenniter eam defensurus. Quam ipse postea iuuante Deo fortiter tenuit, et fines dicionis suz in Siciliam usque et Calabriam Bulgariamque dilatauit, liberisque suis hereditario iure dimisit. In Normannia his temporibus multa mala nequiter patrata sunt. Alannum enim comitem Britonum suique ducis tutorem Normanni ueneno peremerunt, et successorem eius Gislebertum comitem Godefredi filium crudelibus armis prostrauerunt,! seseque mutuis certaminibus pzne cotidie incredibiliter necauerunt. Tunc Turchetillus de Nouomercato et Rogerius de Toenia: et Osbernus dapifer Normanniz et duo filii Rogerii de Monte Gomerici Guillelmus et Hugo, Rodbertus de Bellomonte, Gualchelinus de Ferrariis et Hugo de Monteforti? et alii plures in armis potentes alterutrum se

peremerunt, et confusionem magnam atque merorem necessariis orbatz regioni patronis intulerunt. In Anglia Hardechunuto rege mortuo Eduardus uterinus frater eius successit/ et xxiii annis utiliter et laudabiliter regnauit. In Britannia Eudo fratri suo Alanno successit,

et xv annis ita libere ut sine dominio

alicuius esset

principatum exercuit. Septem quoque filios uariis euentibus famosos Deus illi dedit? quibus fortuna nimium uariabilis extitit, de quibus prolixa et rerum uarietate dulcis historia compaginari ueraciter a studiosis possit. Presul Maurilius doctrinz luce refertus

Moribus eximiis prefulsit et actibus almis. ii. 371

Hic genere Magontinus in urbe Florentia monachili cenobio abbatis iure prefuit’ et exosus transgressoribus pro rigore discipline uenenum in potu sibi propinato deprehendit.* Vnde sanctissimum patrem doctoremque Benedictum sectatus incorrigibiles deseruit et in Neustriam cum Gerberto sapienti ac religioso monacho tempore lohannis abbatis compatriote sui Fiscannum uenit? ibique stabilem ad cultum summe et indiuiduz Trinitatis ™ Orderic frequently refers to the troubles of William's minority (cf. Le Prévost, i. 180). He relied as much on oral tradition as on written sources: the allegation that Alan III of Brittany was poisoned is not in the original text of William of Jumiéges, but is in Orderic's interpolations (Marx, p. 194). He was well informed on the murder of Gilbert of Brionne, since the sons of Giroie were involved (above, ii. 24, 28). Cf. Douglas, WC, Appendix F on the subject of

poisoning. ^ For Hugh of Montfort cf. G. H. White in Genealogist, N.s. xxxviii (1932), DIG:

BOOK

V

89

afterwards from Pope Leo, to hold perpetually and defend against the enemies of St. Peter. With the help of God he held it valiantly thereafter

and, when

he had

extended

the boundaries

of his

dominion to Sicily and Calabria and Bulgaria, he left it to his children by hereditary right. In Normandy at this time many evil deeds were perpetrated. The Normans poisoned Alan, count of Brittany and guardian of the duke, brutally cut down his successor Count Gilbert, son of Godfrey,! and then, unbelievably embroiled

in internecine conflict, massacred each other almost daily. At this time Thurkill of Neufmarché and Roger of Tosny and Osbern the steward of Normandy and two sons of Roger of Montgomery named William and Hugh, also Robert of Beaumont, Walchelin of Ferriéres, and Hugh of Montfort? and many other great warriors slew one another and caused great disorder and distress in the country, which was deprived of the men it needed for its defence. In England, after the death of King Harthacnut, Edward, his uterine half-brother, succeeded and reigned well and capably for twenty-three years. In Brittany Eudo followed his brother Alan,? and ruled the country freely, without acknowledging any lord, for fifteen years. God gave him seven sons, remarkable for their various fates, who endured many changes of fortune and of whom a lengthy history, fascinating in its diversity, could be compiled by truthful scholars. Maurilius shone, filled with the light of learning, Sublime in character, in acts most noble.

A native of Mainz, he became abbot of a monastery in the city of Florence, and was so much hated by sinful monks for the severity of his discipline that he found poison in a cup prepared for him.* So, following the precept of the holy father and teacher Benedict, he abandoned the men who had proved incorrigible5 and with Gerbert, a wise and pious monk, came to Fécamp in Normandy in the time of abbot John, his fellow countryman. ‘There he found a lasting home in the service of the high and indivisible 3 Eudo, count of Penthiévre, governed Brittany as regent for seventeen years,

since Alan’s son, Conan II, was only three months old at his death. He appears to have ignored Conan’s interests. See Douglas, WC, p. 118; A. le M. de la Borderie and B. Poquet, Histoire de Bretagne (Rennes, 1896—1914), iii. 14-23. * Orderic omits the earlier part of the life of Maurilius, which he must have

known from his epitaph (above, ii. 198) if not from the Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium.

For his life see M. de Bouárd in Fécamp, i. 83-4.

5 CE -RSB; c. 28.

ad

BOOK V

habitationem sibi elegit. Inde post aliquot tempus ecclesiastica electione assumptus deposito Malgerio metropolitanum apicem ascendit,

et xii annis

tempore

Victoris,

Stephani,

Nicholai

et

Alexandri paparum floruit, nonoque anno presulatus sui metropolitanam basilicam dedicauit. Corpora uero ducum Rollonis et Guillelmi reuerenter in sacram edem transtulit, et Rollonem prope hostium australe et Guillelmum secus hostium aquilonale tumulauit,' et epitaphia eorum super illos litteris aureis annotauit. Rollonis autem titulus talis est, 111272

Dux Normannorum timor hostis, et arma suorum Rollo sub hoc titulo clauditur in tumulo. Maiores cuius probitas prouexit, ut eius Seruierit nec auus nec pater aut proauus. Ducentem fortes regem multasque cohortes Deuicit Daciz ingrediens acie. Frixones, Waleros, Hasbacenses, Hainaucos, Hos simul adiunctos Rollo dedit profugos. Egit ad hoc Fresios per plurima uulnera uictos/ Vt sibi iurarent atque tributa darent. Baiocas cepit, bis Parisios superauit, Nemo fuit Francis asperior cuneis. Annis triginta Gallorum cedibus arua Impleuit? pigro bella gerens Karolo. Post multas strages, przedas, incendia, cedes Vtile cum Gallis fedus init cupidis. Supplex Franconi meruit baptismate tingui, Sic periit ueteris omne nefas hominis. Vt fuit ante lupus? sic post fit mitibus agnus,

Pax ita mutatum mulceat ante Deum.

Exequiales nichilominus neniz super mausoleum Guillelmi Longe spatz? quod in septentrionali plaga situm est litteris ex

auro ita sunt enodate,

Quos defendebat Guillelmus? nemo premebat, Auxilio caruit? ledere quem uoluit. Regibus ac ducibus metuenda manus fuit eius, Belliger Henricus Cesar eum timuit. Rexit Normannos uiginti quinque per annos? Militis atque ducis promptus in officiis. Coenobium pulchre reparauit Gemmeticense? Et decreuit ibi ferre iugum monachi. I The tombs were moved in the thirteenth-cen tury rebuilding

of the cathedral. Rollo's tomb is now by the chapel of St. Romain, and William's by the chapel of St. Anne. The effigies, sarcophagi, and epitaphs are all of a later date than

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Trinity. From Fécamp in the course of time, after the deposition of Mauger, he was canonically elected to the archbishopric, and he flourished for twelve years in the time of the popes Victor, Stephen, Nicholas, and Alexander. In the ninth year of his archiepiscopal office he dedicated the cathedral church. He had the bodies of Duke Rollo and Duke William reverently transferred to the same building, and buried Rollo near to the south door and William beside the north door,! inscribing their epitaphs on their tombs in letters of gold. 'T'he inscription for Rollo is as follows: Duke of the Normans, dreaded by his foes,

His people's shield, here Rollo buried lies; Valiant as were his forebears and, like them, Not made nor doomed to be an underling. The king of Denmark, leading mighty armies,

Fell back defeated by his invading power; Frisians, men of Hesbach, Hainault, Walcheren,

United in one force he scattered far. He forced the Frisians, crushed in bloody battles,

To offer fealty and pay him tribute. He captured Bayeux and twice conquered Paris; None more than he pressed fiercely on the squadrons Of Franks; for thirty years he spread destruction Throughout the fields of Charles the Simple's kingdom. After much conquest, looting, fire and slaughter, He forced the Franks to seek a wise alliance,

Humbly sought baptism at the hands of Franco, And cleansed himself from all his former vices. Once to the meek a wolf, but then most lamb-like;

May he, so changed, find peace and rest in Heaven. The elegy on the tomb of William Longsword in the north aisle

was also inscribed in letters of gold: Whom William guarded none could overcome, Helpless were all that William chose to harm; Fearful to princes were his arms arrayed, Henry, most warlike emperor, shrank afraid.

He ruled his Normans five and twenty years, As duke and warrior ceaseless in his cares. Jumiéges he raised anew, and hoped within Its holy walls to learn sound discipline; e de Rouen those known to Orderic. See A. Deville, Tombeaux de la cathédral

(Rouen, 1833), pp. 3-15, 19-29.

92

BOOK V Feruidus inuicti coluit normam Benedicti? Cui petiit subdi plenus amore Dei.

Distulit hoc abbas Martinus, diua potestas Seua per arma mori pretulit omen ei. Nanque dolis comitis Arnulfi nectus inermis

il. 373

Corruit. /Ethereum possit habere Deum. Amen.

Anno dominice incarnationis M°LXIII°

indictione

ii? metro-

politanam basilicam in urbe Rotomagensi quam Rodbertus inchoauit, Maurilius archiepiscopus in honore sancte Dei genitricis Marie cum ingenti tripudio mense Octobri dedicauit.! Hic annus Henrici quarti imperatoris erat octauus et Philippi filii Henrici regis Francorum quartus; quo anno Cinomannis subiugata est Normannis. Decimus quoque erat annus a bello Mortuimaris, et septimus decimus a bello quod Guillelmus et Guido fecerunt Valesdunis. Tunc Michahel Diogenem uitricum suum de Augustali trono precipitauit’2 et sceptrum Constantinopoleos paulo post turpiter amissurus inuasit. In Anglia mortuo rege Eduardo magna turbatio facta est, dum periurus Heraldus Goduini filius qui de regia propagine non prodierat ui et fraude regnum

nactus est. li. 374

Anno milleno sexageno quoque seno A genito uerbo, contrito rege superbo? Anglorum meete crinem sensere cometze.?

In ipso anno Senlacium preelium factum est: et perempto Haraldo Guillelmus ii? idus Octobris triumpho potitus est, et in die natalis Domini rex coronatus est. Peruigil antistes in eadem sede Iohannes Legis apostolicze studuit documenta tenere.

Hic filius Radulfi Baiocarum comitis presul Abrincatensis ecclesize fuit, et inde ad archiepiscopatum assumptus decem annis tempore Alexandri et Gregorii vii paparum claruit. Post hunc Guillelmus uir nobilis atque benignus, Catholice plebem tractauit Rotomagensem. Hic secundus Cadomensis abbas fuit, et inde tractus in archi-

episcopatu xxxi annis tempore Gregorii, Victoris, Vrbani et Paschalis paparum floruit. Ipse Guillelmum regem et Mathildem * The consecration took place on 1 October 1063.

^ Romanus Diogenes was not deposed and replaced by Michael VII (Ducas) until 1071.

3 "This rhyme occurs in slightly varying forms in many chronicle s.

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93

Following the peerless Benedict, he desired To serve beneath his rule, by God inspired. Martin deferred the day; the powers divine Foreseeing his cruel murder, sent a sign. Then by Count Arnold’s guile, unarmed, he fell; May he, so slaughtered, gain God’s heaven. Amen.

In October, A.D. 1063, the second indiction, Archbishop Maurilius dedicated with splendid ceremonial the cathedral church begun by Robert in the town of Rouen, in honour of Mary, the blessed Mother of God.! This was the eighth year of the emperor Henry IV and the fourth of Philip, son of Henry king of France, and was the year when the Normans captured Le Mans. It was also the tenth year from the battle of Mortemer, and the seventeenth from the battle between William and Guy at Val-és-Dunes. At this time Michael deposed his step-father, Diogenes, from the imperial throne,? and usurped the sceptre of Constantinople, which he was soon to lose ignominiously. In England there was great disorder after the death of King Edward, when the perjured Harold, son of Godwin, who was not of royal stock, seized the kingdom by

force and fraud. One thousand six and sixty years had passed Since the word was made flesh: and when the proud king died The shores of England saw the long-tailed comet.3

In this year the battle of Senlac was fought; Harold was slain, and William won a great victory on 14 October, and was crowned king on Christmas Day. An indefatigable prelate, John Strove to enforce the apostolic laws.

He was the son of Ralph count of Bayeux and was bishop of Avranches, from which see he was translated to the archbishopric. He flourished for ten years in the time of the popes Alexander and Gregory VII. Next William, highly born and generous, Governed his flock according to the faith. He was the second abbot of Caen, whence he was translated to

the archbishopric. He flourished for thirty-two years in the time

of the popes Gregory, Victor, Urban, and Paschal. He buried

94

BOOK

V

reginam Cadomi sepeliuit, et filius eorum Rodbertus ducatum Normanniz et Guillelmus regnum Angliz optinuit. 1Anno ab incarnatione Domini MXCV? siccitas et mortalitas hominum fuerunt, et stelle quadam nocte Maii mensis de coelo li. 375 cadere uise sunt. Vrbanus papa apud Clarum montem ingens concilium tenuit: et iter in Ierusalem contra paganos inire christianos admonuit. Tunc fames magna fuit in Gallia. Anno Domini MxcIx? indictione vii*: Ierusalem gentilibus uictis qui eam diu tenuerant, a sanctis peregrinis capta est, et Vticensis ecclesia sancti Ebrulfi abbatis idus Nouembris dedicata est. Sequenti anno Guillelmus Rufus rex Anglorum in uenatione sagitta percussus iiii? nonas Augusti obiit, eoque apud Guentam sepulto Henricus frater eius nonas Augusti Lundoniz coronatus sceptrum regni suscepit, iamque xxvii™'™ annum in fascibus agit.? Prospera mundane felicitatis dante Deo copiose habuit? ac aduersa nichilominus in uariis euentibus prolis et amicorum et multiplici perturbatione subiectorum pertulit. Philippus xlviii annis regno Francorum functus obiit? eique Ludouicus filius eius nono anno Henrici regis successit. 3Brito Goisfredus sapiens, facundus, acerbus Culmen episcopii tenet et dat pabula plebi.

ii. 376

Hic decanus Caenomannensis zcclesiz tempore Hoelli et Hildeberti uenerabilium presulum fuit, et xlvii Rotomagensem metropolim iam x et vii annis tempore Paschalis, Gelasii, Calixti et Honorii paparum rexit. Henricus quintus et Lotharius prefuerunt Latiis’ et Alexius atque Iohannes filius eius Pelasgis. His temporibus in orbe multa contigerunt memoranda, quz suis in locis noticie posterorum officio calami ueraciter erunt assignanda? si uita michi comes fuerit stipata coelesti beneficio et gratia. Ad lineam proposita relationis remeare uolenti? o benigne lector queso parce michi. Prolixam digressionem pro Rodomensibus 1 The events in this brief notice are taken almost verbally from the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost, v. 159). : ? [f the calculation is correct, this was written between

5 August

1126 and

5 August 1127. 'T'he statement that Geoffrey, who became archbishop of Rouen, c. 1110, had completed seventeen years of office points to the summer of EI27;

BOOK V

95

King William and Queen Matilda at Caen; and their son Robert

succeeded to the duchy of Normandy, and William to the kingdom of England. ‘In the year of our Lord 1095 there was a severe drought and many men died; and one night in May many shooting stars were seen. Pope Urban held a great council at Clermont, and preached a crusade to Jerusalem to fight the infidels. At that time there was serious famine in France. In the year of our Lord 1099, the seventh indiction, the Crusaders defeated the infidels who had held Jerusalem for many years and recovered the city; and the church of Saint-Évroul-enOuche was dedicated on 13 November. In the following year William Rufus king of England was struck by an arrow while he was hunting and died on 2 August. After his burial at Winchester, his brother Henry was crowned and received the sceptre of the realm at London on 5 August; he is now in the twenty-seventh year of his reign.? He has had his share of good fortune from God's hand; but he has also endured some adversity through disasters to his offspring and friends and many disturbances among his subjects. Philip died after reigning in France for forty-eight years, and his son Louis succeeded him in the ninth year of King Henry. 3Geoffrey the Breton, wise and strict and eloquent, Governs the province and instructs the people.

He was dean of the church of Le Mans in the time of the reverend bishops Hoél and Hildebert, and as the forty-seventh archbishop of Rouen he has already ruled for seventeen years under the popes Paschal, Gelasius, Calixtus, and Honorius. Henry V and Lothair ruled the Latins, and Alexius and his son John the Greeks. During this time many memorable events have taken place all over the world, and they will be truly recorded by my pen in their proper place, for the information of posterity, if by the grace and bounty of heaven life is spared me. Now my purpose is to return to the intended course of my narrative, and I ask you, kind reader, to forgive me. For I have 3 This is probably a verse of Orderic's own composition. The couplet for Geoffrey in the Livre d'Ivoire (Rouen MS. 1405, p. 39) runs, Floruit eiusdem sedis Gaufridus honore Quam multis ditans multo dilexit amore. It is in a different hand from the earlier verses, and must have been added after

Orderic saw the MS. or a copy of it.

96

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V

successionem

iam feci episcopis; continuam

eorum

karitatiue

appetens pleniter enucleare posteris. Hac itaque de causa chronographiam octingentorum fere annorum patraui, et omnes Romanos apostolicos ab Eusebio papa seriatim nominaui? usque ad Lambertum Hostiensem qui uocatur Honorius! et nunc preest apostolicae sedi. Omnes etiam augustos a Constantino magno Constantinopoleos conditore huic opusculo inserui? usque ad Iohannem Alexii filium qui nunc regnat Constantinopoli? et usque ad Lotharium Saxonicum qui Romani nunc tutor est imperii.? Amodo ad res nostri temporis nostreque regionis reuertar? et qua in Neustria sub Guillelmo rege post concilium Illebonz gesta sunt enarrare aggrediar. IO

li. 377

li. 378

^Seditiosi tirones Rodberto iuueni regis filio adulati sunt? eumque ad inutiles ausus prouocantes dixerunt, *Nobilissime fili regis, utquid in ingenti pauperie degis? Patris tui satellites regale sic seruant zrarium, ut uix unum tuis clientibus inde possis dare denarium. Hoc ingens tibi est dedecus, et nobis dampnum aliisque pluribus, quod sic alienaris a regiis opibus. Cur hoc pateris? Ille merito diuitias debet habere? qui largiter eas omni petenti nouit distribuere. Proh dolor tua miserabiliter frustrata est maxima largitas, dum te per patris tui tenacitatem nimia opprimit paupertas, qui tibi suos immo tuos superposuit asseclas. Hoc o strenue uir quandiu perferes? Eia uiriliter exurge, a genitore tuo partem regni Albionis exige, aut saltem ducatum reposce Normannis, quem tibi iam dudum concessit coram optimatum qui adhuc presto sunt agmine. Non decet te diutius perpeti, ut dominentur tibi naturales serui tui’ tibique quasi aduenze mendico hereditarias opes denegent postulanti. Si pater tuus tibi adquieuerit, et quod petieris dederit? uiuacitas tua et incomparabilis probitas magnifice ! Honorius II, 1124-30.

? John II Comnenus,

1118-43.

3 Lothair II, 1125-37. ^ Orderic's account of the quarrels of Robert Curthose and his father is very

confused in chronology. The first quarrel, imaginatively dramatized here, occurred in 1077 or 1078. The events already described in Book IV (above, ii. 356-8; Le Prévost, ii. 294-6) and Robert's attempt to seize Rouen belong

BOOK V

97

digressed at great length on the subject of the bishops of Rouen, through my great desire to describe fully for posterity the unbroken succession in the see. With this object I have sketched the annals of almost eight hundred years, and have named all the Roman popes in turn: from Eusebius up to Lambert of Ostia, called Honorius,! who now governs the apostolic see. I have inserted in this treatise the names of all the emperors from Constantine the Great, founder of Constantinople, up to John, son of Alexius, who now reigns there,” and Lothair the Saxon, who is the

present ruler of the Roman empire.3 Now I will return to the affairs of our own time and our own province, and will set about describing the events which took place in King William’s reign after the Council of Lillebonne. IO

4The king’s young son Robert was flattered by factious young knights, who incited him to rash undertakings with speeches such as these: “Royal prince, how can you live in such wretched poverty? Your father’s minions guard the royal treasure so closely that you can scarcely have a penny from it to give to any of your dependants. It is a great dishonour to you and injury to us and many others that you should be deprived of the royal wealth in this way. Why do you tolerate it? A man deserves to have wealth if he knows how to distribute it generously to all seekers. How sad that your bounteous liberality should be thwarted, and that you should be reduced to indigence through the parsimony of your father, who sets his servants, or rather your servants, over you. How long, brave lord, will you bear this? Come now, rise up boldly, claim a share of the realm of England from your father; or at least ask again for the duchy of Normandy, which he has already once granted you publicly before a great body of magnates, who are able to testify to it. It is not fitting that you should continue to allow those who are born your slaves to lord it over you, and to deny you the riches of your inheritance as if you were a nameless beggar. If your father gratifies your desires and grants what you ask, then your force of character and incomparable worth to the period of this quarrel (C. W. David, Robert Curthose (Cambridge, Mass., 1920), pp. 19 ff.). All early sources agree that the cause of the quarrel was Robert's desire to have full authority in Normandy and Maine in his father’s lifetime.

98

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V

patebit. Si uero in sua pertinacia perstiterit, et suadente sua cupi-

dine debitum tibi honorem denegauerit/ leoninam animositatem arripe, indecentem clientelam abice? tuorumque amicorum consiliis suffragiisque fruere. Nos sine dubio promptos habebis? ad omnia quz uolueris.’ Huiusmodi hortatu Rodbertus tiro acriter in ira uel cupiditate accensus est, et accedens ad patrem sic locutus est, ‘Normanniam domine mi rex da michi? quam dudum antequam contra Haraldum in Angliam transfretares michi concessisti.’' Cui pater respondit, ‘Incongruum est fili quod poscis. Per uirtutem Normannicam optinui Angliam. Hzereditario iure possideo Normanniam: ipsamque de manu mea dum aduixero non eiciam.' Rodbertus dixit, *Quid ergo faciam, uel quid meis clientibus tribuam ?' Pater autem

li. 379

respondit, ‘Conuenienter in omnibus michi obsequere: et ubique mecum ut filius cum patre sapienter dominare. Robertus ad hzc, *Mercennarius? tuus semper esse nolo. Aliquando rem familiarem uolo habere? ut michi famulantibus digna possim stipendia retribuere. Competentem igitur queso michi ducatum prebe, ut sicut tu regno prefueris Angliz? sic ego tibi semper subiectus presim ducatui Normanniz.' Rex autem dixit, 'Preproperum est fili quod optas. Noli temere patri tuo uelle dominatum preripere’ quem ab illo debes si dignus fueris oportuno tempore: cum fauorabilibus populi uotis in Dei benedictione suscipere. Optimos elige tibi consiliarios, et prudenter precaue temerarios qui te stimulantes impudenter incitant ad actus nefarios. Reminiscere quid Absalon fecerit, qualiter in Dauid patrem suum rebellauerit? et quam male tam illi quam Achitophel et Amasz aliisque consiliariis et fautoribus suis contigerit. Normanni semper inquieti sunt’ et perturbationes ardenter sitiunt. Ipsi te ad stultos conatus prouocant? ut turbatis rebus indisciplinate agant, nefariasque actiones impune exerceant. Noli adquiescere petulantum persuasionibus iuuenum, sed a Guillelmo et Lanfranco archiepiscopis et aliis sophistis maturisque proceribus inquire consilium. Quod si diligenter obseruaueris? in fine de bono prouentu oportune gloriabis. Si uero Roboam qui Banaiz aliorumque sapientum monita spreuit imitatus fueris,4 et iuuenum

iussis obsecutus

fueris? deiectione

et

* Robert’s first investment with the duchy of Normandy probably took place in 1066 (David, Robert Curthose, (ibid., p. 12 n. 42). 2 Cf. John x. 12; Luke xv. 17; but behind the language of the gospel is the complaint of the man treated as a landless knight. Cf. J. O. Prestwich, ‘War

and finance in the Anglo-Norman state’, in T'RHS, sth ser. iv (1954), 25. 3 2 Samuel xvii. 18; xx. Io.

4 2 Chron. x.

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99

will shine forth for all to see. If however he persists in his obstinacy and, giving way to avarice, denies you the honor which is rightly yours, then put on the courage of a lion, thrust aside these worthless servants, and rely on the counsel and support of your friends. Never doubt that you will find us ready to undertake all that you wish.’ These arguments awakened the young knight Robert’s anger and greed, and going into his father’s presence he spoke as follows, ‘My lord king, give me Normandy, which you recently granted me before sailing to England to fight Harold.’! To which his father replied, ‘My son, you ask the impossible. By Norman strength I conquered England; I hold Normandy by hereditary right, and as long as I live I will not relax my grip on it.’ Robert said, ‘What am I to do, and how am I to provide for my dependants?’ But his father replied, ‘Show me the obedience due to me in all things, and take a wise share in the government of all my dominions as a son with his father.’ To which

Robert answered,

‘I am

not

prepared to be your hireling? for ever. I want at long last to have property of my own, so that I can give proper wages to my own dependants. I ask you therefore to grant me legal control of the duchy, so that, just as you rule over the kingdom of England, I, under you, may rule over the duchy of Normandy.’ But the king said, ‘My son, your demands are premature. Do not try to snatch recklessly from your father the power which you ought to receive from him in due time, with the acclamation of the people and the blessing of God, if you continue to deserve it. Choose yourself better counsellors; have the sense to mistrust those rash spirits who have shamelessly goaded you on to lawless deeds. Remember what Absalom did; how he rebelled against his father David, and

what a wretched fate befell him no less than Achitophel and Amasa and his other advisers and accomplices. The Normans are a turbulent people, always ready to cause disturbances. They provoke you to foolish ambitions, so that when order breaks down they may do as they please and commit crimes without fear of retribution. Pay no attention to the specious reasoning of wanton youths, but seek counsel from archbishops William and Lanfranc and other wise and experienced lords. If you persevere in this course you will finally enjoy good fortune when the time is ripe. But if you follow the example of Rehoboam, who forsook the counsel of Benaiah and other wise men,^ and follow the lead of

IOO

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V

repulsa quibus ipse suis et exteris uiluit diu merens potieris.’ Rodbertus dixit, Huc domine mi rex non accessi pro sermonibus audiendis? quorum copia frequenter usque ad nausiam imbutus sum a grammaticis. Verum de debito quem prestolor honore, michi satis responde" ut sciam quid michi conueniat facere. Hoc pro certo fixum est apud me? et omnibus uolo notum esse, quod ulterius in Normannia nemini militabo sub mancipiorum futili conditione." His auditis iratus rex dixit, ‘Iam dixi tibi sat manifeste, nec li. 380

adhuc piget iterum enucleatius tibi reserare? quod natale solum Normanniz nolo in omni uita mea de manu mea eicere. Angliz quoque regnum quod ingenti nactus sum labore, nolo nec michi consultum est dum uiuam diuidere? quia sicut a domino in euangelio dicitur, *omne regnum in se ipsum diuisum desolabitur".! Qui me regnare fecit? ipse michi pro sua uoluntate regnum mutabit. Hoc certissimum omnibus sit quod dum uiuam, principatum meum nemini tradam" nec mortalem quemlibet regni mei participem faciam. Capiti meo a uicariis Christi sacrum diadema celebre impositum est? et regale sceptrum Albionis ferre michi soli commissum est. Indecens igitur est et omnino iniustum, ut quandiu uitalibus auris perfruar? parem michi seu maiorem in ditione mea quempiam patiar.' Tunc Rodbertus audita patris irreuocabili deffinitione ait, ‘Peregrina compulsus ad instar Thebani Polinicis? adire, amodo extraneis temptabo seruire? si fortuna comitante possim in exilio stemma impetrare, quod intra patrios lares michi palam denegatur cum dedecore. Vtinam Adrasto seni similem nunc

li. 381

inueniam,

cui fide seruitutis munus

alacriter offeram:

et

a quo gratam remunerationem recipiam." Rodbertus his dictis iratus abscessit? et relicto patre de Normannia exiuit. Tunc cum illo abierunt Rodbertus de Bellismo et Guillelmus de Britolio, Rogerius Ricardi de Benefacta filius et Iohel Alueredi gigantis filius, Rodbertus de Molbraio et Guillelmus ZI EGIT 2 The story of Thebes was known from the Thebais of Statius. Orderic's use of it in the dramatic speech attributed to Robert Curthose indicates that stories based on the Theban legend were told in lay circles at least when Orderic

was writing (c. 1127), nearly thirty years before the appearance of the vernacular Roman de Thébes. R. Bezzola, Les Origines et la formation de la littérature courtoise

BOOK

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youths, you will bring upon yourself to your lasting sorrow such defeat and rejection as made him hateful to his own people and to others.” Robert replied, ‘My lord king, I did not come here to listen to a lecture, for I have had more than enough of these from my schoolmasters and am surfeited with them. Give me instead a satisfactory answer about the honor due to me, which I am awaiting so that I may know what kind of life I may live. On one thing I am unshakeably resolved and wish all to know: that I will no longer fight for anyone in Normandy with the hopeless status of a hired dependant.’ On hearing this the king exclaimed in anger, ‘I have already told you plainly enough and have no scruples in telling you again even more plainly that I will never agree as long as I live to relax my grip on my native land of Normandy. Moreover I do not choose to divide the kingdom of England, which I won with such great pains, in my lifetime; nor would it be wise to do so for as the Lord says in the Gospel, "every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation"'.! He who set me over the kingdom will transfer me to another kingdom in his own good time. Let no one doubt this for a moment: as long as I live I will surrender my duchy to no one, and will allow no living man to share my kingdom with me. The sacred crown was publicly placed on my head by the vicars of Christ, and I alone was given the right to hold the royal sceptre of Albion. Therefore it would be contrary to all order and justice if, whilst there is breath in my body, I should suffer anyone to share my government or rule over me.’ When Robert had heard his father’s unshakeable decree, he said, ‘From now on, compelled like the Theban Polynices? to seek aid in exile, I will take service among foreigners, and see whether with fortune’s aid I may win in exile the rewards so publicly and contemptuously denied me in

my father’s house. May I find someone like old Adrastus, to whom I will gladly offer service and fealty, and from whom I will receive a worthy recompense!’ When he had spoken these words, Robert stormed out of his father’s presence and left Normandy. The men who accompanied him at that time were Robert of Belléme and William of Breteuil,

Roger the son of Richard of Bienfaite and Joel son of Alfred the Giant, Robert of Mowbray and William of Moulins-la-Marche, en occident (Paris, 1960), ii. 404—7, suggests that unless Robert had had some

literary education Orderic would not have put these words into his mouth. 822219X

I

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de Molinis, Guillelmus de Ruperia’ aliique plures generositate pollentes, militari probitate insignes, superbia immanes, feritate contrariis hostibus terribiles, ac ad arduum nefas inchoandum nimis procaces. Horum contubernio Rodbertus tiro inutiliter

stipatus est’ et extera per regna ferme quinque annis peruagatus

li. 382

est. Complicibus suis patrios iam gratis fundos concesserat: plurima quoque patrimoniis eorum augmenta nequicquam promiserat. Illi nichilominus uanis eundem pollicitationibus extulerunt? et sic sese mutuo mendacibus promissis exhortantes deceperunt. Egressus itaque Rodbertus de natali solo primum adiit auunculos suos Rodbertum Fresionem satrapam Flandrensium:? et Vdonem germanum eius archiepresulem Treuerensium.3 Deinde nobiles alios expetiit cognatos duces comitesque et potentes oppidanos in Lotharingia, Alemannia, Aquitania et Wasconia. Illis nimirum suas querelas deprompsit, in quibus falsa ueris multoties commiscuit. Querimoniz uero eius a multis libenter audiebantur? et

a largis baronibus ei multa munera dabantur. Porro ille quz ab amicis liberalibus ad subsidium sui accipiebat, histrionibus et parasitis ac meretricibus insipienter distribuebat’ quibus improuide distractis egestate graui compressus mendicabat, et aes alienum ab externis foeneratoribus exul egenus queritabat. Mathildis regina filio materna compatiens ex pietate? ingentes sumptus auri et argenti aliarumque rerum preciosarum ei sepe mittebat rege nesciente. Quod ubi ipse comperuit" ei ne ulterius iteraret terribiliter prohibuit. Illa iterum eadem procaciter repetente? iratus rex dixit, “Vera est cuiusdam sapientis nimiumque michi probabilis assertio? "Naufragium rerum est mulier malefida marito."* Quis ulterius in hoc mundo fidam sibi et utilem sociam repperiet? En collateralis mea quam uelut animam meam diligo, quam omnibus gazis et potestatibus in toto prefeci

regno meo" inimicos meos insidiantes uite meze sustentat, opibus meis summopere ditat? et contra salutem meam studiose armat,

consolatur ac roborat. Ad hzc illa respondit, ‘Ne mireris domine mi obsecro" si ego primogenitam prolem meam tenere diligo. Per uirtutem Altissimi si Rodbertus filius meus mortuus esset, et in * See David, Robert Curthose, p. 22 n. 20. Joel, son of Alfred the Giant, was accidentally omitted from the list in Le Prévost’s edition. Alfred the Giant appears as witness to charters both of William of Belléme c. 1025 and of the dukes of Normandy (Fauroux, nos. 33, 69, 99). ? 'The Anglo- Saxon Chronicle (D) also says (s.a. 1079) that he went to his uncle Robert in Flanders. Florence of Worcester (ii. 12) records that he went to Philip king of France.

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William of Rupierre! and many others of noble birth and knightly prowess, men of diabolical pride and ferocity terrible to their neighbours, always far too ready to plunge into acts of lawlessness. Such unprofitable companions-at-arms surrounded the young knight Robert as he wandered through foreign lands for about five years. He had already freely given his family estates to his confederates, and had vainly promised many gifts to enlarge their patrimony. They were equally ready to raise his spirits with empty promises; and so, encouraging each other with false hopes, they deceived each other. So Robert left his native land and visited first his uncles, Robert the Frisian, count of Flanders,” and his brother Odo archbishop of

Tréves.3 Afterwards he sought out other noble kinsmen who were dukes and counts and powerful lords of fortresses in Lotharingia, Germany, Aquitaine, and Gascony. To them, doubtless, he poured

out his griefs, freely mixing truth with falsehood. Certainly many listened sympathetically to his pleas, and he received many gifts from bountiful magnates. But he foolishly scattered all that he had received from generous friends to help his cause amongst jongleurs and parasites and courtesans; and once his resources had been recklessly squandered he was compelled by dire poverty to beg and, as a destitute exile, to implore loans from foreign usurers. Queen Matilda, feeling a mother's affection for her son, often

used to send him large sums of silver and gold and other valuables without the king's knowledge. On getting word of it he ordered her, in a passion, never to do such a thing again. When she recklessly renewed her offence, the king exclaimed in anger, ‘How very true here and now is the maxim of a certain sage, ''A faithless wife brings ruin to the state".* After this who in this world shall ever find himself a trustworthy helpmate ? The wife of my bosom, whom I love as my own soul, whom I have set over my whole kingdom and entrusted with all authority and riches, this wife, I say, supports the enemies who plot against my life, enriches them with my money, zealously arms and succours and strengthens them to my grave peril.’ Whereat she replied, ‘O my lord, do not wonder that I love my first-born child with tender affection. By the power of the Most High, if my son Robert were dead and buried seven feet 3 An

error;

he was

not the brother of Robert the Frisian (David, Robert

Curthose, p. 24 n. 30). 4 I have been unable to find the source of this quotation.

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imo terre septem pedibus ab oculis uiuentium absconditus esset, ii. 383 meoque sanguine uiuificari posset? cruorem meum pro illo effunderem, et plusquam feminea imbecillitas spondere audet paterer anxietatem. Quanam putas ratione, ut me delectet diuitiis abundare, filiumque meum nimia patiar opprimi egestate? Procul

absit a corde meo tanta duricia’ nec uestra debet hoc michi iubere

ii. 384

potentia." His auditis ferus princeps expalluit, et in tantum ira eius efferbuit? ut quendam regine ueredarium! nomine Samsonem genere Britonem iussisset comprehendi, et mox oculis priuari. Verum ille per amicos reginz ut animositatem regis agnouit, fuga elapsus edictum ferale deuitauit? ac ad coenobium Vticense actutum confugit. Ibi a Mainerio abbate regina precante susceptus est? et monachicum scema pro saluatione corporis et animz salubriter indutus est. Callidus et eloquens atque castus fuit? et xxvi annis in ordine monachili uixit. His temporibus in T'eutonica regione quidam anachorita uir bonus et sanctus erat? qui inter cetera uirtutum insignia spiritum prophetiz habebat. Ad quem Mathildis regina legatos et xenia misit? ac ut pro marito filioque suo Rodberto Deum oraret suppliciter rogauit, ac ut uaticinium quod eis in futurum contingeret sibi mandaret adiecit. At ille nuncios tante mulieris benigniter suscepit? induciasque respondendi usque in diem tercium petiit. Illucescente autem tercia die uocatis reginze responsalibus dixit, ‘Ite, et hec dominz uestre de parte mea intimate. Secundum postulationem tuam Deum oraui’ et hzc ipso demonstrante in uisione didici. Vidi quoddam pratum herbis et floribus pulcherrime uestitum’ et equum in prato pascentem ferocissimum. Vndique stabat multitudo armentorum? qua nimis concupiscebant depascere pratum, sed omnia feruidus sonipes abigebat? nec aliquod animal illuc introire sinebat, ut flores decerperet? uel gramina conculcaret. Proh dolor elegans et fortis cornipes subito deficiens euanuit: et lasciuiens uacca tutelam prati florentis ad custodiendum suscepit. Protinus omnis animalium multitudo circumstantium illuc libere accurrit? et undique pratum depascens omnem eius pristinum decorem absque metu defensoris deuorauit, pedibus passim conculcauit? et stercoris proluuie commaculauit. Hzc uidens obstupui et a ductore qui hzc michi ostendebat quid * Samson was evidently employed as a private messenger in the queen's household. These couriers had to be men of trust, capable of carrying verbal messages as well as letters (cf. Giles Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable

(Cambridge, Mass., 1967), ii. 24-6).

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deep in the earth, hid from the eyes of the living, and I could bring him back to life with my own blood, I would shed my life-blood for him and suffer more anguish for his sake than, weak woman that I am, I dare to promise. How do you imagine that I can find any joy in possessing great wealth if I allow my son to be burdened by dire poverty? May I never be guilty of such hardness of heart; all your power gives you no right to demand this of me.’ On hearing this the stern duke grew pale with anger and, bursting with rage, he commanded one of the queen’s messengers! named Samson, a Breton, to be arrested and then blinded. How-

ever, when Samson got wind through friends of the queen of the king’s wrath, he avoided the terrible sentence by flight, and speedily took refuge in the monastery of Saint-Evroul. There at the queen’s plea he was received by Abbot Mainer, and prudently adopted the monastic way of life to save both body and soul. He was shrewd and eloquent and chaste; and he lived for twenty-six years under the monastic rule. At this time there was living in the land of Germany a certain good and holy hermit who had, amongst other signs of his powers, the gift of prophecy. Queen Matilda sent messengers and gifts to him, and implored him to pray to God for her husband and her son Robert, asking him also to send a prophecy of what would befall them in the future. He received the messengers of this great lady courteously, and asked for a delay of three days before giving his reply. As dawn was breaking on the third day he sent for the queen’s representatives and said, ‘Go, and take this message from me to your mistress. I have prayed to God as you requested, and have learned this from him in a vision. I saw a certain meadow,

fairly decked with grass and flowers, and feeding in that meadow was a highly-mettled horse. All around stood a great herd of cattle, yearning to browse in the meadow; but the proud steed drove them all away, and would not permit any animal to enter the meadow and uproot the flowers or trample down the grass. But alas! the brave and stately steed suddenly fell down dead, and a wanton cow took charge of the flowery meadow. At once the whole herd of animals standing around rushed in without hindrance and, browsing all over the meadow, greedily devoured its

former beauty without fear of the defender, trampled it everywhere under foot, and defiled it with a flood of dung. I was appalled at the sight, and asked the guide who was showing this to

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significarent inquisiui. At ille cuncta diligenter exponens dixit michi, *Pratum quod uides significat Normanniam, et herbz multitudinem plebis in ea pacem habentis et rerum abundantiam. Flores

ii, 385

autem

sunt

zcclesie,

ubi

monachorum

et clericorum

sanctimonialiumque sunt cohortes pudicze; ubi fideles animze indesinenter inherent coelesti theoriz. Porro effrenis caballus portendit Guillelmum regem Anglorum" sub cuius defensione sacer ordo deuotorum: secure militat regi angelorum. Auida uero animalia que circumstant sunt Franci et Britones, Morini et Andegauenses, alieque gentes collimitanez, que nimis inuident felicitati Normanniz? et parate sunt uelut lupi ad praedam opes eius inuadere, sed Guillelmi regis penitus repelluntur inuincibili fortitudine. Verum postquam ipse defecerit pro humana conditione? Rodbertus filius eius ei succedet in ducatu Normanniz. Mox undique hostes eam circundabunt, et tutore lapso nobilem et opulentam regionem intrabunt, decore diuitiisque spoliabunt, et contempto principe stulto totam Normanniam impie conculcabunt. Ipse uelut uacca lasciuiens libidini pigricizque seruiet, et ipse primus zcclesiasticas opes diripiet? spurcisque lenonibus aliisque lecatoribus distribuet. 'l'alibus principatum suum porriget? et ab his consilium in necessitatibus suis exiget. In ducatu Rodberti catamitze et effeminati dominabuntur: sub quorum dominatione nequitia et miseria grassabuntur. Vrbes et uilla cremabuntur, basilicze sanctorum temere uiolabuntur. Cetus fidelium utriusque sexus dispergentur, hominumque multa milia ferro uel flamma perimentur? ex quibus multi sine poenitentia et uiatico labentur, et pro reatibus suis ad tartara seua trahentur. Euentibus his Normannia subiacebit, et sicut olim uicinarum uictrix gentium immoderate tumuit? sic sub duce lubrico et segni despicabilis erit, et telis uicinorum miserabiliter diuque patebit. Insipiens dux nomine tantum principis cognominabitur, sed nebulonum uis ci deditzeque prouincie ad multorum perniciem dominabitur." Visio huiusmodi nuper michi supplicanti apperuit? ipsamque michi spiritualis index ut expositum est aparuit. Verumptamen dira quz imminent Normannis? o uenerabilis era non uidebis. Nam post bonam confessionem in pace quiesces? et non mariti

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me what it might mean. He carefully explained everything to me, saying, '""The meadow that you see signifies Normandy, and the grass the multitude of people who enjoy peace and abundance of goods in it. The flowers are the churches, where pure companies of monks and clerks and nuns dwell, and faithful souls ceaselessly apply themselves to heavenly contemplation. Next, the unbridled horse portends William king of England, under whose protection the holy order of dedicated men and women fights undistracted for the King of angels. But the greedy animals who ring them round are the French and Bretons, the Flemings and the Angevins and other frontier peoples, who are jealous of the prosperity of Normandy, and are eager to seize some of its riches as wolves their prey, but are held at bay by the invincible might of King William. But later when, since he is human, he comes

to die, Robert his

son will succeed him in the duchy of Normandy. Whereupon enemies from all sides will compass it about and invade the honourable and wealthy land deprived of its guardian, strip it of its beauty and riches and, disregarding its foolish ruler, trample all Normandy contemptuously under foot. He like the wanton cow will give himself up to lust and indolence, and will be the first to plunder the wealth of the church to distribute it amongst his base panders and other lechers. To such men will he lay open his duchy, and from them will he take counsel on his needs. In Robert's duchy catamites and effeminates will govern, and under their rule vice and wretchedness will abound. Towns and villages will be burned; monasteries of holy men will be wantonly defiled. Communities of the faithful of both sexes will be broken up, and many thousands of men will be destroyed by fire and sword, amongst whom many will perish without penance or the last sacrament, and be dragged down to the raging fires of Hell for their sins. Normandy will suffer these disasters; and she who once so proudly lorded it over her conquered neighbours will now, under a foolish and idle duke, be despised, and will long and wretchedly lie at the mercy of the swords of her neighbours. The weak duke will enjoy no more than an empty title, and a swarm of nobodies will dominate both him and the captive duchy, bringing ruin to many." This is the vision that came to me just now as I prayed: my spiritual guide explained it to me just as I have expounded it. But in truth, gracious lady,

you will never see the evils that threaten the Normans. For you will die in peace after making a good confession, and will never see

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occasum nec prolis infortunium nec dilecti cespitis desolationem conspicies.' His itaque ab anachorita dictis nuncii reuersi sunt? et uaticinium ii. 386 leta cum tristibus continens reginz retulerunt. Homines uero subsequentis zeui qui Neustrize strages perpessi sunt: uel incendia et caetera detrimenta senserunt, cladibus suis et horrendis infortuniis ueridicum uatem ueraciter experti sunt. Denique Rodbertum post multas et inutiles circumitiones hebitudinis suze penituit’ sed libere ad iratum patrem quem proterue reliquerat repedare nequiuit. Vnde ad Philippum regem Francorum consobrinum scilicet suum diuertit’ et ab eo adminiculum sibi obnixe poposcit. Quem ille suscepit? et in castrum Gerberracum! direxit. Illud quippe castrum in pago Beluacensi situm est et Neustriz collimitaneum" positione uero loci et muris ac propugnaculis fortissimum. Helias quoque uicedominus cum compari suo gratanter exulem regium suscepit? illique suisque complicibus auxilium in omnibus spopondit. Moris enim est illius castri ut ibidem duo pares domini sint? et omnes ibidem fugitiui suscipiantur undecumque aduenerint. Ibi Rodbertus gregarios equites? collegit? eisque et multis baronibus Galliz si sibi suppetias aduenerint multo maiora quam dare posset promisit. Hac igitur occasione multa mala pullularunt, et filii perditionis fraude uel ui contra inermes et innocuos prodierunt/ et innumeras iniquitates nequiter machinati sunt. Multi de his qui pacifici uidebantur, et regi seu clientibus eius adulabantur? ex insperato ii. 387 inimicis rei publice iungebantur, a quibus affines dominique sui exhzredatis uendebantur. Sic Normannia peius a suis quam ab externis uexabatur: et intestina peste demoliebatur. At magnanimus rex ualidos exercitus prouide preparauit, in finibus prouinciz hostibus contiguz per castella disposuit? contra * The siege of Gerberoy took place in January 1079. The castle was the most

powerful on the frontier between the French and Norman Vexin, a region of

great strategic importance in the struggle of the local magnates to extend their powers (J.-F. Lemarignier, L'Hommage en marche et les frontiéres féodales, pp. 20-1, 36—7). The narrative authorities show that King William suffered a defeat during the three-week siege, and was probably wounded (David, Robert Curthose, pp. 26—7). But an authentic charter in favour of the church of St. Quentin at Beauvais, signed by the kings of both France and England whilst they were besieging Gerberoy, proves that a reconciliation took place, though apparently Robert was not a party to it (M. Prou, Recueil des actes de Philippe I (Paris, 1908), pp. 242-5). William must have secured this peace by concessions of some kind, possibly by agreeing to the permanent separation

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the death of your husband or the misfortunes of your son or the desecration of your beloved land.' When the hermit had finished speaking the messengers went back and repeated to the queen the prophecy, in which sad and joyful auguries were mixed. And indeed the men of the next generation, who brought war and destruction to Normandy, or who endured the flames and other horrors, learned among the massacres and disasters that the prophet had spoken all too truly. In the end Robert, after long and aimless wanderings, repented of his folly but could not bring himself to return voluntarily to his angry father, after leaving him so wantonly. So he betook himself to his kinsman Philip, king of France, and urgently demanded some means of support from him. The king received him well, and sent him to the castle of Gerberoy,! which stands in the Beauvaisis,

on the frontiers of Normandy. It occupies an almost impregnable site, and is very strongly fortified with walls and battlements. Helias, the vidame, and his fellow officer gladly welcomed the royal exile, and provided him and his followers with all the help they needed. For this castle is by custom always in the charge of two equal officers, and all fugitives are taken into the garrison, no matter whence they come. There Robert assembled a garrison of common knights,? and promised them and many French barons in return for their support much more than he was in a position to give. This was the root of many evils, and the sons of perdition sallied forth against the weak and helpless, by force and fraud perpetrating every kind of iniquity. Many who seemed peaceful and fawned on the king and his followers unexpectedly allied with the enemies of the kingdom, betraying their kinsmen and lords to the disinherited. So Normandy was more sorely vexed by her own people than by strangers, and was eaten away by inward sickness. Meanwhile the great-hearted king assembled strong forces of troops and, placing them strategically in castles along the frontiers of Normandy and England (A. Fliche, Le Rógne de Philippe I°” (Paris, 1912), pp. 280-1), even though the form in which he signed the charter as rex Anglorum

with no reference to Normandy shows his determination to keep his own tie

of vassalage to the minimum (J.-F. Lemarignier, Le Gouvernement royal aux premiers temps capétiens (Paris, 1965), p. 118). 2 The 'gregarii equites! are contrasted with the barons; the term seems to imply simply knights under the command of someone, just as ‘gregarii milites’ in general usage meant ‘common soldiers’ in contrast to officers.

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omnes aduersarios uiriliter undique restitit, nec aliquem terram suam impune predari permisit. Hoc eciam quod tam prope limitem suum hostes sui sedem sibi elegerant indignum duxit? nec sine terribili calumnia diutius pertulit. Vnde post Natale Domini in hibernis mensibus ferratas phalanges adunauit: et inimicos dira sibi comminantes apud Gerberracum uisere uadit et fere tribus septimanis cum ualida manu castrenses obsidione cohercuit.’ Precipui pugiles. in utraque parte militabant, et frequenter

electi fortitudine peritiaque militari ad conflictum conueniebant. Hinc Normanni et Angli regiique auxiliares de finitimis regionibus acriter insistebant: illinc Galli et uicini hostes Rodberto coherentes ii. 388 fortiter resistebant. Confligentibus illis plures deiciebantur, sonipedes interficiebantur et multa certantibus damna coaceruabantur. Regresso rege Rotomagum, prouidi proceres inierunt consilium? qualiter pacificarent patrem et filium. Ad hoc itaque colloquium Rogerius comes Scrobesburiensis et Hugo Cestrensis, Hugo de Gornaco,? Hugo de Grentemaisnilio, Rogerius de Bellomonte cum

ii. 389

filiis suis Rodberto et Henrico, aliique plures affuerunt, regique dixerunt, ‘Sullimitatem uestram magne rex humiliter adimus" et ut preces nostras clementer exaudias obsecramus. Prauo peruersorum monitu iuuenum Rodbertus iuuenis male deceptus est? et inde multis ingens discrimen et detrimentum exortum est. Illum erroris sui paenitet? sed huc sine uestro iussu accedere non audet. Vestram clementiam ut miserearis ei suppliciter exorat? et per nos quos tibi fideles nouit hoc impetrare temptat. Reus est et in multis peccauit: sed penitet eum et idoneam emendationem promittit. Omnes igitur nos uestram exoramus clementiam: ut supplicanti filio exorabilis pie condones indulgentiam. Deuiantem prosapiam corrige? redeuntem suscipe, penitenti benigniter parce.’ Pro filiis et fratribus cognatisque suis qui cum Rodberto exulabant: turbati optimates sollicite regem interpellabant. Quibus ille respondit, "Miror quod tantopere pro perfido supplicatis homine" qui nefas inauditum in regno meo ausus est incipere. Intestinos tumultus * See above, p. 108 n. r.

2 The activities of Hugh of Gournay on this frontier suggest that the ‘conquéts Hue de Gournay' which were to be for centuries enclaves of Norman

custom in the French Vexin belonged to his time rather than to the time of his grandson, Hugh (Lemarignier, L'Hommage en marche et les frontiéres féodales

(Lille, 1945), pp. 20-2).

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of the province near to the enemy, showed a strong front to his foes everywhere, and prevented them from plundering any of his lands with impunity. In particular he was affronted that his enemies should have chosen to establish themselves so near to his frontiers,

and he would endure it no longer without a formidable challenge. So in the winter months after Christmas he assembled armed troops and advanced to reconnoitre Gerberoy, where his enemies were uttering dire threats, and with a powerful force closely besieged the garrison for about three weeks. The leading champions on both sides engaged in conflict, and men chosen for their courage and military skill met in combat on many occasions. On the one side Normans and English and royal auxiliaries recruited locally attacked fiercely; on the other Frenchmen and enemies from the border region adhering to Robert stalwartly resisted. As _ they clashed together many horses were slain, and the combatants suffered repeated losses. After the king had returned to Rouen, the more far-sighted magnates took counsel on how they could make peace between father and son. Roger earl of Shrewsbury and Hugh of Chester, Hugh of Gournay,? Hugh of Grandmesnil, Roger of Beaumont with his sons, Robert and Henry, and a number of others, took

part in this discussion, and said to the king, "We humbly approach your mighty presence, great king, begging you to lend a propitious ear to our entreaties. Young Robert has been led astray by the evil counsel of degenerate youths, with the result that many have suffered great dangers and injuries. He repents of his error; but he dares not approach you without your bidding. He entreats you of your mercy to pardon him, and wishes to bring this about through us, whom he knows to be faithful to you. Certainly he is at fault and has done wrong in many ways: but he is penitent and promises to make full amends. We all of us beg for your mercy, so that you may be persuaded by your son's plea and, like a dutiful father, may grant him pardon. Correct your child when he errs, welcome him when he returns, mercifully spare him when he repents.' The anxious nobles also earnestly entreated the king for their own sons and brothers and kinsfolk who had gone into exile with Robert. To them the king gave this reply, ‘I am amazed that you should plead so urgently for a traitor who has dared to commit such monstrous crimes in my kingdom. He has stirred up civil dissent against me, lured away my young knights, whom I have

II2

ii. 390

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V

contra me commouit, tirones meos quos alui et militaribus armis decoraui abduxit? Hugonem de Castello-nouo! aliosque forinsecos hostes undique michi procurauit. Quis ex antecessoribus meis a tempore Rollonis talem pugnam a sobole sua perpessus est ut ego? Guillelmum magni Rollonis filium et tres Ricardos duces Normanniz, dominum meum et patrem Rodbertum considerate? et uidete quam fideliter filii patribus suis usque ad mortem seruiere. Iste ducatum Neustrize et Cenomannensem comitatum michi auferre sategit’ Gallos et Andegauenses cum Aquitanis et innumeris aliis in me terribiliter exciuit. Omne genus humanum si potuisset, contra me commouisset? et me uobiscum trucidasset. Secundum diuinam legem per Moisen datam mortis reus est;? et reatu similis Absalon pari nece multandus est.’ Frequenti colloquio Normannici proceres regem allocuti sunt: et dulci affatu precibusque rancorem eius emollire conati sunt. Episcopi aliique religiosi uiri diuinis sermonibus duriciam tumidi cordis contriuerunt: regina et legati regis Francorum nobilesque uicini et amici ad compaginandam pacem accesserunt. Tandem fortis princeps tantorum assultibus magnatorum cessit? et ex pietate uictus sobolem suam cum collegis suis recepit. Normanniz quoque ducatum sicut olim apud Bonamvillam zeger concesserat ei post obitum suum: nunc iterum facta recapitulatione concessit optimatum consultu suorum. Pace nimirum peracta Normanni et Cenomannenses oppido gauisi sunt’ qui iamdudum bellico labore per plures annos uehementer attriti sunt. Serenitas pacis diu quesitz inter regem et filium eius celeriter obnubilata est.4 Proteruus enim iuuenis patrem sequi uel oboedire dedignatus est? animosus uero princeps ob ignauiam eius crebris eum redargutionibus et conuiciis palam iniuriatus est. Vnde denuo post aliquot tempus paucis sodalibus fretus a patre recessit, nec postea rediit? donec pater moriens Albericum comitem* ut ducatum Neustriz reciperet in Galliam ad eum direxit.® ' Hugh of Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais was a son-in-law of Roger of Montp his share in Robert's revolt is described by Orderic in Book IV (above, li. 358). ? Cf. Exodus xxi. 15. 3 See David, Robert Curthose, p. 12; above, ii. 356. * The reconciliation had certainly taken place before May 1080, when Gregory VII wrote expressing pleasure at the news (Jaffé, Bibliotheca, ii. 420-1), and Robert was acting with his father as late as 18 July 1083 (David, Robert Curthose, p. 36). The death of Queen Matilda on 2 November 1083 probably removed the only influence capable of preventing conflict between the two.

5 Aubrey, for a short time from 1080 earl of Northumbria. He had given

up his English lands and offices and returned to Normandy

before

1086 (see

BOOK V

i14

educated and invested with arms, and supported Hugh of Cháteauneuf! and other foreign enemies against me. Which of my ancestors from the time of Rollo ever had to endure such hostility from any child of his as I do? Look at William, the son of Rollo the Great, and the three Richards, dukes of Normandy, and my lord and father Robert, and you will see how faithfully sons served their fathers up to the hour of death. This man strove to wrest the duchy of Normandy and the county of Maine from me. He incited Frenchmen and Angevins and men of Aquitaine and countless others bitterly against me. He would not hesitate, if he could, to stir up the whole human race against me and slay me and you as well. According to the divine law, given to us through Moses, he is deserving of death,? and like Absalom in his guilt ought to be punished by a death like Absalom’s.’ The Norman nobles held repeated parleys with the king, and endeavoured by fair speech and pleading to soften his harshness. The bishops and other men of religion strove to soften his proud heart with the words of God; the queen and representatives of the king of France, with noble neighbours and friends, all combined to restore peace. Finally the stern king yielded to the pressure of all these great persons, and surrendering to paternal duty became reconciled with his son and his son’s confederates. And by the advice of his chief men he again granted Robert the duchy of Normandy after his death, as he had once before granted it to him when he lay sick at Bonneville. The people of Normandy and Maine welcomed the restoration of peace with rejoicing, for they had been weakened and impoverished already by several years of war. But the peace between the king and his son which had taken so long to achieve was soon clouded.^ The stubborn young man contemptuously refused to follow or obey his father; the quicktempered king continually poured abuse and reproach on him in public for his failings. So, shortly afterwards, he once more left his father's court, taking only a few companions with him, and never returned until his father, on his deathbed, sent Earl Aubreys to him in France to invite him to take possession of the duchy of Normandy. E. A. Freeman,

The History of the Norman

Conquest of England, and edit., iv.

672). 6 William of Malmesbury also says that Robert was in France at the time of his father's death (GR ii. 338); but according to Robert of Torigny’s interpolations in William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 268) he was at Abbeville in Ponthieu.

II4

BOOK

V

II

li. 391

li. 392

Sicut pro conatibus przlibatis stomachans genitor temerariam prolem interdum maledixit, eique plura plerunque infortunia peroptauit’ sic obsecundantem sibi prolem Guillelmum et Henricum amicabiliter benedixit. Ricardus enim filius eius qui post Rodbertum natus fuerat, sed nondum militize cingulum acceperat" dum prope Guentam in noua foresta uenaretur, et quandam feram caballo currente pertinaciter insequeretur? ad sellz clitellam ualido corili ramo admodum constrictus est: et letaliter laesus est. Dehinc in eadem ebdomada poenitens et absolutus atque sacro uiatico communitus est; nec multo post cum magno multorum luctu in Anglia defunctus est. Willelmus autem Rufus et Henricus patri fauentes paterna benedictione potiti sunt? fastigiumque regni et ducatus per plures annos optinuerunt. Porro Agatha regis filia,! quz prius fuerat Haraldo desponsata? postmodum Amfursio regi Gallici; per procos petenti missa est desponsanda. Sed que priori sponso ad uotum gauisa non est’ secundo sociari ualde abominata est. Anglum uiderat et dilexerat? sed Hibero coniungi nimis metuit quem nunquam perspexerat. Omnipotenti ergo effudit precem lacrimosam, ne duceretur ipsa in Hispaniam, sed ipse potius susciperet eam. Orauit et exaudita est’ obiterque uirgo defuncta est. Deinde corpus eius ad natale solum a ductoribus relatum est? et in ecclesia sancte Mariz perpetuz uirginis in urbe Baiocensi sepultum est. Adelidis pulcherrima uirgo iam nubilis deuote Deo se commendauit? et sub tutela Rogerii de Bellomonte sancto fine quieuit. Constantia Ferganno comiti Britonum Nanticensis filio,? Baiocis data est a patre cum ingenti tripudio? que in Britannia mortua est sine filio. ! For the children of William

and Matilda

see Douglas,

WC,

pp.

393-5.

In Book III Orderic named only four daughters, omitting Agatha (above, ii. 104); and in his interpolations in William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 191) he named Adelaide as the daughter betrothed to Harold. The question of the Spanish marriage is a difficult one. William of Poitiers claimed that two Spanish kings were rivals for the hand of William's daughter (Foreville, p. 143). William of Malmesbury

(GR ii. 333) distinguishes the betrothed

of Harold

from the

betrothed of the Spanish king, whom he calls Alfonso. But it is difficult to be certain of the identity of the king. When Ferdinand I died in 1065 his lands

were

divided between

Sancho

(Castile), Alfonso (Léon), and Garcia

(Galicia

and Portugal). Sancho defeated first Garcia and then Alfonso; after his murder Alfonso united all the kingdom in his empire and ruled from 1072 to IIO9 as Alfonso VI. If William of Poitiers is right the two kings may have been either

the first contenders, Sancho and Garcia, or Sancho and Alfonso. Wherever Orderic got his information, possibly orally from men such as Goisbert the doctor or Baudry of Guitry, he does not appear to have imagined that the king might be Alfonso VI; for though he qualified Alfonso as ‘rex Galicie’ he normally wrote his name 'Hildefonsus'. Mr. R. A. Fletcher has suggested to me that Dfis

BOOK V

Ms

II

Just as William, a father angered by the attacks I have related, had from time to time cursed his presumptuous son and wished him many and various misfortunes, so he blessed and favoured William and Henry, the sons who supported him. For his son Richard, the next-born after Robert, when a youth who had not

yet received the belt of knighthood, had gone hunting in the New Forest near to Winchester; and whilst he was galloping in pursuit of a wild beast he had been badly crushed between a strong hazel branch and the pommel of his saddle, and mortally injured. Later in the same week he confessed and was absolved and fortified with the last sacrament, and not long afterwards, to the great grief of many, he died in England. But William Rufus and Henry who were obedient to their father earned his blessing, and for many years enjoyed the highest power in the kingdom and duchy. Next Agatha, the king’s daughter, who had fifst been betrothed to Harold, was afterwards sent to be married to Amfurcius king of Galicia, who asked for her hand through proxies. But she who had not enjoyed union with her first betrothed shrank with loathing from a second marriage. She had seen and loved the Englishman, but she was terrified of the Spanish husband she had never seen. So she besought the Almighty with tears that he would rather take her to himself than suffer her to be led away to Spain. She prayed and was heard; on the way she died a virgin. Then her body was brought back to her native land by her escort, and buried in the church of the blessed Virgin Mary in the city of Bayeux. Adelaide, a most

fair maiden,

vowed

herself to God

when

she reached

marriageable age, and made a pious end under the protection of Roger of Beaumont. Constance was given in marriage by her father to Fergant count of Brittany, son of the count of Nantes,” and married at Bayeux with great ceremony: afterwards she died childless in Brittany. Garcias might be mistaken for Amfurcius by someone unfamiliar with Visigothic script, and conceivably Orderic’s informant may have misinterpreted some letter that he had seen. The king is also called ‘Anfursus’ in the Vita Beati Simonis comitis Crespeiensis (Migne, PL clvi. 1215), possibly deriving from the same source. Nevertheless Orderic's knowledge of Spanish affairs in this period

was confused and scanty, and there is a strong case for Alfonso as the betrothed

of Adelaide or Agatha (see Foreville, p. 142 n. 3; Douglas, loc. cit.). 2 Constance married Alan Fergant in 1086. Orderic stated earlier that the

marriage took place at Caen (above, ii. 352 and n. 4).

116

ii. 393

ii. 394.

BOOK

V

Stephanus Blesensis palatinus comes! cum Guillelmo rege uolens firmare amiciciam? requisiuit ab eo in coniugium Adelam eius filiam. Quae consultu prudentum a patre illi concessa est? et cum magno satis tripudio illi sociata est. Ille apud Bretolium eam desponsauit? et apud Carnotum honorabiles nuptias fecit.? Hic Tedbaldi filius fuit palatini consulis? et nepos Berte Britonum comitisse et Cenomannensium. Przcipuos consules Odonem et Hugonem fratres habuit? et filios quatuor Guillelmum et Tedbaldum Stephanumque et Henricum ex praefata coniuge genuit. Quorum tres priores sunt potentes consules? et inter maximos Francorum computantur et Anglorum proceres. Primogenitus enim Guillelmus gener Geronis de Solleio et heres uir bonus est et pacificus et sobole pollens atque facultatibus. Tedbaldus hzres haereditatis paternze multiplici uirtute uiget atque probitate. Stephanus autem gener Eustachii Boloniensis consulis et heres? dono Henrici regis auunculi sui comitatum Moritolii in Normannia et multos in Anglia optinuit honores. Henricus uero diuinz ab infantia militie in cenobio Cluniacensi mancipatus est? et sub monachili norma sacrz legis litteras pleniter edoctus est. In qua si bene perseuerauerit? celestis regni hzeres erit mundique contemptu mundanis primatibus spectabilis prestabit.* Hoc de progenie Guillelmi regis breuiter caraxatum ad presens sufficiat? quia me feruida uoluntas ad complendam promissionem meam iugiter stimulat, et reddere uotum me cogere non cessat. I2

li. 395

/Eternus dispositor rerum nauem suam inter procellas seculi potenter uehit et sapienter gubernat" et in uinea sua colonos cotidie laborantes benigniter adiuuat, atque infusione celestis gratiae * The title of ‘comes palatinus! used by the counts of Blois from the eleventh

century was purely honorary (Lot and Fawtier, Histoire des institutions frangaises

au Moyen Age, i. 127).

? The exact date of the marriage is uncertain (see A. Morey and C. N. L. Brooke, Gilbert Foliot and his Letters (Cambridge, 1965), p. 78 n. 1).

3 Theobald, the second son, received his father’s county of Champag ne; and

Stephen, favoured by Henry I, was given the county of Mortain and great estates in England and also acquired Boulogne by marriage. The eldest son,

William, was passed over in the succession for inadequacy of some kind, and acquired lands only by marriage to the daughter

and heir of Gilo of

Sully, a vassal of the counts of Champagne (ibid., pp. 4-10; H. d'Arbois de Jubain-

ville, Histoire des ducs et des comtes de Champagne (Paris, 1859 ff.), ii. 169-72).

BOOK

V

117

Stephen count palatine’ of Blois, anxious to strengthen the

bonds of friendship with King William, sought the hand of his daughter Adela in marriage. By the counsel of his advisers her father gave his consent, and she was united to him with due ceremonial. They were betrothed at Breteuil and honourably married at Chartres.? Stephen was a son of the count palatine Theobald, and nephew of Bertha countess of Brittany and Maine. He had two famous counts, Odo and Hugh, as brothers, and his wife bore him four sons, William and Theobald, Stephen and Henry. Of these the first three are powerful counts and rank among the highest nobles in France and England.3 William, the first-born, the son-in-law and heir of Gilo of Sully, is a good and peaceful man, blessed with children and wealth. Theobald, the heir of the

paternal inheritance, is a man of many parts and great integrity. And Stephen, the son-in-law and heir of Eustace count of Boulogne, received by the gift of his uncle King Henry the county of Mortain in Normandy and many honors in England. Lastly, Henry was given as a child oblate to fight for God in the monastery of Cluny, and living under the monastic rule has become thoroughly versed in Holy Scripture. And if he perseveres in this good course he will inherit the Kingdom of Heaven, and by contempt of the world will stand out above the great of this world.* What I have briefly written of the descendants of King William must suffice for the present, for an urgent longing to fulfil my promise drives me on, and presses me relentlessly to complete my undertaking. I2

The eternal ruler of all things skilfully sails his ship among the storms of the world, steering it wisely. He bountifully helps the labourers toiling daily in his vineyard and, imbuing them with Orderic's account of him as gentle and peace-loving is not easily reconciled with the best-known act of his career when, during a dispute with the chapter of Chartres that was awaiting arbitration, he forced the burgesses of Chartres

to form a confederation and take a solemn oath to kill the bishop (Ivo of Chartres, Epistolae, 134, in Migne, PL clxii. 144). The explanation may be that he was of retarded

mental

development

and, though

irresponsible,

violent

only in

words. 4 Probably Orderic did not know of Henry of Blois’s recent appointment as abbot of Glastonbury in 1126; the words seem to be meant in a purely figurative sense. They were certainly written before he became bishop of Winchester in 1129. 822219X

K

118

BOOK

V

contra labores et pericula corroborat. En ecclesiam suam inter bellicosos tumultus et militares strepitus prouide dirigit? pluribusque modis augmentando salubriter prouehit. Hoc Vticense monasterium plausabiliter expertum est? quod in sterili rure et inter pessimos affines consitum est, sed ope supernz pietatis contra perfidorum minaces conatus defensatum est. Mainerius abbas mense iulio huius zecclesize curam suscepit? eique xxii annis et viii mensibus utiliter prefuit. Porro xcii monachos ad agendum opus Dei prudenter in eius ouile locauit’ et qualiter ibidem habere se deberent studiose instituit. Basilicam uero nouam domosque monachis necessarias construere coepit? Deoque opitulante sat eleganter in regione deserta consummauit. Bona fama religionis eorum Vticenses ubertim nobilitauit’ et multos potentes atque mediocres ad amorem eorum prouocauit. Plures ad eos cucurrerunt ut eis societate necterentur:/ et beneficiorum participes erga Deum fieri mererentur.? Dabant terrena? ut a Deo reciperent coelestia. ii. 396

Quidam amore Dei feruentes seculum relinquebant? et res suas

iuxta regula statutum monasterio tradebant, et amicos ac parentes suos ad simile propositum monitis et precibus compellebant. Ex his fuerunt Rogerius de Sappo et Odo frater eius, Serlo de Orgeriis et Razso Ilberti filius, Odo Dolensis, Goisfredus Aurelianensis et

Iohannes Remensis, aliique plures litterarum peritia instructi, et deitatis ad cultum idonei. Nonnulli generositate pollebant? et exterioribus curis in rebus zcclesiasticis uigebant? Nam Drogo filius Goisfredi de Nouomercato, et Rogerius Erneisi de Coluncis filius? nepos Guillelmi de Guarenna, et Ernaldus Unfridi de Telliolo filius, nepos ex sorore Hugonis de Grentemaisnilio et Goisbertus medicus curiales erant:4+ et procuratione sua terras et ecclesias decimasque fratribus suis adquirebant. His profecto ! See above, ii. 134 n. 1, 148-50. ? The names of some benefactors who, without actually becoming monks,

were associated in bonds of fraternity and shared the benefit of the prayers of

the community are recorded in the Liber vitae of the abbey (Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 10062, ff. 77"-8o0Y). Some very humble men were included. In some villages

fraternities existed called 'frarria bacalariorum' or simply ‘frarria’, which collectively formed prayer unions with the abbey. The fraternity of Le Sap paid 3s. annually; on the death of any member a further 3s. was paid and the monks pronounced absolution and rang their bells as for a member of their household

(ibid., ff. 79-80).

BOOK

V

II9

divine grace, strengthens them to face toils and perils. Consider

how he directs his church amidst the tumults of war and the clash of arms, and preserving and enlarging itin many ways leads it on to safety! The monastery of Saint-Évroul has truly proved this, for it was founded in barren country amongst evil neighbours, but striving with the help of God's mercy it has been preserved against the threats of wicked men. Abbot Mainer received the pastoral charge of this abbey in the month of July, and ruled it well for twenty-two years and eight months. He carefully admitted ninetytwo monks into God's flock to perform the divine service, and diligently taught them how they should conduct themselves there. Also he began to build a new church and the conventual buildings necessary for the monks,! and with the help of God completed them not without grandeur in this barren spot. The good fame of their religious observance brought respect to the monks of SaintÉvroul, and caused great and humble alike to love them. Many flocked to them to be joined in fraternity with them, and so become participants in their benefits in the sight of God.? They gave earthly gifts to receive heavenly ones from God. Some, burning with the love of God, abandoned

the world,

handed over their possessions to the monastery according to the dictates of the Rule, and urged and exhorted their friends and kinsfolk to follow their example. Among these were Roger of Le Sap and Odo his brother, Serlo of Orgéres and Razso son of Ilbert, Odo of Dol, Geoffrey of Orleans, and John of Rheims,? and many others who were both well versed in learning and fit for the service of God. Some were distinguished by high birth, and took charge of the external administration of the abbey's affairs. For Drogo, son of Geoffrey of Neufmarché, and Roger, son of Erneis of Coulonces and nephew of William of Warenne, and Arnold, son of Humphrey of Tilleul, nephew of Hugh of Grandmesnil by his sister, and Goisbert the doctor were men of the court,+ and by

their good offices obtained lands and churches and tithes for the brethren. Certainly Mainer made use of the help of these men, 3 Roger of Le Sap and Serlo of Orgéres became abbots of Saint-Évroul, and Geoffrey of Orleans of Crowland; Odo, son of Arnulf of Dol, was a chaplain to Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester, before coming to Saint-Évroul with Arnold of Tilleul; John of Rheims was Orderic's revered master. 4 The first three were young lords in the household of Hugh of Avranches

before becoming monks at Saint-Évroul (below, pp. 216, 226); Goisbert the doctor came from the household of Ralph of Tosny (below, pp. 126, 150).

120

li. 397

BOOK

V

adiutoribus usus est Mainerius? et per eos creuit zecclesia commodis rebus et bonis habitatoribus. Prefatus abbas Fulconem de Guarleinuilla! uirum sollertem et idoneum ad regendam domum sibi socium elegit, illique preposituram monasterii sui commisit. Hic nempe Fulconis decani Ebroicensis filius fuit, et in ordine flagrans abbatem suum diligenter in omnibus adiuuit? patrem quoque suum magnamque patrimonii sui partem zecclesize suze attraxit. Praefatus decanus ex discipulis Fulberti Carnotensis episcopi fuit? et ex paterna hereditate feudum militis possedit. Illius etiam temporis ritu nobilem sociam nomine Orieldem habuit? ex qua copiosam progeniem generauit. Octo enim filios habuit: et duas filias, quorum nomina hzc sunt, Guarinus,

Christianus,

Radulfus,

Guillelmus,

Fulco,

Tirellus? Frodmundus, Hubertus et Gualterius cognomento Aluuisa et Adelidis. Tunc quippe in Neustria post aduentum Normannorum,

ii. 398

in tantum

dissoluta erat castitas clericorum" ut

non solum presbiteri sed etiam presules libere uterentur thoris concubinarum, et palam superbirent multiplici propagine filiorum ac filiarum. Huiusce modi mos inoleuit tempore neophitorum qui cum Rollone baptizati sunt? et desolatam regionem non litteris sed armis instructi uiolenter inuaserunt. Deinde presbiteri de stirpe Dacorum litteris tenuiter edocti parrochias tenebant? et arma ferentes laicalem feudum militari famulatu defendebant. Tandem Bruno Lotharingus Tullensis episcopus Romam ascitus est? Deoque dispensante Leo papa factus est. Hic in itinere dum Romam expeteret? angelos canentes audiuit ‘Dicit Dominus, “Ego cogito cogitationes pacis et non afflictionis’’,3 et czetera.’ Predictus papa multis bonis studuit? bene agendo et bene docendo subditis insigniter profuit. In Gallias anno dominicz incarnationis MXLIX? uenit? zcclesiam sancti Remigii Remorum archiepiscopi kal' Octobris dedicauit, et corpus eius instinctu Hermari abbatis in locum ubi nunc ueneratur gloriose transtulit. Tunc ibidem generale concilium tenuit, et inter reliqua zcclesiz commoda quz constituit: presbiteris arma ferre et coniuges habere omnino prohibuit.! Exinde letalis consuetudo paulatim exinanire cepit. Arma ! Cf. above, ii. 124, 146. ? Cf. Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 7 n. 17. 3 Jeremiah xxix. 11. Cf. Le Prévost, i. 183.

|

^ Canon 6 of the Council of Rheims forbade the carrying of arms by clerks

(Hefele, iv. 1023); and there is some evidence that the marriage of clerks was

attacked in the same council (C. N. L. Brooke, *Gregorian reform in action',

BOOK V

i

and through them the church increased its necessary possessions and the number of its good monks. Abbot Mainer chose as his helpmeet Fulk of Guernanville,! an intelligent man very capable of governing the house, and gave him the office of prior of his monastery. This man was a son of Fulk, dean of Evreux; zealous for his order he attentively supported his abbot in everything, and besides this induced his father to enter the monastery, bringing a great part of his patrimony with him. Fulk the dean was one of the pupils of Bishop Fulbert of Chartres, and held a knight's fee by inheritance from his father.? After the fashion of that time he had a highly-born wife named Orielde, by whom he had a numerous progeny. Altogether he had eight sons and two daughters, whose names are as follows: Warin, Christian, Ralph, William, Fulk, Fromond, Hubert, and Walter called Tirel,

Avice and Adeliza. For indeed in Normandy after the coming of the Normans the practice of celibacy among the clergy was so relaxed that not only priests but even bishops freely shared the beds of concubines and openly boasted of their numerous progeny of sons and daughters. This custom took root in the time of the converts who were baptized with Rollo, who had forcibly invaded the depopulated province and were trained in arms but not in letters. From that time barely literate priests of Danish stock held parishes and, bearing arms, held their lay fees by military service. At length the Lotharingian Bruno, bishop of Toul, was approved at Rome and by God's will became Pope Leo. On his journey, whilst he was travelling to Rome, he heard angels singing, “Thus saith the Lord, *I think thoughts of peace and not of evil"? etc.’ This pope busied himself with many good works and by wise actions and sound teaching brought great profit to his subjects. He came into France in the year of our Lord 1049 and dedicated the church of St. Remigius, archbishop of Rheims, on 1 October;

and at the suggestion of Abbot Heremar had the saint's body translated to the place where it is now venerated with honour. At that time he held a general council there and, among other decrees that he established for the advantage of the Church, he utterly prohibited priests from bearing arms or taking wives.* From that time the fatal custom began to wither away little by little. The Cambridge

Historical Journal,

xii (i) (1956).

2: n-

3). Clerical marriage

was

formally prohibited in Normandy in the 1064. Council of Lisieux (Hefele, iv. 1420-3).

122

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V

quidem ferre presbiteri iam gratanter desiere: sed a pelicibus adhuc nolunt abstinere, nec pudiciz inherere. Supradictus Fulco diutine corruptionis sanie fedatus ad meliora mentem extulit, iamque silicernius consilio monituque Fulconis filii sui Vticum confugit? et monachatum non tam seculum deserens quam a seculo derelictus impetrauit. Hic dum monachus factus est, zecclesiam de Guarleinuilla et terram ad eam

pertinentem sancto Ebrulfo dedit, aliamque terram similiter dedit: in eadem uilla Hugo Baiocensis episcopus ei dederat,! quamque idem diu a Guillelmo Osberni filio nepote prefati presulis tenuerat. Guillelmus autem Fulconis filius et heres hzc in capitulo palam concessit, et cum patre suo donationem super altare sancti Petri apostoli posuit, et inde pro recognitione tunc unciam auri ex karitate monachorum recepit. Hzc etiam Guillelmus de Britolio? et Gislebertus Crispinus? cum duobus filiis suis concesserunt: ibique tunc testes affuerunt Rogerius de Cleris,^ et

ii. 399 quam

Hugo Asinus, Rodbertus de Stotauilla,5 et Rodulfus de Lalanda, li. 400

Rodulfus de Fornellis atque Gualterius de Caluimonte, Guillelmus de Longauilla et Gernenguilus. Hzec Guillelmus Guastinellus$ coram Richerio de Aquila concessit/ et pro concessione unciam auri habuit. Ibi testes affuerunt Guillelmus Alis et Morinus de Pino, Rodbertus filius Helgonis? et Rodulfus Cloethus.

r3 Possessiones Vticensis zecclesize uolo breuiter hic annotare, ut

elemosinz fideliter date pateant nouitiorum noticize? ut utentes eis sciant a quibus uel quo tempore date sint uel precio comparate. Auidi quippe possessores terrenorum caducis inhiant, de ' Hugh

bishop

of Bayeux

inherited

great

estates

from

his father,

Count

Ralph of Ivry. Hugh's sister, Emma, was the mother of William fitz Osbern. ^ William of Breteuil inherited the French lands of his father, William fitz Osbern, in 1071. The gifts must have been made earlier than 1084 when Richer of MU who was present at a subsequent confirmation, died (Le Prévost,

iii. 197—9). * Gilbert Crispin was lord of the castellany of Tilligres, whose dependent fiefs extended into the neighbourhood of Guernanville (Bibl. nat. MS. nouv.

acq. fr. 21642, p. 11). * Roger of Cléres is best known as a vassal of the Tosny family (Douglas, WC, pp. 95-6). As Guernanville is situated on a low plateau between the forests of Conches and Breteuil he may have had interests in the region; alternatively

he may have been there by chance in the household of Ralph of Tosny (Conches), who paid several visits to Saint-Evroul (below, p-124n.3).

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priests were ready enough to give up bearing arms but even now they are loath to part with their mistresses or to live chaste lives. Fulk, whom I mentioned above, after long defilement by the poison of corrupt custom, turned his mind to better things, and in his old age, through the advice and admonitions of his son Fulk, he sought refuge at Saint-Evroul and, not so much abandoning the world as abandoned by it, begged for the monastic habit. When he became a monk he gave Saint-Evroul the church of Guernanville with the land belonging to it, and also another piece of land which Hugh bishop of Bayeux had given him in the same village,! and which he had held for a long time from William fitz Osbern, the same bishop’s nephew. Furthermore William, Fulk’s son and heir, granted this publicly in the chapter-house, and together with his father placed the gift on the altar of St. Peter the Apostle, in recognition of which he received an ounce of gold as a free gift from the monks. William of Breteuil? and Gilbert Crispin,? with two sons of theirs, also confirmed these gifts, and the witnesses present were Roger of Cléres,* Hugh the Ass, Robert of Stuteville Ralph of La Lande, Ralph of Fourneaux and Walter of Caumont,

William

of Longueville,

and Gernenguilus.

William

Gastinelé also granted these gifts in the presence of Richer of Laigle, and received an ounce of gold for his concession. The witnesses present were William Alis and Morin of Le Pin, Robert son of Heugon,? and Ralph Clouet. 13 I wish now to give a brief account of the properties of the church of Saint-Évroul, so that alms given in faith may be brought to the knowledge of the novices, and when they make use of them they may know when and by whom they were given, or sold at a price. For greedy possessors of temporal goods fix their minds on transitory things, paying scant heed to those that are best and eternal; 5 For Robert of Stuteville's family see E YC ix. 1 ff. 6 The rights of William Gastinel in Guernanville are

not

clear; he was

probably of the same family as Gerold Gastinel who gave a hóte at Acquigny in the next charter; there is evidence from 1136 that they were vassals of the family of Richer of Laigle (cf. CDF, no. 521). ? Robert son of Heugon,

a vassal of Robert Giroie, was one of the lawless

knights who had appropriated abbey lands during the troubles after 1061 (cf. above, ii. 96-8, 98 n. 1). His presence here suggests that he too had made his peace with the abbey.

124

li. 401

il, 402

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V

summis et zeternis parum cogitant? ideoque quamplures uix aliquid pro spe superna nisi temporale commodum uiderint agere temptant. Decimas quas dominus sibi ab Israhelitis per Moysen ad usum sanctuarii et leuitarum exegit! nostrates laici retentant? nec ministris zecclesize nisi magno redimantur precio reddere affectant. Vnde solliciti xenodochiorum dispensatores laicos ut decimas zecclesie Dei redderent admonuerunt, eisque quoquomodo auferre ardentes ingentem pecuniam dederunt? ignorantes quod uenditionem huiusmodi et emptionem sacri canones omnino prohibuerunt. Porro in modernis eciam conciliis? sacri presules illicitum mercimonium anathemate perculerunt? sed respectu misericordie preteritos reatus indulserunt, et res quas zecclesia tunc possidebat perenniter possidendas pontificali auctoritate concesserunt. Mediocres uiri Vticensem abbatiam in sterili rure condere ceperunt, tenuesque res lateque dispersas ad uictum fratrum iuxta mediocritatem sui contulerunt. Vndique uicini paupertate premuntur, et egestate nequitiaque lacessiti dolis et furtis atque rapinis instare moliuntur? unde Vticenses monachi de longinquo uictum sibi hospitibusque aduenientibus procurare coguntur. Verum quia regulari disciplinz a primordio institutionis suze mancipati sunt? summi proceres et religiosi przsules eos dilexerunt, datisque rebus necessariis in decimis zecclesiisque et aliis donationibus fideliter uenerati sunt. 3Radulfus igitur de Conchis filius Rogerii de Toenia, qui fuit Normannorum famosus signifer,* cum uellet in Hispaniam proficisci, Vticum uenit in capitulum Sancti Ebrulfi et a Mainerio abbate ueniam petiit et a conuentu monachorum, quod ipse iamdudum adiutor extiterat Ernaldi de Excalfoio dum incenderet burgum illorum. Et monachis inde rectitudinem faciens, super * For the tithes as the portion of the Levites cf. Giles Constable, Monastic Tithes, pp. 10-12. ^ Orderic’s reference is probably to the Council of Rheims of 1119, of which he had intimate knowledge (Le Prévost, iv. 383-9; cf. Giles Constable, Monastic Tithes, pp. 94, 96-7). If this passage was written after November 1128 he would

also have had in mind the Council of Rouen of that date (Le Prévost, iv. 496-7).

3 Orderic’s account of these gifts incorporates the information contained in

a charter of Ralph of Tosny (printed in Le Prévost, v. 180-1, cf. CDF , no. 625), from which he quotes verbally. It shows that there were three stages in the provision of gifts there recorded (see above, p. xxiii). The English properties were Confirmed in William I's general charter of 1081 (below, PP. 232-40) and

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125

and many attempt little or nothing for hope of heaven unless they see that it will benefit them on earth. The laity of our land keep possession of the tithes which the Lord through Moses required of the Israelites for the needs of the sanctuary and the Levites,! and make no attempt to restore them to the ministers of the church unless they are redeemed at great expense. So careful stewards of houses giving alms have admonished the laity to restore tithes to the church of God; and eager to recover them in any way possible have paid great sums of money, not knowing that the sacred canons utterly forbade buying and selling of this kind. Even in recent councils? holy prelates have pronounced anathema on such illegal trade, but out of mercy have pardoned past offences, and have granted by pontifical authority that whatever goods the church then held it should hold perpetually. Men of modest means undertook the foundation of the abbey of Saint-Evroul in a barren land, and granted small and scattered properties, which were all they could afford, for the support of the brethren. The neighbours all around them were ground down by poverty and, motivated by need and wickedness, strove to provide for themselves by deceit and theft and plunder, so that the monks of Saint-Évroul were forced to procure sustenance for themselves and their guests from far away. But since they observed regular discipline from the time of their first foundation great magnates and pious bishops showed great love for them, and they received tithes, churches, and other gifts sufficient for their needs and came

to be deeply revered. 3Ralph of Conches, the son of Roger of Tosny, who was the famous standard-bearer of the Normans,^ wishing to set out for Spain, came to the chapter-house of Saint-Évroul and sought pardon from Abbot Mainer and the convent, because he had formerly been an abettor of Arnold of Échauffour when he burned their town. And to make amends to the monks he placed his pledge the whole transaction was spread over several years. The town of Saint-Evroul was burnt in the period 1061—3 (above, ii. 92-4), and Ralph made his peace after Mainer became abbot in 1066, but some time before 1076, when his doctor Goisbert, who became a monk after his departure, secured the formal foundation

of the priory of Maule (below, pp. 170-2). His visit to Spain may therefore have taken place during the wars of succession of 1065 to 1072; but it is not clear whether he went there to fight or as a pilgrim. The date 1080 given in the

Complete Peerage (GEC xii (i). 758) for his journey to Spain is impossible. 4 Most probably these words refer to Ralph's father, who was well known

as banner-bearer of the Normans (GEC, xii (i). 755).

126

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altare uadimonium suum posuit? et deuote si prospere remearet multa promisit. Goisbertum quoque medicum suum quem multum amabat eis commendauit, qui post profectionem eius e uestigio monachilem inibi professionem fecit? et usque ad finem uitz fere xxx annis strenue custodiuit. Preefatus heros post aliquod tempus domum rediit, memorque sponsionis sue Vticum uenit? et duas uinearum agripennas! quas aput 'l'oeniam habebat ad usum missarum sancto Ebrulfo dedit. Annuit eciam quicquid ad Guarlenuillam habebat, terram scilicet ac pasnagium:? ita ut primum pasnagium famulorum non daretur, secundum uero uel tercium daretur? monachorum autem nullum daretur. Praeterea tres hospites? monachis

li. 403

dedit, unum

Conchis,

alterum

'Toenie?

tertium

uero Achinneio, quem Geroldus Guastinellus de eo tenuerat, et beato patri Ebrulfo sponte dederat. Idem Rodulfus post aliquot annos Goisbertum monachum in Angliam secum duxit, eoque procurante monachis Vticensibus duas mansiones dedit? unam scilicet in Nortfuc quz uocatur Caldecota, alteram uero in Wigornensi prouincia quz dicitur Alwintona. Hec omnia Guillelmus rex concessit; et in carta coram proceribus suis regali auctoritate confirmauit. Helisabeth etiam prefati militis uxor, et Rogerius atque Radulfus filii eius haec omnia benigniter concesserunt,4 harumque donationibus rerum testes interfuerunt? Rogerius de Clera, Gualterius de Hispania? Guillelmus de Paceio, Rodbertus de Romilleio? Geroldus Guastinellus, Gislebertus Turoldi filius?

Rogerius de Mucegros et Gualterius de Caluimonte. Tunc Rodbertus de Vals dedit sancto Ebrulfo de duabus partibus decimz de Berneriis medietatem. Rogerius autem filius eius post obitum patris sua concessione predictam elemosinam corroborauit, pro qua concessione xl solidos Drocensium recepit, et uxor eius x solidos ex karitate monachorum habuit. Hoc sepedictus Radulfus? qui capitalis dominus erat gratanter annuit? et concessionem a coniuge sua soboleque benigniter exegit. Hic insignis militi probitate claruit, et inter praecipuos Normannize proceres diuitiis et honoribus maxime floruit? ac fere lx annis Neustrize * For the size of the arpent see Delisle, Classe agricole, p. $37.

* The cartulary copy says simply 'scilicet terram ac boscum’ without giving

details of the pannage.

* Cf. Le Prévost, iv. 67 for Ralph's confirmation of his gifts at the time of the

dedication of the church in 1099. Orderic there gives the number of hétes as six; possibly the gift was augmented later. For the duties and standing of hdtes see Delisle, Classe agricole, pp. 8-14.

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upon the altar, and devoutly promised many gifts if he returned safely. He also commended to them Goisbert his doctor, whom he greatly loved. Immediately after his departure Goisbert took monastic vows there, and kept them loyally for about thirty years, right up to the end of his life. This same great lord returned home some

time later, and, mindful

of his promise,

came

to Saint-

Evroul and gave two arpents! of vines which he had at Tosny for wine for the Mass at Saint-Évroul. He added also all that he had at Guernanville, namely land for pannage, in such a way that their tenants should pay nothing for the first pannage,? but should pay for the second and third pannages; the monks however should pay nothing at all. In addition he gave three hétes3 to the monks, one at Conches, another at Tosny, the third at Acquigny, whom Gerold Gastinel had held from him and had freely given to the church of Saint-Évroul. A few years later the same Ralph took the monk Goisbert to England with him, and through Goisbert's agency gave the monks of Saint-Évroul two manors, one in Norfolk called Caldecote, and the other in the county of Worcester, called

Alton. King William granted all these things, and he ratified them by his royal authority in a charter, with his magnates as witnesses. Elizabeth, the wife of this same knight, and Roger and Ralph his sons willingly granted all these things;* and the witnesses of these gifts were Roger of Cléres, Walter of Spain, William of Pacy, Robert of Romilly, Gerold Gastinel, Gilbert son

of Turold, Roger of Musegros, and Walter of Caumont. Then Robert of Vaux’ gave Saint-Évroul half of two-thirds of the tithe of Berniéres-sur-Seine. His son Roger, after his father's death, further ratified his father's gift, in return for which concession he received forty shillings of Dreux, and his wife received ten shillings by free gift of the monks. Ralph of 'Tosny,° who was his overlord, willingly consented and graciously obtained the consent of his wife and children. He was a man of the highest renown and knightly valour, and was outstanding among the greatest nobles in Normandy for his wealth and honors; and he fought stalwartly for almost sixty years in the service of the rulers of Normandy, ^ Roger's wife and sons are not mentioned in the cartulary copy: the remainder of the witness list is identical. 5 Possibly a kinsman of Guy de la Val, who had married a sister of Robert

of Tosny c. 1025 (see J. H. Round in Genealogist, N.S. xvii (1901), 3-4).

6 Orderic is the principal source for the life of Ralph of Tosny (GEC,

(i). 757-60).

xii

128

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V

principibus Guillelmo regi et Rodberto duci filio eius strenue li, 404

il. 405

militauit. Agnetem uterinam sororem suam Ricardi Ebroicensium comitis filiam noctu surripuit, et Simoni de Monteforti in matrimonium dedit. Ipse quoque pro recompensatione filiam eiusdem Simonis nomine Isabel uxorem accepit? quz nobilem ei prolem Rogerium et Radulfum peperit, filiamque nomine Godehildem que prius Rodberto nupsit Mellentensium comiti? deinde Balduino filio Boloniensium consulis Eustachii. Denique Rodulfus senex post plurimos euentus letos tristesque ix? kal’ Aprilis obiit? et Radulfus filius eius fere xxiv annis patrium ius optinuit. Ambos ut improba mors sibi eos subdidit? sepultura in cenobio beati Petri Castellionis cum patribus suis suscepit. Isabel uero postquam in uiduitate diu permansit, letalis lasciuize cui nimis in iuuentute seruierat? poenitens seculum reliquit? et in monasterio sanctimonialium apud Altam Brueriam* uelum suscepit, ibique uitam suam laudabiliter in timore Dei perseuerans salubriter correxit. Postquam Guillelmus comes Osberni filius Flandrensium armis occubuit, Guillelmus rex eius honorem

filiis eiusdem distribuit:

Guillelmo Bretolium totamque patris possessionem in Normannia, et Rogerio Herfordensem comitatum in Anglia. Guillelmus autem qui moderatior extitit/5 Vticense coenobium ualde dilexit, et plura illi beneficia pro animabus parentum suorum contulit. Nam textum euangeliorum auro argentoque et lapidibus ornatum per Rogerium monachum de Sappo transmisit? et omnia que homines sui Sancto Ebrulfo dederant seu uendiderant concessit. Centum eciam solidos de teloneo suo de Gloz per singulos annos modo annuit? et cartam huiusmodi coram optimatibus suis gratanter confirmauit. 'Ego Guillelmus de Bretolio filius Guillelmi comitis do beato

Ebrulfo et eius monachis de teloneo de Gloz centum solidos * Godechilde married Baldwin de Bouillon in 1096, and died on the way to the Holy Land with him in 1097 (GEC xii (i). 760 note e). Whether she ever had an earlier husband is more doubtful. Robert of ''origny (Marx, p. 333) stated that

she married as her first husband Robert of Meulan's nephew, Robert of Neu-

bourg (cf. Le Prévost, ii. 404 n. 4); this is impossible, for Robert of

Neubourg's

wife Godechilde was still alive in 1143 (Porée, i. 347). A marriage with Robert

of Meulan is highly improbable; there is no other evidence for it and Orderic does not say that it was annulled, which would have been necessary for her to marry Baldwin. But it is not absolutely impossible, since Robert married Isabel of Crépy in 1096, the year of Godechilde's marriage to Baldwin (GEC, vii. 526

BOOK

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129

both King William and his son, Duke Robert. He carried away by night his uterine sister Agnes, the daughter of Richard count of Evreux, and gave her in marriage to Simon of Montfort. In return he himself received Isabel, Simon’s daughter, as his wife; and she

bore him noble offspring, Roger and Ralph, and a daughter called Godechilde who married first Robert count of Meulan! and afterwards Baldwin, son of Eustace count of Boulogne. Finally the elder Ralph, after a life in which good and bad fortune were mingled, died on 24 March,? and his son Ralph held his father’s estates for about twenty-four years. Both, after relentless death had overcome them, were buried with their fathers in the monas-

tery of St. Peter at Conches. Isabel for her part lived on for a long time as a widow and, repenting the mortal sin of luxury in which she had indulged in her youth,? left the world and took the veil in the nunnery at Haute-Bruyére;+ piously persevering there in the fear of the Lord she worthily reformed her life. After Earl William fitz Osbern fell in battle in Flanders, King William divided up his honor among his sons; to William he gave Breteuil and all his father’s possessions in Normandy, and to Roger the county of Hereford in England. William, who was the better able to keep within due bounds, had a deep affection for the monastery of Saint-Evroul, and granted it a number of gifts for the souls of his parents. He sent by the hand of the monk Roger of Le Sap a copy of the Gospels decorated with gold and silver and precious stones, and granted everything that his men had given or sold to Saint-Evroul. He also conceded a hundred shillings annually from his toll at Glos, and freely ratified this charter in the presence

of his vassals:

‘T, William of Breteuil, son of Earl William, give to St. Evroul and his monks a hundred shillings in coins out of the toll of Glos to buy fish every year at the beginning of Lent, for the

note (a); G. W. Watson, “The ancient earls of Leicester’ in Genealogist, N.S.

x (1894), 1-2).

2 Probably 24 March 1102; this would put his son Ralph’s death at c. 1126. His elder son, Roger, predeceased him (GEC xii (i). 760-2).

3 Orderic later compared her to Camilla or the Amazon queen, describing her as a beautiful and self-willed woman, who rode to war like a man among i the knights (Le Prévost, iii. 345). 4 A priory of the order of Fontevrault, situated a few miles from Montfort l'Amaury, at Saint-Rémi-l’Honoré. 5 For an account of Roger of Hereford's rebellion and forfeiture see above, ii. 310-18.

130

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nummorum ad pisces emendos unoquoque anno in capite quadragesimz pro redemptione animz patris mei et matris mez, et ut

li. 406

anniuersaria eorum et meum a cunctis monachis festiue agantur, et in anniuersario uniuscuiusque nostrum cibus et potus unius monachi pro illis detur pauperibus. In uita uero mea pro me missa de Trinitate in monasterio cantetur unaquaque dominica die. Vnum burgensem in Britolio monachis do? et quaeque homines mei Ricardus Fresnel ac Guillelmus Alis! et Radulfus de Lacunela aliique dederunt eis concedo. Hzc presentialiter do, illisque consilium et auxilium et plura beneficia fideliter in antea promitto. Et qui hzc subtraxerit post obitum meum" excommunicetur.’ Subscriptione autem sua presentem cartam confirmauerunt prefatus Guillelmus de Bretolio, et Radulfus capellanus, Guillelmus

dapifer filius Barnonis,? et Ernaldus Ernaldi filius, atque Rodbertus de Loueriis.? Denique anno ab incarnatione Domini Mxcerx?? indictione vii? sepedictus Guillelmus dedicationi Vticensis zcclesiz interfuit, et centum solidos de redditione census de Gloz centum solidis quos ii. 407

antea sancto Ebrulfo dederat adiecit, et in presentia trium episcoporum et quinque abbatum totiusque populi cum clero astante donationem super altare adhuc sacrosancta consecratione madidum deposuit. Non multo post tempore Rodeberti ducis apud Beccum ii? idus Tanuarii* obiit, et in claustro Lirensis ccenobii quod in proprio pater eius fundo fundauerat sepultus quiescit? cuius anniuersaria dies in Vticensi monasterio singulis annis festiue fit. Deinde sigillo Henrici regis Anglorum, munita est carta donationis prefatarum decem librarum" et successores Guillelmi Eustachius et Radulfus de Guader atque Rodbertus de Legrecestras monachis concesserunt, et usque in hodiernum diem optime reddiderunt. * Both Richard Fresnel and William Alis came from families with land in or near Notre-Dame-du-Bois (above, ii. 36; Le Prévost, ii. 400 n. 2).

^ William's father, Barnon of Glos, had been steward of William fitz Osbern's

father, Osbern, and had avenged the murder of his master (Marx, pp. 156—7)

BOOK V

TT

redemption of the souls of my father and mother, and so that their anniversaries and mine may be celebrated with full ceremonial by all the monks, and on the anniversary of each one of us the food and drink sufficient for one monk should be given to the poor on their behalf. During my lifetime a mass of the Holy Trinity is to be sung for me in the monastery every Sunday. I give one burgess in Breteuil to the monks, and I grant all that my men, Richard

Fresnel and William Alis! and Ralph of La Cunelle and others, have given them. These things I give now, and I promise faithfully to give them counsel and aid and further benefits in the future. And may anyone who withholds these things after my death be severed from the company of the faithful.’ William of Breteuil himself and Ralph the chaplain, William the steward the son of Barnon,? and Arnold the son of Arnold, and Robert of Louviers?

confirmed this charter with their subscriptions. Then in the year of our Lord 1099, the seventh indiction, William himself was present at the dedication of the church of Saint-Évroul, and added a further hundred shillings from the revenue of his rents at Glos to the hundred shillings he had already given Saint-Évroul; and in the presence of three bishops and five abbots and all the clergy and people standing round he laid the donation on the altar, which was still damp from the holy consecration. Not long afterwards in the time of Duke Robert he died at Bec on 12 January,* and was laid to rest in the cloister of the abbey of Lire, which his father had founded on his own estates; and the day of his anniversary is celebrated festively every year in the monastery of Saint-Évroul. Afterwards the charter giving these ten pounds was confirmed with the seal of Henry king of England; and William's successors, Eustace and Ralph of Gael and Robert of Leicester,5 granted the dues to the monks, and have

paid them in full up to the present day. by killing William of Montgomery and his accomplices. William himself served both William fitz Osbern and William of Breteuil as steward. He was said to have been guilty of usury (Le Prévost, iii. 373). 3 Probably Louviers; but possibly Louviéres, near Argentan, or Louviéres in Bessin. 4 12 January, probably 1102 (David, Robert Curthose, p. 144 n. 25).

5 William’s honor of Breteuil passed on his death to his illegitimate son, Eustace, who forfeited the honor, with the exception of Pacy. Henry I then gave it to Ralph of Gael, who was through his mother a grandson of William fitz Osbern, and he resigned it in favour of his son-in-law, Robert of Leicester

(GEC, vii. 529-30).

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1Guillelmus de Molinis annuente Albereda uxore sua beato

ii. 408

li. 409

Ebrulfo zcclesiam de Maheru cum decima et tota terra presbiteri ad eandem zcclesiam pertinente et cimiterio dedit. In castro etiam de Molinis dedit zcclesiam Sancti Laurentii cum terra quam in dominico habebat? iuxta castellum sicut ipse eam tenebat. Hanc itaque donationem coram optimatibus suis Gualterio de Aspris et Ebruardo de Ruia aliisque quibusdam in capitulo fecit et inde beneficium ecclesia ut frater et munificus adiutor promeruit. Tunc Mainerius abbas liberalitate fratrum predicto marchioni xv libras denariorum optulit, ac ad aram ad confirmandam dationem cum Albereda Guidmundi filia ex cuius patrimonio erat adduxit. Illi autem libenter omnia quz prelibata sunt: in conspectu totius conuentus concesserunt, et super altare sancti Petri in karta rite confirmauerunt. Deinde post aliquot tempus prefatus heros zcclesiam de Bonmolinis cum decima tota segetum et molendini ac furni sancto Ebrulfo dedit? cui Rainaldus paruus qui tunc monachorum iussu res eorum inibi seruabat? xxx solidos karitatiue contulit. Postquam Albereda duos marito suo filios Guillelmum et Rodbertum enixa est/ causa consanguinitatis diuortium inter uirum et predictam mulierem factum est. Guillelmus autem peracto coram pontifice discidio, aliam duxit uxorem nomine Dudam filiam Gualeranni de Mellento’3 quz duos eidem filios Simonem et Hugonem peperit, quos in iuuentute improba mors absque liberis ambos absorbuit. Alberada uero scema religionis suscepit? et in quodam monasterio uirginum sanctimonialis uitam finiuit. Prafatus Guillelmus Gualterii de Falesia filius fuit, et in militia

nimium uiguit? inde Guillelmus princeps filiam Guidmundi cum toto ei honore Molinensi contulit. Futili uanzeque laudi nimis inhesit’ pro qua multorum reus homicidiorum extitit. Fertur quod * Orderic’s

account

of this gift is based partly on charters. Among

the

relevant records that survive are a tithe agreement dated 1090 on the oldest charter roll (Le Prévost, v. 189-90) and a confirmation of Henry I, 1124-30 (ibid. 204-6). Henry’s confirmation, allegedly made at the request of Aubrée

his wife, must have been copied from an earlier charter, since on the evidence

of the charter roll William had married Duda before 1090. Aubrée’s father, Guitmund, had been custodian of the castle of Moulins-la-Marche in IOSO, when he handed it over to the king's forces (William of Poitiers, ed. Foreville, p. 64). Guitmund had eight sons (Fauroux, no. 117); unless all predeceased him

Duke William may have passed them over in favour of their sister's husband to secure the services of a tough and able soldier whom he could trust. He was

unwilling to concede hereditary rights to castellanships. In this frontier region where ducal power was less strong, family claims evidently had some weight

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‘William of Moulins-la-Marche, with the consent of his wife Aubrée, granted to Saint-Évroul the church of Mahéru, with the

tithe and all the glebe land attached to the church and the cemetery. He gave the church of St. Laurence in the fortress of Moulins-laMarche with the land that he held in demesne beside the castle,

as he himself held it. He made this gift in the chapter-house, in the presence of his chief vassals, Walter of Apres and Evrard de Ruia and certain others, and in this way earned the benefits of the church as a brother

and munificent

benefactor.

Then

Abbot

Mainer,

through the generosity of the brethren, offered this marcher lord fifteen pounds in coins and led him to the altar to confirm the gift, with Aubrée daughter of Guitmund to whose patrimony it had belonged. They then freely granted in the sight of the whole convent everything that has already been detailed, and duly confirmed it in a charter laid on the altar of St. Peter. Some time later this lord gave the church of Bonmoulins, with all the tithe of corn and of the mill and oven to Saint-Évroul, and Reginald the Small, who at that time was looking after the property there on behalf of the monks,? gave him thirty shillings as a free gift. After Aubrée had born her husband two sons, William and Robert, an annulment was arranged between them on the grounds of consanguinity. And William, after the annulment proceedings had been completed before the bishop, married another wife called Duda, the daughter of Waleran of Meulan,? who bore him two sons, Simon and Hugh, both of whom were taken by relentless death in their youth, whilst they were still childless. Aubrée for her part took the veil and ended her life in a convent of nuns. William himself was the son of Walter of Falaise, and had fought with such conspicuous success that Duke William had bestowed on him the daughter of Guitmund with his whole honor of Moulinsla-Marche. But he set too much store on empty vainglory, and (J. Yver, ‘Les chateaux forts en Normandie’ in BSAN liii (1955-6), 56); but to some extent the duke's will was still to be reckoned with. William of Moulins retained the castle after his divorce and Robert, one of his sons by Aubrée,

held it after him; but when Robert was ‘disinherited’ for disloyalty King Henry I gave the castellanship to Simon, William's son by Duda.

2 At this date monks of Saint-Évroul are sometimes found alone in charge

of properties. Moulins later became a small priory (PUF ii, no. 1 53).

3 Apart from this nothing is known of Duda. Her father Waleran (died c.

1068) married first Oda (died before 1033) and then Adeline (Depoin, Cartulaire

de Pontoise, pp. 307-11). Her son Simon certainly lived until fighting for Henry I (Le Prévost, iv. 353). 822219X

L

1119, when he was

134

BOOK

V

multum sanguinis fuderit, et quod tam dire crudelitatis fortuna infectus fuerit’ ut nullus imminens letum euasisset, qui ab eo quamuis paruum uulneratus fuisset. In prosperis atque aduersis usque ad annosam senectutem uixit" et quantum ad seculum

adtinebat honorifice floruit. Tandem

li. 410

in castro suo xii? kal’

Nouembris decessit: et in capitulo Vticensi tumulatus quiescit. Rodbertus autem filius eius postquam hereditatem auitam optinuit, futurz salutis memor Vticum adiuit? et quicquid pater suus materque sua dederant aut concesserant concessit, et quicquid homines ipsius honoris donauerant aut uendiderant sancto Ebrulfo benigniter annuit. Hanc itaque concessionem per textum euangeliorum super altare portauit’ ac postmodum ex karitate monachorum quinque marcos argenti et optimum cornipedem recepit. Deinde paternum fere xv annis honorem legitime rexit, et contra finitimos hostes quia fortissimus licet hebes preeliator erat ualidissime defensauit, uetitumque regis Henrici transgrediens Engerrannum cognomento Oisonem armis impetiit, et contra illum militaribus studiis sepius dimicauit. Vnde regis animositas delatorum maledicis accusationibus inflammata illum exhereditauit, et de Normannia cum Agnete filia Rodberti de Grentemaisnilio! quam nuper uxorem duxerat in Apuliam expulit? ubi post aliquot annos per extera mappalia peruagatus morti succubuit. Principis itaque uiolentia maiori fratre depulso Simon successit" et omnia que antecessores sui dederant Vticensibus cum Adelina coniuge sua gratanter annuit. Rogerius de Monte Gomerici postquam Geroiana progenies cecidit totum patrimonium Excalfoii et Monasterioli fere xxvi annis possedit? et in inicio quamdiu Mabilia uxor eius quz Geroianos Ebrulfiani monasterii fundatores semper exosos habuerat uixit, Vticensibus illa stimulante pluribus modis molestus extitit. Denique iustus arbiter qui peccatoribus pie parcit, et impeenitentes districte percutit? crudelem feminam quz multo ' Agnes was the daughter of Robert III of Grandmesnil, son of Hugh of Grandmesnil, not of Robert I of Grandmesnil, as incorrectly stated above, TCR

MOUSE has suggested that he may have been the originator of the

well-known south Italian family of Molise in the Boiano (‘Fondations monas-

tiques de R. Guiscard' in Quellen und Forschungen, xxxix (1959), 32 n. 50). But there were many families called di Molise in this region (cf. E. M. Jamison, ‘I conti di Molise e di Marsia’ in Atti del convegno storico abruzzese-molisano, i

BOOK V

T

consequently he was guilty of the deaths of many men. He was reputed to have shed much blood, and to be of such ferocious cruelty that no one ever escaped from death who had received even the slightest wound at his hands. He lived through prosperity and adversity to a ripe old age, and enjoyed honour such as the world can give. Finally he died in his castle on 19 October, and was laid to rest in the chapter-house of Saint-Évroul. After his son Robert had received the inheritance of his fathers,

being mindful of his future salvation, he came to Saint-Évroul, and granted all that his father and mother had given and granted, and graciously approved whatever the men of his honor had given or sold to Saint-Évroul. He laid a copy of the Gospels on the altar as a token of this gift, and afterwards received five silver marks and a very fine horse as a free gift from the monks. Afterwards he ruled his father's honor justly for about fifteen years, and defended it valiantly against enemies in the neighbouring territories, for he was a courageous warrior, though slow and heavy. Disregarding King Henry's prohibition, he attacked Enguerrand l'Oison, and frequently engaged him in armed combats. So the king, his anger inflamed by the slanderous accusations of informers, disinherited him and drove him from Normandy to Apulia,? with Agnes, daughter of Robert of Grandmesnil,! whom he had lately married; and there he died, after several years as a wanderer among the dwellings of strangers. After the elder brother had been driven out through the king's anger Simon succeeded him, and with his wife Adela he willingly confirmed all that his ancestors had given to

Saint-Évroul. After the fall of the family of Giroie,? Roger of Montgomery had possession of the whole patrimony of Échauffour and Montreuil for about twenty-six years; and at first, as long as his wife Mabel, who had always hated the sons of Giroie, the founders of SaintÉvroul, lived, he showed himself hostile to the monks in many ways at her instigation. But in the end the just judge, who mercifully spares penitent sinners and sternly smites the impenitent, allowed that cruel woman, who had shed the blood of many and (Casalbordino,

1932), p. 78 n. 2); and though the names of the early counts of

Boiano, Ralph, Hugh, and William, all occur in the family of Moulins-laMarche they are very common Norman names. 'l'he evidence is insufficient for positive identification. 3 See above, ii. 122-6. Robert Giroie recovered the first of the family possessions, Saint-Cénery, in 1088 (Le Prévost, iii. 298).

136

li. 411

li. 412

BOOK

V

sanguine madebat, multosque nobiles uiolenter exhzredatos per externa mendicare coegerat? permisit perire gladio Hugonis cui castrum quod in rupe [algeii! situm est abstulerat, et sic eum iniuste paterna hzereditate priuauerat. Ille nimirum merens uehementem audaciam arripuit, iunctisque sibi tribus fratribus suis qui militari probitate pollebant noctu ad cameram comitissze accessit? ipsamque in municipio super Diuam quod Buris dicitur in lecto post balneum deliciantem? pro recompensatione patrimonii sui ense detruncauit. Peracta itaque cede feralis ere, multi de ruina eius exultauere? tantique facinoris auctores confestim in Apuliam abiere. Hugo de Montegomerici cum xvi militibus in eodem uico erat, sed audita clade matris suz fugientes homicidas persequi non comprehendere poterat? quia prouida calliditas eorum pontes fluuiorum pone uestigia sua ne tenerentur a uindicibus destruxerat. Hiemale quoque tempus et tenebrosa nox fluminumque inundationes persequentes impediebant? et fugientes ultione facta Normanniam statim relinquebant. Denique Troarnensis conuentus cui Durandus abbas praeerat cadauer frustratim dilaceratum nonas Decembris sepeliuit" et non ob prerogatiuam meritorum sed pro fauore amicorum super tumulum has nenias edidit. Alta clarentum de stirpe creata parentum Hac tegitur tumba maxima Mabilia. Hzec inter celebres famosa magis mulieres Claruit in lato orbe sui merito, Acrior ingenio, sensu uigil, impigra facto, Vtilis eloquio, prouida consilio, Exilis forma sed grandis prorsus honestas, Dapsilis in sumptu, culta satis habitu, Haec scutum patriz? fuit, hac munitio marche? Vicinisque suis grata uel horribilis. 1 Stapleton’s hypothesis that this is the fortress now called La Roche Mabille has never been seriously shaken. The suggestion of La Roche Igé has been ruled

out as philologically impossible,

apart from the historical improbability of

a motte which was only a few miles from Belléme of the castle ever having been in the hands of the lvi (1961-2), 859-62). Dates as late as 1082 have (G. H. White in TRHS, 4th ser. xxii (1940),

and part of the defence system family of Hugh Bunel (BSAN been suggested for the murder 96-9); the most likely date is

BOOK V

i

had forcibly disinherited many lords and compelled them to beg their bread in foreign lands, to perish herself by the sword of Hugh, whom she had unjustly deprived of his paternal inheritance by seizing his castle at lalgeium.! He, frenzied with grief, found a reckless daring; and taking with him his three brothers who were renowned for their courage in warfare, penetrated by night into the countess's chamber. Finding her in the castle of Bures on the Dive, where she was relaxing in bed after a bath,? he struck off

her head with his sword and so avenged the loss of his patrimony. When the murder of this terrible lady had been accomplished many rejoiced at her fate, and the authors of the crime fled away to Apulia. Hugh of Montgomery was in the same place with sixteen knights; but though on learning of his mother's death he pursued the murderers as they fled he could not capture them, because they had taken the precaution of destroying the bridges over the rivers behind them, to avoid being overtaken by the avengers. The wintry season, the dark night, and the torrents bursting their banks hindered the pursuers; and the fugitives, their vengeance accomplished, left Normandy behind them. The monks of Troarn, where Durand was abbot, buried the mutilated corpse

on 5 December and, more through the partiality of friends than because of any special deserts of hers, inscribed this epitaph over her tomb: From the high stock of noble parents sprung, Mabel, great lady, lies beneath this tomb. She among famous women showed most worth, Known for her merits over all the earth. In mind most keen, alert, tireless in deed,

She spoke with purpose, counselled well in need. In stature slight, but great in probity, Lavish in spending, dressed with dignity; The shield? of her inheritance, a tower Guarding the frontier; to some neighbours dear, December 1077, for which J. F. A. (TSAS lvii (1961-4), 152-5).

Mason

has produced

strong

evidence

2 This vivid detail may be drawn from legend. The murder of a warrior in

his bath has been an epic tradition from the time of Agamemnon; Orderic in his interpolations in William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 192) had stated that

King Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was beheaded in his bath. Mabel’s beheading in

bed after a bath seems to belong to the same tradition.

3 Probably a pun on her father’s nickname of Talvas (G. H. White in TRHS, 4th ser. xxii (1940), 82-3).

138

BOOK

V

Sed quia mortales non omnia possumus omnes: Ha^ periit gladio nocte perempta dolo. Et quia nunc opus est defuncta ferre iuuamen?

Quisquis amicus adest subueniendo probet. Post interfectionem Mabilie Rogerius comes aliam duxit uxorem nomine Adelaisam, Ebrardi de Pusacio qui de nobilissimis Francorum proceribus erat filiam. Predictus consul! ex priori coniuge procreauit quinque filios et quatuor filias" quorum nomina hzc sunt, Rodbertus de Bellismo, Hugo de Montegomerici, Rogerius Pictauinus, Philippus atque Arnulfus, Emma sanctimonialis et Almaniscarum abbatissa, Mathildis comitissa uxor uidelicet Rodberti Moritoliensium |comitis, Mabilia coniunx

li. 413

Hugonis de Nouocastello, et Sibilia uxor Rodberti filii Haimonis. De secunda uero coniuge unum genuit filium nomine Ebrardum"? qui litteris imbutus inter regales capellanos usque hodie demoratus est in aula Guillelmi et Henrici Angliz regum. Sequens a priori matrona dispar moribus extitit. Nam maturitate et religione uiguit/ uirumque suum ad amorem monachorum et defensionem pauperum frequenter incitauit. Preefatus igitur heros mala que plerunque fecerat Vticensibus recoluit? pristinosque reatus sequentis uitze emendatione sagaciter abolere studuit. Viriliter enim postmodum monachos adiuuit, et in Normannia et Anglia plurimas res illis erogauit? et inde cartam huiusmodi coram proceribus suis uoluntarie sanxit. “Ego Rogerius dei gratia Scrobesburiensis comes cenobium sancti patris Ebrulfi honorare appeto, et hzec eidem de rebus meis pro salute mea meorumque perenniter concedo. Per singulos annos intrante quadragesima xxx solidos Cenomannensis monete de redditione Alencionis? iubeo dari, ad illuminationem die noctuque faciendam in zecclesia Vticensi ante crucifixum Domini. Passagium etiam ipsius Alencionis et omnes consuetudines in tota terra mea de propriis sancti rebus concedo? et in omnibus nemoribus meis ^ Sic in MS.;

probably an exclamation of grief

* For the family of Roger of Montgomery see J. F. A. Mason, ‘Roger de Montgomery and his sons’, in TRHS, sth ser. xiii (1963), 1-28; for Emma, abbess of Almenéches, Musset, Almenéches, pp. 30-1. | This charter must be dated between 1085, when Reginald of Bailleul married Warin the Bald's widow, Amieria, and 1087, when Robert fitz Tetbald died (J. F. A. Mason in TSAS lvi (1960), 250). Roger had probably granted the

BOOK V

139

To others terrible; she died by the sword, By night, by stealth, for we are mortals all. And since in death she sorely wants our aid Pray for her: prove your friendship in her need.

After the murder of Mabel, Earl Roger married another wife named Adelais, the daughter of Evrard of Le Puiset, who was one

of the most highly-born nobles in France. Earl Roger! had by his first wife five sons and four daughters, whose names were these: Robert of Belléme, Hugh of Montgomery, Roger of Poitou, Philip, and Arnulf, Emma, nun and abbess of Almenéches, the Countess Matilda who was the wife of Count Robert of Mortain, Mabel the

wife of Hugh of Cháteauneuf, and Sybil, the wife of Robert fitz Hamon. By his second wife he had a son named Evrard, who was well educated and has remained to this day among the royal chaplains in the household of the kings of England, William and Henry. The second wife was utterly unlike the first in character. She was remarkable for her gentleness and piety, and continually encouraged her husband to befriend monks and protect the poor. So this great lord came to realize all the harm he had done to the monks of Saint-Évroul, and wisely endeavoured to wipe out his earlier guilt by a better way of life. For from that time he was a conspicuous patron of the monks, and provided them with many gifts in Normandy and England, and voluntarily confirmed the following charter to that effect, in the presence of his chief vassals: ^|, Roger, by the grace of God earl of Shrewsbury, desiring to honour the abbey of Saint-Évroul, grant to the abbey in perpetuity these possessions of mine for the salvation of my soul and the souls of my kinsfolk. I command that 30 Mancel shillings shall be given every year from the revenue of Alencon? at the beginning of Lent, to keep candles burning day and night before the Crucifix in the church of Saint-Évroul. I also grant them free passage through Alencon, and freedom from all dues on their own goods throughout English property earlier, since it was confirmed by William I in a charter dated 1081

(below,

pp.

232-40);

but the gift may

have

been

made

ceremonially,

without a charter (cf. also above, pp. xxiii-xxiv). 3 J. F. A. Mason (TRHS,

sth ser. xiii (1963), 11) has drawn attention to the

large sums of ready money that the family of Montgomery could command. Similar annual payments were made to the abbey of Séez by Roger's sons (CDF, nos. 665, 667, 668). In the early twelfth century 60 shillings were paid on the second Sunday in Lent from the profits of the fair of Alengon, according to a charter of William count of Poitou (Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 11055, f. 28").

I40

BOOK

V

pasnagium de monachorum porcis in perpetuum indulgeo. Ad Excalfoium terram unius aratri dono, decimamque molendini et decimam omnium reddituum eiusdem castri irrefragabiliter

annuo, decimamque nundinarum de Planchis de parte mea libenter li. 414

addo. AEcclesiam de Radone totamque decimam quam Gualterius! Sor sancto Ebrulfo dedit et zcclesiam sancti Iobini totamque decimam quam Rainaldus presbiter dedit, et Odo de Pireto concessit, et in ecclesia de Baillol altare sancti Leonardi et unam partem decimz eiusdem uille cum terra quam Rainaldus de Bailol? et Amieria uxor eius neptis mea dederunt, ex propria deliberatione pro Dei amore concedo. In Anglia quoque dono duos manerios Onnam et Mersitonam? in Staphordscira, decimamque caseorum meorum et lanarum de Pultona, et quicquid habeo in Melleburna* in Grantebrugescira, et unam hidam terrz in Grafan5 in Suthsexia,

li. 415

et terram

Vulfuini

aurifabri

de Cicestra.

Annuo

praterea queque Guarinus uicecomes atque Guillelmus Pantulfus et Hugo de Mesdauid aliique homines mei hactenus sancto Ebrulfo in Anglia seu Normannia dederunt. Hzec omnia concedentibus filis meis Rodberto de Bellismo et Hugone atque Philippo pro redemptione anima mez et Mabiliz ac Adelaidis

coniugum mearum, meorumque predecessorum atque futurorum haeredum in conspectu Dei sic annuo, et hoc testamentum signo sanctz crucis confirmo? ut quicumque aliquid ex his imminuerit, infregerit uel abstulerit, anathema sit. Hoc itaque testamentum Rogerius comes fecit, ac subscribendo corroborauit/ et post eum apud Alencionem subscripserunt filii erus Rodbertus et Hugo atque Philippus gramaticus proceresque sui Rodbertus Tedbaldi filius et Hugo filius eius, Gislebertus conestabilis? et Hugo Turgini t Wrongly printed Guillelmus in Le Prévost, ii. 414. He was probably a descendant of Walter le Sor, whose sons murdered Robert, son of William I of Belléme, c. 1033 (Le Prévost, v. 4). The church of Radon had originally been

given by Ralph, a knight of Robert son of Giroie (Fauroux, no. 122), called by Orderic Ralph son of Godfrey (above, ii. 38); but possibly the original gift failed to take effect when the Giroie lands fell to Roger of Montgomery. ? Reginald of Bailleul married Amieria, niece of Earl Roger and widow of

Warin the Bald. Bailleul had been part of the endowment of the first monastery of Saint-Évroul (P. Lauer, Recueil des actes de Charles III, pp. 74-6).

BOOK V

a

all my lands; and in all my woods I grant the monks freedom from pannage for their pigs in perpetuity. At Echauffour I give them the land of one plough; I concede irrevocably the tithe of the mill and the tithe of all rents in the town, and freely add of my own gift the tithe of the fairs at Planches. The church of Radon, which Walter! le Sor gave to Saint-Evroul, and the church and tithe of Saint-Jouin-de-Blavou which Reginald the priest gave and Odo of Peray granted, and the altar of St. Leonard in the church of Bailleul with a third part of the tithe of that same vill, and the land that Reginald of Bailleul? and his wife Amieria, my niece, gave, all these things of my own choice I confirm for the love of God. In England also I give two manors, Onn and Marston; in Staffordshire, and the tithe of my cheeses and wool of Poulton, and all

that I have in Melbourne* in Cambridgeshire, and a hide of land in Graffhams in Sussex, and the land of Wulfwin the Goldsmith

of Chichester. I confirm also everything that Warin the sheriff and William Pantulf and Hugh of Médavy and my other men have given to Saint-Évroul in England and Normandy up to the present day. All these things I grant in the sight of God, with the consent of my sons Robert of Belléme and Hugh and Philip, for the redemption of my soul and the souls of my wives Mabel and Adelais, and of my ancestors

and future heirs; I confirm this

charter with the sign of the cross, and if any man should diminish, contravene, or take away anything in it, may he be excommunicate.’ Earl Roger had this charter made, and ratified it with his subscription, and the following added their subscriptions after his at Alengon: his sons Robert and Hugh and Philip the grammarian, and, of his men, Robert the son of Theobald and his son Hugh, Gilbert the constable? and Hugh son of Turgis, Fulk of Le Pin 3 In 1086 Saint-Evroul held 2 hides in High Onn and the manor of Marston

of Earl Roger (DB i. 248). 4 In 1086 Saint-Evroul held just under half a hide in Melbourne and 2 hides in Meldreth (DB i. 193b).

5 There is no entry for Saint-Evroul in Graffham (Sussex) in Domesday Book, but a monk of Saint-Evroul held a hide in the adjacent manor of Singleton (DB i. 23). Later documents refer to tenants of the prior of Ware in Graffham (Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 145).

g

6 Warin the Bald, Earl Roger’s first sheriff in Shropshire (above, ii. 262). He

attested a charter

of 1085 (V. H. Galbraith,

‘An episcopal land-grant of

1085’, EHR xliv (1929), 372), but was dead before the Domesday survey. 7 Gilbert the Constable also attested a charter of 1085 (ibid.), but had no land

in England in 1086; he may have commanded (J. F. A. Mason in T'SAS, lvi (1960), 250).

the earl’s household knights

142

BOOK

V

filius Fulco de Pino et Engelbertus prepositus, Rainaldus de Bailol et Guillelmus Pantulfus, Odo de Pireto aliique plures.

14

ii. 416

li. 417

Praterea Rogerius comes multa dedit aliis zecclesiis Troarnensi, Sagiensi, Almaniscensi, Cluniacensi, Cadomensi,! aliisque plurimis de acceptis honoribus, quos de paterna haereditate non est adeptus. Connobium quoque nouum ad orientalem portam proprie urbis id est Scrobesburiz, in honore sancti Petri principis apostolorum ccpit zedificare? super fluuium qui Mola dicitur, ibique in Sabrina dilabitur. Illic nimirum lignea capella priscis temporibus a Siwardo Edelgari filio regis Eduardi consanguineo condita fuerat:? quam tunc Odelerius Aurelianensis Constantii filius? uir ingenio et facundia et eruditione litterarum prepollens eiusdem consulis dono possidebat. Hic sane amator zquitatis feruidus? utilisque iam dicti comitis erat auricularius, ipsumque benigniter exhortans ad construendum monasterium? nutantique qualiter uel quo tantum opus inciperet huiusmodi dans consilium. “Multi strenue uir uestre inherent sullimitati? sed diuersis intentionibus

uobis uerbo

uel actu

conantur

obsequi.

Quidam

enim pro libitu suo plus uestra sibi cupiunt adipisci? quam uos ad permansuros honores nanciscendos salubriter cohortari. Sed qui uobis nititur ueraciter obsecundare? debet uos plus quam uestra semper amare, et ea que salubriora sunt anime uestrze indesinenter propinare. De construendo monasterio nobilis heros tractare cepisti’ sed in illis qui sibi magis ardent dari quam aliis commodum solamen ad tam arduum opus non inuenisti. Videtur michi saluberrimum esse monachile coenobium erigere, et ibidem ! For Roger of Montgomery’s activity as a founder and benefactor of monasteries see R. N. Sauvage, L' Abbaye de Saint-Martin de Troarn (Mém. Soc. Ant. Norm. xxxiv, Caen, 1911), pp. 18-20; Musset, Almenéches, pp. 22-9. His gifts to Cluny included a substantial endowment for the refectory (Rose Graham in Archaeologia, \xxx (1930), 155) and the refoundation of Wenlock as a Cluniac priory (VCH Salop, ii (forthcoming)); and he made substantial gifts to St. Stephen's, Caen (Musset, Abbayes caennaises, nos. 1, 3). For Siward, son of /Ethelgar, see above, ii. 194 and VCH Salop, i. 300. He retained a little of his former property after making his peace with King William (DB i. 259b), and Earl Roger granted him a life interest in Cheney Longville in exchange for the site of St. Peter's church (ibid. ;The Cartulary of Shrewsbury

Abbey, ed. U. Rees (National Library of Wales, forthcoming), nos.

T5935)

BOOK

V

143

and Engelbert the provost, Reginald of Bailleul and William Pantulf, Odo of Peray, and many others. 14 In addition to this Earl Roger gave many gifts to other churches,

Troarn, Séez, Almenéches, Cluny, Caen,’ and many others from

the honors that he had acquired and had not inherited from his father. He began to build a new abbey in honour of St. Peter, chief of the apostles, at the east gate of his own town of Shrewsbury, on the river Meole, where it joins the Severn. In earlier

times a wooden chapel had stood there, erected by Siward son of /Ethelgar, a kinsman of King Edward.? Odelerius of Orleans, son of Constantius,? a man of remarkable intelligence and eloquence and learning, then held it by the earl’s gift. He had a passionate love of justice, and was a wise confidant of the earl, urging him courteously to found a monastery ;and, when the earl hesitated on

how or where he should undertake such a great work, counselling him thus: “Great lord, many live under your patronage, but they have different motives in seeking to serve you in word and deed. Some of them are more concerned to gain wealth for themselves from you than to advise you on the better way of winning everlasting possessions. But he who would truly serve you ought to love you more than your possessions, and always hold before your eyes the things that belong to salvation. "You, noble lord, have begun to consider founding a monastery, but amongst those whose ambition is to get gifts for themselves rather than for others you have found no proper support for such an arduous task. It seems to me a most goodly undertaking to found a monastery, and establish there an order devoutly following Traces of his original endowment of the church are to be found in Domesday Book (DB i. 252b, 260). Wulfstan bishop of Worcester, who visited it c. 1070,

found it the poorest of the Shrewsbury churches (The ‘Vita Wulfstani’ of William of Malmesbury, ed. R. R. Darlington (Camd. Soc. 3rd ser. xl), pp. 26-7, 92). 3 The father of Orderic Vitalis. 4 'The speech in praise of the monastic way of life that Orderic puts into the mouth of his father has much in common with the numerous letters, treatises, and sermons on the subject composed at about this time. Cf. J. Leclercq in Analecta Monastica, ii (Studia Anselmiana, xxxi (1953), 118-23); Analecta Monastica, iti (ibid. xxxvii (1955), 169-99); Analecta Monastica, iv (ibid. xli

(1959), 34-118).

144.

BOOK

V

autenticum ordinem secundum institutionem sanctissimi patris Benedicti diligenter imponere, uerisque pauperibus Dei de tuis abundantiis uictum et uestitum affluenter erogare. Prouide nunc intuere quz sunt? quz in regularibus monasteriis ab eruditis cultoribus fiunt. Innumera ibi beneficia cotidie aguntur, et contra diabolum a castrensibus Christi uiriliter dimicatur. Nulli dubium est quod probo agonithetz quanto acrior fuerit pugna’ tanto gloriosior erit uictoria, tropheique maior merces in celesti curia. Quis referre potest monachorum uigilias, ymnos et psalmodias, orationes et elemosinas, et cum ii, 418

lacrimarum

imbribus missarum

oblationes cotidianas? Christi sequaces ad hoc omnino uacant? ut sese crucifigentes Deo per omnia placeant. Ipsi nempe mundo mundanisque parasitis insultant" dum mundana oblectamenta uelut stercus deuitant, et mundanas opes pro superna spe contemptibiliter conculcant. Asperitas illis inest et uilitas in uestitu, siccitas et parcitas in uictu? et propriarum resecatio uoluntatum propter amorem Domini Ihesu. Quid de castitate et omni continentia, quid de silentio monachorum et modestia, quid denique dicam de oboedientia? Tantarum copia uirtutum magnitudine sui meum obtundit ingenium? fateorque me non posse sufficienter illam exprimere per oris officium. In regalibus claustris ueri coenobitze ueluti filize regis clauduntur, ne si per exteriora tanquam Dina Liz filia impudentur euagantur? a Sichem filio Emor Euei ad iniuriam rigidi patris ferociumque dedecus fratrum turpiter corrumpantur.! Ipsi tutores ne labantur in septis suis sibi fiunt, et lapsi per excessum in penetralibus suis accusatores sui sunt^ seseque ut aurum in fornace ab omni scoria uitiorum omnimodis

excoquere satagunt. Vnde reor preces eorum pro quibuscumque

li. 419

fidelibus fuerint effuse? ante thronum diuinz maiestatis mox conscendere, et ab ipso rege sabaoth que poposcerint credenda sunt optinere. A secretis monachorum a iuuentute mea diutius extiti? et mores eorum familiariter rimatus edidici. Ergo dum omnium qui in terra sunt mortalium ritus discutio, et heremitarum atque canonicorum uitas diligenter perspicio? omnes monachorum qui canonice uiuunt et ordinate reguntur uita inferiores uideo. Vnde generositatem uestram gloriose consul fideliter admoneo, ut dum licet in comitatu uestro quem iure a patribus non consecutus

es

hereditario,

monachile

castrum

contra

Sathanan

construatur Deo? ubi pro anima uestra cucullati pugiles Behemoth ! Cf. Genesis xxxiv. 1-31.

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the original rule of the most holy father Benedict; and from your superfluity to provide generously for the food and clothing of the true poor of God. Consider now what duties are performed in monasteries obedient to a rule by those trained in the service of God. Countless benefits are obtained there every day, and Christ’s garrisons struggle manfully against the devil. Assuredly the harder the struggle of the spiritual warrior the more glorious will be his victory, and the more precious his trophies in the courts of Heaven. Who can tell all the vigils of monks, their hymns and psalms, their prayers and alms, and their daily offerings of masses with copious tears? The followers of Christ devote themselves wholly to this, sacrificing themselves to be found truly acceptable to God. They reject the world and its parasites, scorn all its pleasures as filth, and shun worldly wealth for the hope of Heaven. Their lot is a harsh life, wretched clothing, scanty food and drink, and renunciation of their own wills for the love of the

Lord Jesus. What shall I say of the chastity and continence, what of the silence and humility,

what,

lastly, of the obedience

of

monks ?My mind is overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of their many virtues, and I confess that I have no words to express it adequately. True cenobites are enclosed in royal cloisters as if they were kings’ daughters, for fear that if they should wander abroad they may be shamefully defiled, as was Leah’s daughter, Dinah, by Schechem, son of Hamon the Hivite, to the dishonour of her proud father and the disgrace of her warlike brothers.! Within their own walls they are guardians of themselves lest they should fall, and if they fall away from the right path they, in their sanctuaries,

are their own

accusers,

and they strive to refine

themselves as gold in the furnace from all dross of sin. And so I believe that their prayers, for whomsoever among the faithful they are offered up, rise immediately to the throne of God, and that

whatever they ask of the King of Hosts they surely receive. I have been for a long time from my youth up an adviser of monks, and have come to know their way of life from close observance. And so, when I consider the rites of men in different parts of the world, and carefully look into the lives of hermits and canons, I see that all are inferior in their way of life to monks who live canonical lives under a rule. And so, great and noble earl, I faithfully ad-

monish you to found a monastery while you may in your county, which you have acquired and not inherited, as a citadel of God

146

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V

conflictu resistent assiduo. Ecce super Molam fluuium michi domus est quam nuper dedisti?! iuxta quam sicut anno transacto ante aram sancti Petri principis apostolorum Romze uotum feci, lapideam zedificare basilicam cepi. Basilicam itaque quam ut dixi, sponte uoto constrictus facere nuper institui? domumque meam cum omni apparatu meo gaudens offero cunctipotenti, meque pro posse meo polliceor adiutorem ad omnia in nomine Ihesu Christi. Exurge uelociter, incipe uiriliter? opus Dei fac insigniter. Tolle moras, semper nocuit differre paratis.? Multi profecto aderunt cooperatores’ et post funus etiam uestrum pii pro uobis oratores. In, primis aduenientibus monachis cum cementariis ad iaciendum monasterii fundamentum" ad inchoationem huiuscemodi porrigam xv libras sterilensium. Deinde meipsum et Benedictum filium meum iam quinquennem et omnia mea tradam monasterio: tali tenore ut omnium rerum mearum medietas mecum subdatur monachorum dominio, aliaque medietas Ebrardo filio meo dedatur sub monachorum patrocinio. Porro

primogenitum

li. 420

li. 421

meum

iamdudum

litteris imbuendum

liberali

didascalo mancipaui,? eique locum tute» mansionis inter uernulas Dei apud Vticum in Neustria procuraui’ pro quo eulogias benedictionis xxx scilicet marcos argenti futuris eius magistris et consodalibus de porismate meo libenter erogaui. Sic pro redemptoris amore primogenitum michi filium abdico et trans pontum in exilium destino, ut ultroneus exul inter externos regi militet ethereo, ubi liber ab omni parentum cura et affectu lztifero, eximie uigeat in obseruatione monastica et cultu dominico. Hzc inspirante Deo iam dudum desideraui, ac ad talia me progeniemque meam applicare studia peroptaui’ ut merear opitulante gratia Dei? cum prole mea inter electos in ultimo examine computari." Anno igitur ab incarnatione Domini MLxxxime indictione iii’? Rogerius comes ut hortatus fidelis consiliarii commodos esse comprobauit? Guarinum uicecomitem et Picotum de Saia czeterosque proceres suos v? kal’ Martii feria vi? conuocauit.* Manifestata ! The church of St. Peter, which

Earl Roger had given to Odelerius, was

built near the place where the Meole brook joins the river Severn. ? Lucan, Phars. i. 281.

* In 1080, when he was five, Orderic was placed in the charge of the priest aaa in the church of St. Peter at Shrewsbury, to learn his letters (Le Prévost, V.

I

.

* "s 1083 25 February fell in fact on a Saturday, and this seems a slip of the pen. ‘There can be no doubt that Orderic himself was present on this occasion, and that the foundation of the abbey was assured at this date. The property of

St. Peter's, Shrewsbury, where Earl Roger was making an abbey, was recorded in Domesday Book in 1086 (DB i. 252b, 253). 1087, given as the date of ‘founda-

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against Satan, where the cowled champions may engage in ceaseless combat against Behemoth for your soul. See now: I have a house on the banks of the river Meole which you gave me recently,! and I have begun to build a stone church beside it as I vowed to do a year ago before the altar of St. Peter, the chief of the apostles, at Rome. I gladly offer to almighty God that church which, as I said, I have begun to build to fulfil the vow freely made, and with it my house and all its furnishings; and I promise to help in every way I can in the name of Jesus Christ. Rise up at once; begin

boldly, perform God's work nobly. No more delay: what's planned is ill deferred.2

Assuredly many fellow workers will flock there, and the monks in filial piety will pray for you after your death. When the monks and masons first come to lay the foundations of the monastery I will give fifteen pounds sterling for the first stage of the work. Afterwards I will give myself and my son Benedict, now five years old, and all my goods to the monastery, in such a way that half of all my property shall be given with me to the demesne of the monks, and the other half shall be given to my son Evrard to hold under the lordship of the monks. My eldest son I have already placed in the care of a teacher of the liberal arts,? to learn his letters, and I have procured for him a place of safe refuge among the faithful servants of God at Saint-Évroul in Normandy, and have given as a free-will offering for his blessing thirty marks of silver out of my own substance to his future masters and companions. So out of love for my Redeemer I renounce my first-born son, and destine him for exile among strangers; free from every tie of kinship and fatal affection he may devote himself utterly to the observance of the monastic rule and the worship of God. All these things I have long hoped for through God's holy inspiration, and I have chosen that my children and I shall devote ourselves to such occupations, so that aided by God's grace I and they together may deserve to be numbered with the elect in the last judgement.' So in the year of our Lord 1083, the fourth indiction, Earl Roger, who approved the provident plans of his faithful counsellor, summoned Warin the sheriff and Picot of Say and his other chief vassals on Friday, 25 February. When he had explained his tion’ in the early charters, was probably the date when conventual life began and the first abbot was appointed (Salop. Cart., ed. U. Rees, NOS. 34, 3 5j Picot

of Say, like Warin the Bald, was one of Earl Roger's leading vassals in Shropshire.

148

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uero causa et ab omnibus collaudata, cum eis ad zecclesiam beati

il. 422

li. 423

Petri apostoli abiit, ibique se abbatiam constructurum palam testibus multis deuouit? totumque suburbium quod extra portam orientalem situm est sancto Petro donauit, et super aram per cirotecas suas donationem posuit. Eodem anno Sagienses monachi Rainaldus et Frodo primitus illuc uenerunt? et monachiles officinas Odelerio et Guarino aliisque multis adiuuantibus condere ceperunt. Primus abbas illius monasterii Guillelmo Rufo regnante eloquens Fulcheredus fuit? eique Godefredus Henrico regnante successit.! Ambo litterati et religiosi pastores fuerunt" et fere xl annis dominicum gregem diligenter educare studuerunt. Ingenti cura res noui monasterii exterius auxerunt: et instituta morum ad salutem animarum interius discipulis laudabiliter sanxerunt. Sepedictus quoque Odelerius quod promiserat ex integro compleuit, datisque ducentis libris argenti Deo Benedictum filium suum ibidem optulit? et ipse post obitum Rogerii comitis monachile scema suscepit. Ibi septem annis secundum normam sancti patris Benedicti monachus Deo seruiuit? et feria vi? ebdomadz Pentecostes post plurimos labores quos pro Deo pertulit, flebili confessione reatus suos detegendo texit, et sacra unctione perunctus et uiatico munitus iii nonas Tunii obiit. Rogerius autem comes post mortem Guillelmi nothi vi annis uixit, et longeuus heros inter precipuos optimates Angliz floruit, et abbatiam quam eum construxisse dixi terris et redditibus mediocriter locupletauit.3 Ibi vi? kal’ Augusti defunctus est: et in basilica noua inter duo altaria honorifice sepultus est.* Rodbertus uero filius eius totum feudum eius in Normannia solus optinuit? et quia crudelis et superbus et ualde nequam erat innumeras iniquitates exercuit. Hugo autem de Montegomerici comitatum Scrobesburie habuit, sed post aliquot annos a Magno fratre regis Northwigenarum repente missili perforatus in littore maris occubuit, quem cum magno luctu deportatum Scrobesburiensis conuentus in claustro tumulauit. Aliis quoque duobus filiis suis Rogerio et Arnulfo singulos * Fulchred probably became abbot late in 1087 and died on 15 March 1 II9, though 1113 is possible. Godfrey died in 1128 (see notes to the list of abbots of Shrewsbury in VCH Salop, ii (forthcoming)). ? Roger of Montgomery

died on 27 July 1094 (GEC, xi. 687). According to

Orderic's calculation, if his father became a monk within the next year he died

in 1102. In that year the Friday after Pentecost fell on 30 May; this date could be reconciled with Orderic's account if we suppose that Odelerius lingered for

four days after his final confession. 3 June fell on the Friday after Pentecost in 1099, but that would have allowed him less than five years as a monk. * Many of the early gifts to Shrewsbury consisted of churches, and the abbey had to wait for the reversion of the rectorial portions. William of Malmesbury implied that at first the monks lived on hope (GP, p. 306).

BOOK

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intention, which all applauded, he went with them to the church of St. Peter the Apostle, vowed before many witnesses that he would build an abbey there, and gave the whole suburb situated outside the east gate to St. Peter, placing his gloves on the altar in token of the gift. As a first step, in the same year, two monks of Séez, Reginald and Frodo, came there and began to construct the

monastic buildings with the help of Odelerius and Warin and many others. The first abbot of that monastery, in the reign of William Rufus, was the eloquent Fulchred; and he was succeeded by Godfrey in Henry’s reign.! Both were learned and pious abbots, and for about forty years devoted themselves patiently to tending the Lord’s flock. With immense pains they increased the external possessions of the new monastery, and internally established excellent monastic discipline for the salvation of their followers. Odelerius, of whom I have written so much, fulfilled all that he had promised; after giving two hundred pounds of silver he offered his son Benedict to God there, and after Earl Roger’s death he himself also took the monastic habit. He served God there for seven years as a monk obeying the rule of St. Benedict. Finally on the Friday after Pentecost, having accomplished many tasks for God, he made a full and penitent confession of his sins, and being fortified by extreme unction and holy communion he died on 3 June.” Earl Roger lived for six years after the death of William the Bastard, throve to an honourable old age amongst the greatest lords in England, and provided a modest endowment of lands and revenues for the abbey which he had founded, as I have related. He died there on 27 July, and was honourably buried in the new church between the two altars.* His son Robert then entered into sole possession of his whole fee in Normandy, and because he was cruel and proud and evil in every way he committed innumerable crimes. Hugh of Montgomery received the county of Shropshire, but a few years later he was transfixed with a spear by Magnus, brother of the king of Norway, on the sea-shore and died instantly; his body was brought back to Shrewsbury and buried by the monks in the cloister with great lamentation. The earl by careful planning

secured counties for his two other sons, Roger and Arnulf, during 4 In the thirteenth century Earl Roger’s tomb was in the Lady Chapel, east of the high altar; but as this chapel was probably not built at the time of his death his first burial-place was most likely between the high altar in the chancel and the parochial altar in the nave. 822210X

M

150

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comitatus callidus heros in uita sua procurauit? quos post eius occasum ambobus perfidia regnante Henrico confestim abstulit.! En digressionem quantulamcumque feci de constructione monasterii quod in fundo patris mei nunc inhabitat familia Christi? et ubi ipse genitor meus ut memini, iam sexagenarius sponte fine tenus portauit iugum Domini. Parce queso bone lector, nec molestum tibi sit precor? si de patre meo aliquid memorize tradiderim litterarum, quem non uidi ex quo me uelut exosum sibi priuignum, et pro amore creatoris pepulit in exilium. Iam xlii anni sunt: in quibus multe mutationes rerum late per orbem facta sunt. Dum sepe de his cogito, et quaedam cartis insero’ caute resistens ocio, sic dictans me exerceo. Nunc ad inceptam reuertar materiam? meisque iunioribus aduena indigenis de rebus suis qua nesciunt edisseram, et hoc eis modo utiliter opitulante Deo seruiam.

li. 424

D5 Goisbertus ciuis Carnotensis ut dictum est ad conuersionem uenit, optimamque domum quam in urbe habuerat xxx libris Carnotensium uendidit? totumque precium Vticensibus ouanter retulit. Hic erat statura procerus et exilis, moribus benignus et tractabilis, magnanimus et dapsilis. Et quia medicinz artis erat peritissimus: multis erat notus et necessarius, ac familiaris amicus. Per ipsum itaque Fulcherius Carnotensis et Petrus de Manlia aliique plures noticiam Vticensium amplexati sunt: et honestatem eorum cum religione uenerantes eis de rebus suis idoneam portionem contulerunt. Prefatus quippe Fulcherius nobilitate cluebat, ex patrimonio suo magnam possessionem habebat: litterisque affatim imbutus sancte Dei genitricis canonicus erat. Ipse de donatione rerum quas sancto dederat Ebrulfo cartam fecit? ipsoque subtiliter et facete dictante Rodbertus Andreas scriptor egregius hoc modo annotauit.? * Of Earl Roger's sons here discussed Robert of Belléme secured his mother's French lands as well as his father's Norman fiefs; Earl Hugh succeeded in

Shropshire and was killed in 1098. Roger, called the Poitevin, who held exten-

sive lands between Ribble and Mersey and elsewhere in England, became a count in France through his marriage to the heiress of La Marche in Poitou.

Arnulf probably took his comital title from Pembroke. See J. F. A. Mason in TRHS,

sth ser. xiii (1963), 13-23.

BOOK

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his lifetime; but shortly after his death both lost them through treachery in Henry's reign.! As you see I have digressed somewhat to write of the building of a monastery, where a community of Christ's servants now lives in the patrimony of my father, and where that same father of mine, as I recall, when he was turned sixty took up the yoke of the Lord and bore it to the end of his days. Kind reader, pardon me I beg, and do not take it ill if I commit some memorial of my father to writing, for I never saw him again after he sent me into exile for love of his Creator as if I had been a rejected stepson. Forty-two years have passed since then, and during that time many changes have taken place throughout the world. These things are often in my mind, and I record a few in these pages as I deliberately fight against sloth, busying myself with composing. Now I will return to the task that I, a foreigner, have undertaken, of instructing the

young monks native to this land in the history of their own monastery, and so achieve, with God's help, something profitable to them. I5 Goisbert, a citizen of Chartres, turned to the monastic life as I have related; he sold the best house that he had in the city for thirty pounds of the money of Chartres and jubilantly brought the whole price to the monks of Saint-Évroul. A tall, slightly-built man, he was amiable and kindly, open-handed and generous in character. And because he was a highly skilled doctor, he was widely known and valued, and a close friend to many. T'hrough his influence Foucher of Chartres and Peter of Maule and many others turned their eyes towards the monks of Saint-Évroul; and admiring their integrity and piety gave them a proper share of their possessions. Foucher was of high birth and had a substantial inheritance; being also very learned he was a canon of the cathedral . church of St. Mary at Chartres. He made a charter describing the property he gave to Saint-Évroul, and Robert Andrew, a fine scribe, wrote down what he had fluently and precisely composed in these words:? 2 The original of this charter, Archives de Orne,

H 717, is on permanent

exhibition in the museum at Saint-Evroult-Notre-Dame-du-Bois. copy shows only a few minor differences of spelling.

Orderic’s

152

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‘Ego Fulcherius Gerardi filius beatee Mariae Carnotensis zecclesize indignus qualiscunque canonicus, multotiens mecum cogitans de statu mez aliorumque mortalium conditionis, omnia ferme quz sub sole sunt sicut ait Salomon subiacere uanitati! comperi. Nec aliquid esse in terris, quod beare post erumpnas huius uitze homines possit? nisi aliquid dum uixerint, pro se bene fecerint. Huius rei consideratione commotus, ac meorum criminum enormitate ualde

li. 425

perterritus? quoniam unusquisque de his quz gessit Deo rationem quandoque est redditurus, uisum michi est credo ex Dei inspiratione, ex his quz possideo beato Ebrulfo aliqua pro salute mea amicorumque meorum tradere, unde fratres mei et amici inibi degentes quantulamcumque habere possint corporum sustentationem, et memoriam mei aliquotiens exinde libentius faciant. Quoniam ea quz posteris nostris iure hereditario relinquimus non solum dico post mortem non prosunt, uerum etiam quia male ea locauimus, nobis plurimum officiunt. "Notum autem sit sanctz zecclesize omnibus fidelibus, quia ego libens atque spontaneus mez saluti in futuro preeuidens: beato Ebrulfo et sibi seruientibus ista omnia licet minima sint iure perpetuo trado, qua hic enumerare curabo. Videlicet zcclesiam de Montleiscent,?

et medietatem

decimz

illius uille,

cimiterium,

atque tres acras terre pone cimiterium, necnon monasterii arcagium," quantum Goscelinus tenuit, decimamque molendini mei, et si ibi mercatum

facio? decimam

eis similiter inde

annuo. Monachus uero qui in Montleiscent^ habitabit? nunquam molturam de annona sua dabit. Quod si ipse uult molere ad suum

li. 426

molendinum: faciat. Si non? placet? ad meum molat, molturamque suam habeat. In Marchesuilla quoque quicquid ibi habeo? terram, monasterium, molendinum do eis in perpetuum. In uilla quz dicitur Lalandella do nichilominus terram unius aratri et monasterium. Nemoris mei similiter decimam do" uidelicet de pasnagio, de apibus, de bestiis siluaticis quz ibi capientur. Porci quoque monachorum nullatenus pasnagium in meo nemore dabunt. Nec quicquam operis uel seruitii siue expeditionis michi neque posteris meis ullo tempore monachi reddent. Et si de meis hominibus beato Ebrulfo dare uel uendere aliquis aliquid uoluerit? omnibus omnimodo do licentiam, quatinus hoc absque timore mei facere praualeant. Has ergo qualescumque donationes quas ego omnipotenti 4^ Original Mouleiscent scent 4 Original siue

> Original archagium

© Original Moulei-

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‘I, Foucher, son of Gerard, a very unworthy canon of the church of St. Mary of Chartres, after constantly reflecting on my condition and that of other mortals, have found that, as Solomon says, almost

all things under the sun are vanity.! Moreover there is nothing in the world that can reward men after the tribulations of this life except to have done something to store up merits for them whilst they were still alive. So, disturbed by this meditation and terrified at heart by the enormity of my sins, since each one of us must one day render account of all his deeds to God, I have resolved by God’s inspiration, as I believe, to bestow some of my goods on Saint-Evroul for my salvation and that of my friends, so that my brethren and friends dwelling there may have some means of sustenance, and may thereby more readily perform something for my memory. For I assert that the goods we bequeath to our heirs are not only totally unprofitable to us after our death but, inasmuch as we bestow them badly, positively do us great harm. ‘Be it known therefore to all faithful members of Holy Church that I, freely and spontaneously providing for the salvation of my soul, bestow on St. Evroul and his servants all the things here enumerated, little as they are, in perpetuity: namely the church of Moulicent, half the tithe of the village, the cemetery and three acres of land behind the cemetery, also the arcagium? revenues which Goscelin held, and the tithe of my mill. And if I have a market there I grant them the tithe of it also. The monk who will live at Moulicent? shall not pay multure for his corn, and if he wishes to grind corn at his mill he may do so. If he prefers, he may grind corn at my mill and be free of multure for it. In Marchainville also I give them in perpetuity all that I hold, land, church and mill. And in the village called La Lande I also give the land of one plough and the church. I also give the tithe of my woods, namely of pannage, of honey, and of the wild beasts taken there. 'The monks' swine shall not owe pannage for pasture in my wood. And the monks shall never owe any kind of works or agricultural or military services to me or my heirs. And if any of my men wish to give or sell anything to St. Évroul I give general permission to all to do so, granting them full right of so doing without fear of me. And concerning these various gifts which I voluntarily offer to ! Cf, Ecclesiastes ii. 17-18. 2 An obscure due; MLWL

suggests ‘payment for use of chests’. ?

3 Later Saint-Évroul had a small priory at Marchainville (PUF ii, no. 153).

154

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Deo qui michi esse contulit, et beato Ebrulfo egregio confessori spontaneus offero? si quis uecors aut inuidus ui uel clam quando-

que minuere seu temerare uel auferre ausus

ii. 427

fuerit, perpetuo

mulctatus anathemate, in regione uiuentium non uideat bona Domini, nisi dignissima satisfactione poenitens ipse resipuerit. Hanc autem paruitatis nostrze donationem a me suppliciter rogatus libenter concessit domnus Rodbertus Carnotensis zecclesize episcopus, in cuius casamento sunt ea qua superius data memorantur. Concesserunt hoc etiam fratres mei eiusdem ecclesiz canonici, et uxor mea Alpes atque filii mei.' Vticenses monachi possessionem quam prefatus heros eis ut dictum est dederat iam quinquaginta annis tenuerunt: et successores eius Bartolomeus cognomento Boellus et Gerardus filius eius? gratanter concesserunt. Ibidem Haimericus et Radulfus et Hugo Anglicus Guillelmusque de Merula aliique plures monachi facundia et probitate uigentes conuersati sunt:3 eisque benignum patrocinium Carnotenses episcopi Rodbertus et Goisfredus et Iuo ac Goisfredus^ impertiti sunt. Sic studio monachorum auxilioque bonorum basilica Marchesuille condita est’ qua sancte Dei genitrici Mariz per quam mundi salus uenit consecrata est. Eodem tempore Landricus et Goisfredus atque Gunherius totam terram de Iarenzai beato Ebrulfo dederunt. Et quia Isnardus de quo eam diu tenuerant? ex toto liberam monachis concessit, sex libras a Mainerio abbate recepit. Deinde Landricus et alii supradicti a praenotato patre medietatem terre receperunt? et in presentia Isnardi homines preefati abbatis iunctis manibus facti sunt. Ibi etiam illi tres coram Isnardo et aliis compluribus zecclesiam illus uilla et quicquid ad eam pertinebat, totamque decimam concesserunt, et totius terre tam de ea que ad Isnardum pertinebat’ quam de ea quz ad beatum Stephanums uel ad quemcumque alium pertinebat, ex toto coram Gerardo presbitero aliisque multis

concesserunt.

16

Anno ab incarnatione Domini nostri Ihesu Christi M?rLxxrime indictione x* tempore Willelmi magni regis Anglorum et ducis ! ? lat. 3

Cf. Psalm xxvii (xxviii). 13. A grandson of Gerard Boel confirmed these gifts in 1255 (Bibl. nat. MS. 11056, f. 196"). Aymer is probably the monk who was at one time in charge of the cell at

Parnes (above, ii. 154). For William of Merlerault see above, ii. 166, 367 n. 1.

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almighty God, the author of my life, and to the most blessed confessor St. Évroul, if anyone shamefully or enviously, by force or fraud, should ever dare to diminish or violate them or take anything away, may he be punished with perpetual anathema and never live to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living! unless he repent and make full reparation. Robert, lord bishop of Chartres, in whose tenement these above-mentioned gifts are situated, has freely granted this small gift of mine at my humble request. My brethren, the canons of the cathedral, and my wife Alpes and my sons have also granted it.’ The monks of Saint-Évroul have now held the property which this same lord gave them in this way for fifty years, and his successors, Bartholomew called Boel and Gerard his son,? have willingly granted it. There Aymer and Ralph and Hugh the Englishman and William of Merlerault and several other eloquent and upright monks have resided,? and the bishops of Chartres, Robert and Geoffrey and Ivo and Geoffrey,+ have given them benevolent protection. So through the exertions of the monks and the help of good men the church of Marchainville was built, and consecrated in the name of the blessed Mary, mother of God, through whom came the redemption of the world. At the same time Landry and Geoffrey and Gunter gave all the land of Charencey to Saint-Évroul. And because Isnard, of whom they had held it for a long time, granted it freely to the monks he received six pounds from Abbot Mainer. Then Landry and the others named above received back half the land from the abbot; and placing their hands in his became his men in the presence of Isnard. At the same time these three with Isnard and many others as witnesses gave the church of that village with all that pertained to it and all the tithe of the whole territory, whether it belonged to Isnard, or to St. Stephen's,5 or to anyone else; they granted this in the presence of Gerard the priest and many others. 16

In the year of our Lord Jesus Christ 1073, the tenth indiction, in the time of William the Great, king of England and duke of 4 Geoffrey II (c. 1116-49) was still bishop of Chartres at the time Orderic wrote. 5 This church has not been identified.

156

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Normannorum, Guillelmus miles cognomento Pantol consulente Mainerio uenerabili abbate amico suo, et concedente Rogerio comite

ii. 428

domino

suo? dedit sancto

Ebrulfo

zcclesias

de Norun,

quarum una constructa est in honore sancti Petri et altera in honore sancti Cirici martiris.! Tunc etiam dedit totam decimam de Norun propriumque plesseicium,? et partem siluz a ponte Ogereti, partemque suam unius terre qua Molenx dicitur? et alterius que ultra torrentem sita est et uulgo Ruptices dicitur. Ipse postmodum totum feudum Guillelmi de Maloi in quo fere XXX acra terre sunt concessit? et inde ad ineundum iter sancti Egidii xvi libras Rodomensium ex karitate monachorum habuit. Idem totam terram quam Gualterius filius Rufe Rodberto monacho uendidit, sancto Petro concessit? unde predictus monachus ei centum solidos Rodomensium dedit. Prater hzc idem Guillelmus in eadem uilla dedit monachis Ix acras terre, et

molendinum de Helmet? decimamque dimidii molendini de Norun. Dedit et ecclesiam de Esmiuilla cum decima et omnibus redditibus ad ecclesiam pertinentibus, et in eadem uilla terram unius uauassoris’ et duas garbas decimz suz proprietatis et omnium hominum suorum de Maisnil Bachelarii, ac totam deci-

ii. 429

mam molendini de Roreuilla. Totam uero terram quam Beatrix mater eius in dominio habebat apud Fossas dedit sancto Petro. Hospites? etiam de elemosina sancti Germani de Alberiuico. Heluis soror eiusdem Guillelmi totum maritagium suum de Alberiuico dedit sancto Petro quod ipse tunc concessit? insuper in eadem uilla decimam hominum suorum Raimboldi et Rodberti heretici et Gualonis filii Safredi adiunxit. Preterea idem Guillelmus concessit sancto Petro de Norun omnes zcclesias et decimas omnium locorum in Anglia seu Normannia uel in omni loco ubicunque honor ei cresceret,* decimamque totius possessionis suze uidelicet equarum, uaccarum et caseorum omniumque rerum de quibus decimam dare posset. Similiter concessit quicquid homines eius sancto Ebrulfo dare aut uendere uoluerint? excepto ne seruicium sibi debitum amitteret. 'l'otam uero partem substantiz suze con-

cessit, ita ut inde caenobiales monachi sancti Ebrulfi post mortem * The church of St. Cyr now survives at Noron, near Falaise, and is the parish church; there are scanty remains of the priory which, as grants to St. Peter of Noron imply, was probably established in the church of St. Peter.

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Normandy, a certain knight, William called Pantulf, on the advice of his friend, the venerable Abbot Mainer, and with the consent of his lord, Earl Roger, gave to Saint-Evroul the churches of Noron, one of which was built in honour of St. Peter and the other in honour of St. Cyr the martyr.! At the same time he gave the whole tithe of Noron, and his own pleached hedge,? and part of the wood from the bridge of Ogereti and his part of the land called Molenx and of another land on the other side of the stream colloquially known as Ruptices. Afterwards he gave the whole fee of William de Maloi which comprised about thirty acres of land, and in return the monks gave him of their charity sixteen Rouen pounds to go on a pilgrimage to Saint-Gilles. He also granted to St. Peter the whole land which Walter son of Rufa sold to the monk Robert, for which the monk gave him a hundred Rouen shillings. Besides these things this same William gave the monks sixty acres in the same village, and the mill of Helmet and the tithe of half a mill at Noron. He also gave the church of Emiéville with the tithe and all revenues pertaining to the church; and in the same village the land of one vavassor, and two-thirds of the tithe of his demesne and the land of his men in Mesnil-Baclay, and the whole tithe of the mill of Réville. He also gave St. Peter all the land which his mother Beatrix had held in demesne in La Fosse; also the settlers (hótes)? of the church land of St. Germain at Aubri-le-Pantou.

Helvise,

William's sister, gave St. Peter the whole of her marriage portion in Aubri-le-Pantou, and William conceded her gift at that time, adding the tithe of his men Raimbold and Robert the heretic and Walo son of Safroi in the same village. In addition William granted to St. Peter of Noron all the churches and tithes of all his lands in England or Normandy, and in any place where he might acquire fees;+ and the tithe of all his possessions, namely horses, cows,

cheese, and everything from which he could give tithe. Likewise he granted whatever his men might give or sell to Saint-Evroul, provided that no service due to him was lost thereby. And he granted all his property in such a way that the monks of the abbey 2 A twelfth-century charter of Fulk of Basoches, granting his wood in Noron, refers to the monks’ pleached hedge(plessezceum monachorum) (Bibl. nat. MS. lat.

LIOS55 5179")

; 3 See above, p. 126 n. 3. 4 By 1086 William Pantulf had received substantial property in England, in Shropshire, Staffordshire, and Warwickshire (R. W. Eyton, Antiquities of

Shropshire (London, 1854-60), ix. 160).

158

li. 430

il. 431

BOOK V

eius medietatem unam habeant, aliamque medietatem monachi de Norun retineant. Hec omnia Willelmus et Leelina uxor eius ut diximus Deo pro salute sua suorumque amicorum libere concesserunt? et huiusmodi concessionem in capitulo sancti Ebrulfi coram monachorum conuentu et plurimis testibus generaliter confirmauerunt. Tunc ipse Guillelmus ad suffragia fratrum qui ad construendam apud Norun cellam ituri erant? xl marcos argenti cominus porrexit. Post hec Mainerius abbas et Fulco prior atque Guillelmus Pantol Rogerium comitem qui tunc apud Belesmiam manebat adierunt? eumque humiliter ut predicti militis donationes sua concessione confirmaret petierunt. At ille ut erat liberalis et probus iuste petitioni eorum benigniter fauit? et quaeque petierant coram omnibus qui tunc ad curiam eius pro diuersis negociis conuenerant annuit. lunc nimirum festiuitas sancti Leonardi confessoris ibidem celebrabatur, ad quam solenniter agendam dapsili comite inuitante plures illuc accesserant, Hoelmus Ccenomannensium episcopus, Hugo Lexouiensium episcopus, et Rodbertus Sagiensium episcopus, Ainardus quoque abbas Diuensis, Durandus Troarnensis, Rodbertus Sagiensis et Hugo Longiledensis, et Emma Almaniscarum abbatissa, Herueus quoque capellanus episcopi Luxouiensis, Rogerius Faidel, Hugo filius Fulcaldi, Rodbertus filius Teodelini, Rogerius Gulafra, et alii multi clerici et

laici ad suprascriptam concessionem affuerunt.! Anno ab incarnatione Domini M?Lxxvire indictione xv? Rodbertus nobilis abbas frater Hugonis de Grentemaisnilio ad colloquium Guillelmi regis Anglorum in Normanniam uenit:? regique petenti ueniam eo quod ipsum olim in exilium iniuste expulerat indulsit. Hunc nimirum accersierat Phylippus rex Francorum uolens ei episcopatum dare Carnotensium"? sed Gallis Normannorum deuitantibus magisterium, Goisfredus Eustachii Boloniensium comitis nepos preoccupauit pontificium. Przclarus itaque Rodbertus t The date of the charter of confirmation obtained from Roger of Montgomery is probably 26 June 1074, when he is known to have been at Belléme for the feast of St. Leonard (Musset, Almenéches, p. 30; Abbé Barret, Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour la Perche (Mortagne, 1894), p. 10 no. 4). It was certainly not later than 1077 when Hugh bishop of Lisieux died. But subscriptions on Norman charters frequently contain names added later by dignitaries who visited the monastery (cf. Musset, Abbayes caennaises, pp. 33-5). The name of

Hoel bishop of Le Mans was certainly added later; and L. Musset has suggested

BOOK V

=

of Saint-Evroul should have one half of it after his death and the monks of Noron the other half. All these things William and his wife Lesceline granted freely, as I have said, to God for their salvation and the salvation of their friends; and they gave a general confirmation of the grant in the chapter-house of Saint-Evroul before the whole convent of monks and many witnesses. At the same time William handed over forty marks of silver for the support of the brethren who were to go and build a cell at Noron. After this Abbot Mainer and Fulk the prior and William Pantulf went to Earl Roger, who was then residing at Belléme, and humbly requested him to confirm his knight’s gifts with his charter. And since he was just and generous he favoured their lawful request, and granted what they asked in the presence of all who were assembled in his court at that time to transact various kinds of business. At that time too the feast of St. Leonard the confessor was commemorated there, and many had assembled at the invitation of the hospitable earl to celebrate it with full ceremony: Hoel bishop of Le Mans, Hugh bishop of Lisieux, Robert bishop of Séez, Ainard abbot of St. Pierre-sur-Dive, Durand of Troarn,

Robert

of Séez,

Hugh

of Lonlay,

Emma

abbess

of

Almenéches, Harvey chaplain of the bishop of Lisieux, Roger Faitel, Hugh son of Foucaud, Robert son of 'Theodelin, Roger Goulafré. All these and many other clerks and laymen were witnesses of the above-mentioned grant.! In the year of our Lord 1077, the fifteenth indiction, the noble abbot Robert, brother of Hugh of Grandmesnil, came to Normandy

to confer with William, king of England;? and when the king asked his pardon for having unjustly driven him into exile he granted it. In addition

Philip, king of France,

had invited him to come,

wishing to give him the bishopric of Chartres; but since the French have an antipathy for Norman rule Geoffrey, nephew of Eustace count of Boulogne, secured the bishopric before him. So that Emma abbess of Almenéches may be a later addition. The other names are certainly possible in 1074-6. Roger Faitel, Robert son of Theodelin, and Roger Goulafré were

all mentioned

as donors

in the foundation

pancarte

of Saint-

Évroul (Fauroux, no. 122).

2 Robertof Grandmesnil came to Normandy in the spring of 1077, and returned

to Italy in the late autumn. The dates of the dedications that he attended were:

Bayeux, 18 May; Caen, 13 September; Bec, 23 October; the see of Chartres was vacant until 3o July. See J. F. A. Mason in TSAS lvii (1 961-4), 153.

160

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V

postquam sacris dedicationibus acclesiarum Cadomensium et Baiocensium atque Beccensium qua eodem anno consecrate sunt interfuit, et amicabile colloquium cum rege Willelmo aliisque amicis et parentibus suis quos antea per plures annos non uiderat consummauit: Apuliam repetiit, secumque Willelmum Pantol et Rodbertum de Cordaio nepotem suum aliosque przclaros milites duxit. Tunc Rodbertus Wiscardus Calabriz dominabatur? et ducatum Gisulfi Salernitani ducis nanciscebatur. Hic Tancredi de Altauilla cuiusdam mediocris uiri filius erat, sed magnanimitate li. 432 et felici fortuna pollens Italos sibi subegerat. Ipse cum fratribus suis aduenisque compatriotis Apuliensibus colonis fortiter incumbebat? et insperatis rebus magnifice peractis affinibus cunctis eminebat, multisque diuitiis locuples incessanter fines suos dilatabat. Willelmum autem Pantol honorifice suscepit et multa ei promittens ipsum propter probitatem suam retinere secum sategit. In die Paschz ad prandium residere iuxta se ipsum fecit? et tres ciuitates si secum remaneret in Italia illi spopondit. Interim Mabilia Comitissa mucrone animosi militis Hugonis de Ialgeio perempta est?! ob cuius interfectione regresso de Apulia Willelmo magna tribulatio exorta est. Nam crimen ei proditionis impingebatur:/ et infestatione hostili grauiter a pluribus emulis impetebatur. Prafata nanque mulier Piretum castrum Guillelmo datum abstulerat/ pro qua iniuria pertinax maliuolentia diutius inter eos inhorruerat. Vnde suspicabatur quod predicti militis consilio perierit" presertim cum Guillelmo Hugonem magna familiaritas et creba collocutio coniunxerit. Rogerius igitur comes et filii eius totam terram eius saisierunt? ipsumque ad mortem quzsierunt. Guillelmus autem et uxor eius cum filiis suis Vticum confugerunt: ibique diu sub protectione monachorum cum magno timore demorati sunt. Przefatus eques obiectum facinus audacter denegabat, sed nullus eum certis indiciis comprobabat? nec abneganti scelus seseque legaliter purgare uolenti adquiescebat. Tanii. 433 dem multorum deffinitione optimatum prefixum est in curia regis? ut culpatus uir ad abstergendam nefarii maculam facinoris, apud Rotomagum in presentia cleri subiret candentis examen calibis.? Quod ita factum est. Scintillans ferrum nuda manu portauit, * Almost certainly on 2 December 1077, though 1078 is just possible (J. F. A.

Mason in T'SAS lvii (1961—4), 154). ? The

length

of William

Pantulf’s

long

sojourn

at

Saint-Évroul

is not

revealed. But there may be a reference here to the canon of the Council of Lillebonne of 1080, which determined that the ordeal should be administered at the cathedral church and may therefore have determined that this case should be settled at the archbishop's seat, Rouen (see above, p. 34; Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 34).

BOOK

V

161

the famous Robert, after being present at the dedications of the churches of Caen, Bayeux, and Bec, which were all consecrated in

the same year, and after completing amicable discussions with King William and other friends and kinsmen whom he had not seen for many years, returned to Apulia, taking with him William Pantulf, his nephew Robert of Corday, and other famous knights. At that time Robert Guiscard held sway in Calabria, and was conquering the duchy of Gisulf, duke of Salerno. He was the son of Tancred of Hauteville,

a man of modest fortune, but had con-

quered the Italians through his conspicuous courage and good fortune. Arriving with his brothers and other compatriots, he had resolutely conquered the inhabitants of Apulia; he performed many prodigies in magnificent style, abounded in wealth, and continually enlarged his territories, overshadowing all his neighbours. He welcomed William Pantulf with honour, promised him many things and, knowing his worth, tried to retain him in his service. He made him sit beside him at dinner on Easter day, and promised him three cities if he would remain with him in Italy. In the meantime Countess Mabel was slain by the sword of the enraged knight, Hugh de lalgeio; and when William returned from Apulia he suffered great tribulation on account of her murder. For he was charged with the crime of treason, and was attacked with the utmost hostility by a number of rivals. The countess Mabel had appropriated the stronghold of Peray which had been given to William; and there had been bitter animosity between them for a long time because of this injustice. So a suspicion arose that she had perished by his scheming, especially as Hugh and William were close friends and in frequent communication with one another. Consequently Earl Roger and his sons took possession of all his lands and demanded his death. But William with his wife and sons fled to Saint-Évroul, and remained there for a long time in fear and trembling, under the protection of the monks. The knight steadfastly denied the charge against him; but, while no one could produce certain proof of his guilt, none would accept his denial of the crime and his offer to purge himself by due process of law. At length by the judgement of many of the greatest lords it was decreed in the king's court that the accused man should be given an opportunity of clearing himself of the shocking crime by undergoing the ordeal of hot iron at Rouen in the presence of the clergy.? 'This was duly carried out. He carried the glowing iron

162

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V

Deique nutu non adustus apparuit? et inde clerus cum tota plebe alta uoce Deum laudauit. Maliuoli hostes armati aderant ad spectaculum, ut si reus deprehenderetur per ignis iudicium, continuo reatus amputato rei capite puniretur per gladium. In his itaque pressuris quas Guillelmus et sui perpessi sunt? Mainerius abbas et Vticenses monachi benigniter eum consolati sunt, totisque nisibus apud Deum et homines adiuuerunt. Vnde amicicia erga illos in ipso firmior excreuit, et de pallis quas ipse de Apulia detulerat quatuor preciosiores sancto Ebrulfo optulit? ex quibus quattuor cappze cantorum in eadem facte sunt ecclesia, quae usque hodie ad diuini decorem seruitii seruantur ibidem.! Post mortem Guillelmi regis Anglorum iterum Willelmus Apuliam expetiit, et inde dum rediret reliquias corporis beatissimi confessoris Christi Nicholai? detulit et in ecclesia beati Petri apud Norun ad decus eiusdem loci collocauit. Postea monachis ibidem degentibus dedit unum manarium in Anglia quod dicitur 'Traditona,? et molendinum et zcclesiam eiusdem uillze, omnemii. 434

que decimam sex uillarum ad eandem ecclesiam pertinentem. Deinde anno ab incarnatione Domini M?coxmue indictione v? anno scilicet xii? Henrici regis Anglorum et quarto Ludouici regis Francorum? idem Guillelmus anno quadragesimo ex quo monachilem cellam apud Norun ceperat Vticum uenit, et antique amiciciz ac donorum quz supradiximus eum dedisse recordatus omnia recensuit, et in conuentu monachorum generali concessione cum Leelina uxore sua confirmauit. 'l'unc etiam Philippus et Iuo atque Arnulfus filii eius quicquid pater eorum monachis sancti Ebrulfi dederat concesserunt? et donum super altare omnes pariter Willelmus et Leelina et tres filii eorum Phylippus et Iuo et Arnulfus posuerunt. In prefata cella iam tempore quattuor episcoporum Rodberti scilicet ac Gerardi, Serlonis et Iohannis qui Sagiensi episcopio prefuerunt, Rodbertus Caluuss et Goisfredus ac Ascelinus aliique plures religiosi monachi habitauerunt, et in Dei timore cum karitate persistentes plebeiis exemplum honestatis inseruerunt. Sepedictus quoque Guillelmus longo tempore uixit, pauperes et clerum honorans elemosinis studuit, in * For the use of the cope see Edmund 1918), pp. 262 ff.

Bishop, Liturgica Historica (Oxford,

2 See Le Prévost, iii. 205-18 for the circumstances of the translation of the

relics of St. Nicholas from Myra to Bari. 3 Eyton (Antiquities of Shropshire, ix. 160, 185-6, 188) has shown that this is Market Drayton (Salop), not Trotton as Le Prévost believed.

BOOK V

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in his bare hand, and by the will of God remained unscorched, for

which the clergy and all the people praised God with a loud voice. His enemies, eager for his blood, stood looking on ready armed, so that if the accused were found guilty by the ordeal of fire they might forthwith punish him by cutting off his guilty head. During all the afflictions which William and his family endured, Abbot Mainer and the monks of Saint-Evroul comforted him affectionately, and gave him all the help they could both spiritually and in the conduct of his case. So his affection for them was greatly strengthened, and he gave Saint-Evroul four of the most precious altar-frontals that he had brought back from Apulia. Out of these were made four copes for the cantors in the church, which are still used to embellish the celebration of divine service there.! After the death of William, king of England, William went again to Apulia, and when he returned from there he brought with him relics of the most blessed confessor of Christ, Nicholas.2 These

he placed in the church of St. Peter at Noron to adorn the monastery. Afterwards he gave the monks residing there a manor in England called Drayton,? and the mill and church of the same vill, and the whole tithe of the six vills dependent on the church. Then in the year of our Lord 1112, the fifth indiction, which was the twelfth year of Henry, king of England, and the fourth of Louis, king of France, William came to Saint-Évroul in the fortieth year after he had founded a monastic cell at Noron, and being mindful of his long-standing friendship and the gifts which, as I have related, he had given, renewed all these and, among the assembled monks, confirmed them with his wife Lesceline in

a general grant. At the same time his sons Philip and Ivo and Arnulf granted all that their father had given to the monks of Saint-Evroul, and then all of them together—William and Lesceline and their three sons, Philip and Ivo and Arnulf—laid their gift on the altar. Already, whilst four bishops, namely Robert and Gerard, Serlo and John,‘ had ruled the see of Séez, Robert the Bald’ and Geoffrey and Ascelin and many other pious monks had resided in the cell of Noron and, abounding in charity and the fear of the Lord, had given an example of upright life to the people. William

himself lived a long life, cared for the poor and the clergy by ^ John I (1124-44) was bishop at the time that Orderic was writing. 5 Robert the Bald was at different times in charge of the cells at Neufmarché

(above, ii. 130) and Parnes (ibid., p. 154).

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aduersis ac prosperis magnanimus uiguit’ cunctisque hostibus fortior diuitiis et honoribus pollens preualuit. Ad inchoandam uero nouam basilicam Ix marcos argenti erogauit, pulcherrimum opus ad Dei laudem inchoauit? sed morte preuentus perficere nequiuit.! Porro filii eius patrimonium adepti sunt Phylippus in Normannia, et Rodbertus in Anglia’ sed uirtute pari paterna neglegunt assectari molimina.?

r7 3Radulfus de Monte Pincionis dapifer Guillelmi magni regis li. 435 Anglorum^ se ex toto fideliter sancto Ebrulfo deuouit, et a domno Mainerio abbate suppliciter postulauit’ ut aliquis in Vticensi cenobio clericus ad Dei seruitium idoneus ad monachatum susciperetur, qui pro salute ipsius coniugisque suze Deum fideliter deprecaretur. Quod et factum est. Nam Dei nutu tunc petebat monachatum quidam Remensis scolasticus nomine lohannes,5 qui ad curiam regis ductus predicto militi suas concessit orationes: et quos pro Christo passurus erat labores. Ille uero super hoc exhilaratus’ palam cunctis pedes eius humiliter est osculatus. Deinde monachi predictum Iohannem libenter susceperunt, eoque suscepto ualde letati sunt? quia gramaticee artis erat peritus, bonisque studiis usque ad senium pertinaciter intentus. Praefatus heros ad uictum eius perenniter dedit sancto Ebrulfo decimam

quinque molendinorum, trium scilicet de Tort, et quarti de loco

ii. 436

qui Hurtauent uulgo dicitur, et quinti de Monte Pincionis, duasque garbas decimz uillanorum® de Gualdreslogiis medietatemque decimz de Spanaio, et apud Ermentrudisuillam? duas acras prati. Post aliquot annos idem Radulfus idus Februarii defunctus est, eiusque corpus Vticum delatum est, ibique in claustro Vticensi a monachis honorifice sepultum est. Illic duo filii eius Hugo et ! [n return for William's gifts the abbot of Saint-Évroul agreed at an uncertain date to provide a monk to celebrate mass daily in the abbey church for the souls

of William Pantulf and his heirs (Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 119). ? Some of these details are repeated in Book VII (Le Prévost, iii. 220—1). Robert Pantulf was one of the persons who seized property belonging to the

nuns of Holy Trinity, Caen, after the death of William I (Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 63). But Orderic may refer more simply to the failure of William's

sons to provide for the priory of Noron after his death. 3 For his account of the Montpincon gifts Orderic must have used at least one charter, supplemented by information from John of Rheims and his own memory (see above, pp. xxiii-xxiv). The date can be roughly calculated from Orderic's figures: if Ralph entered into the fraternity about thirty years before

the death of Adelina of Ivry (1110-11) he completed his benefactions c. 1080.

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165

distributing alms, bore adversity and prosperity with courage, and, triumphing over all his enemies, enjoyed great influence through his wealth and wide estates. He gave sixty marks in silver to begin the new church and initiated a most fair work for the glory of God, but death prevented him from finishing it.! After him his sons gained possession of his patrimony, Philip in Normandy and Robert in England; but they did not carry on their father's enterprises? with the same zeal. 17

*Ralph of Montpingon, steward of William the Great, king of England,+ showed a very marked devotion to Saint-Evroul in everything, and humbly asked Abbot Mainer that some clerk fit for the service of God might be received as a monk in the monastery of Saint-Évroul to pray devoutly to God for his salvation and that of his wife. What he asked was done. For by the will of God a certain scholar of Rheims named John’ was seeking to enter monastic life; he was taken to the king's court and offered his prayers and the labours he might undertake for Christ to the knight. Overjoyed at this, Ralph publicly before all humbly kissed his feet. Afterwards the monks willingly received John; and they gained great joy from his admission, for he was most learned in the liberal arts and persevered in sound learning until he was an old man. Ralph of Montpincon gave Saint-Évroul, for John's support, . the tithe of five mills in perpetuity; three at Jors, a fourth at the place which is locally called Heurtevent, and the fifth at Montpincon; also two sheaves of the tithe of the villeins at Vaudeloges, and half the tithe of Épinay, and two acres of meadow at Émendeville.7 Some years later Ralph himself died on 13 February, and his body was brought to Saint-Évroul and honourably buried there in the cloister by the monks. Two of his sons, Hugh and Ralph, were Negotiations may have begun a year or two earlier: John of Rheims, who was a monk for forty-eight years, died not later than 1128 and probably slightly earlier (see below, p. 168 n. 2); he may therefore have entered the monastery about 1078 or 1079.

4 Steward to William I and his sons from 1078 x 1080—c. 1103 (HBC, p. 72.) 5 John of Rheims, who was Orderic's master at Saint-Évroul. See H. Wolter, Ordericus Vitalis, pp. 57-60; Histoire littéraire de la France, xi. 15-20. 6 For the status of villani in Normandy see Delisle, Classe agricole, pp. 14-15.

7 Now Saint-Sever, a suburb of Rouen. 822219X

N

166

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Radulfus cum Adeliza matre sua affuerunt, et se et quicquid pater

eorum dederat sancto Ebrulfo libenter concesserunt? coram multis testibus qui ad tumulationem tanti baronis conuenerunt. Post annos fere xxx Hugo de Monte Pincionis spirituales fratres suos uisitare Vticum uenit, secumque Radulfum primogenitum filium suum adduxit? et Mathildem uxorem suam que Hugonis de Grentemaisnil filia erat, sororemque suam Adelinam nuper defunctam tunc lugebat.! Tunc Hugo fraternitatem monachorum quam olim in infantia acceperat renouauit, eosque ut pro Radulfo fratre suo qui in uia Ierusalem peregrinus obierat orarent obsecrauit. Radulfus etiam puer monachis ex toto sicut parentes sui sociatus est/ et a Gualterio Caluo loquaci milite per capitulum ductus fratres osculatus est, et tunc ab ipso quicquid pater suus auusque dederant sancto Ebrulfo concessum est. Denique prefatus Hugo cum iam sexagenarius esset apud Rotomagum nonas Martii defunctus est: et cadauer eius coniuge cum filiis suis iubente Vticum delatum est. ''unc monachi fratris sui glebam honorifice in capitulo sepelierunt, et filii eius Radulfus et Guillelmus ac Arnulfus se et omnia concesserunt? quz ab antecessoribus suis Vticensi zecclesiz collata sunt. Radulfus itaque primogenitus filiam Rannulfi cancellarii regis Henrici? uxorem duxit? quem paulo post mortuum Vticensis conuentus in capitulo suo secus patrem suum tumulauit. Deinde ii. 437 Guillelmus patrium ius in Normannia optinuit? Arnulfus uero propter questum Guillelmi de Grentemaisnil auunculi sui Apuliam petit. Mathildis autem mater eorum post mortem mariti sui quendam tironem exulantem nomine Mathiellum adamauit? cum quo relictis in Neustria cognatis et amicis iter Ierosolimitanum arripuit, ambosque auida mors obiter in eodem anno celeriter absorbuit. Mathiellus quidem dum iret in Apulia decessit" Mathildis uero dum rediret Ioppe obiit. 18

Nunc de Iohanne de quo iam retro parum tetigi? quis fuerit uel qualiter seu quandiu uixerit sub norma monachili, uolo lucidius * Adelina of Ivry died 1110 or 1111 (Regesta, ii. 152). * He was chancellor from 1107, and died c. 1 January 1123 (HBC, p. 82).

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present with their mother Adelisa, and they freely granted everything that their father had given to Saint-Evroul, in the presence of the many witnesses who had come to the funeral of this very great lord. After about thirty years Hugh of Montpincon came to visit his spiritual brethren at Saint-Évroul and brought with him his eldest son Ralph and Matilda his wife, who was a daughter of Hugh of Grandmesnil and was at the time mourning the recent death of her sister Adelina.! Then Hugh renewed the fraternity with the monks which he had first received as a child, and asked

them to pray for his brother Ralph who had died as a pilgrim on the way to Jerusalem. The boy Ralph was joined in fraternity with the monks just as his parents had been; he was then taken by a talkative knight, Walter the Bald, into the chapter-house, where he kissed the brethren and granted everything that his father and

grandfather had given to Saint-Evroul. Finally when Hugh himself was sixty years old he died at Rouen on 7 March, and his body was carried to Saint-Evroul at the bidding of his wife and sons. The monks buried the mortal remains of their brother honourably in the chapter-house, and his sons Ralph and William and Arnulf renewed their fraternity and granted everything that their ancestors had bestowed on the church of

Saint-Evroul. Ralph the eldest married a daughter of Ranulf, chancellor of King Henry;? and dying shortly afterwards was buried by the monks of Saint-Evroul in their chapter-house by his father’s side. Next William entered into possession of the paternal heritage in Normandy. Arnulf, mindful of the acquisitions of his uncle William of Grandmesnil, set out for Apulia. As for their mother Matilda, after the death of her husband she fell in love with a certain young knight called Matthew, who was leaving the country ; and abandoning her friends and kindred in Normandy she took the road for Jerusalem in his company. But relentless death swiftly, within the same year, struck them both down on the way; for Matthew died in Apulia on the outward journey, and Matilda at Joppa on the way home. 18

And now I wish to give the reader a much fuller picture of John, whom I have already briefly mentioned: who he was, and how

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reserare lectoris intellectui. Hic ingenio acer studioque pertinax

li. 438

fuit? et in habitu monachico fere xlviii annis uixit, et in indagandis librorum abditis misteriis uehementer laborauit.1 A Mainerio abbate iuuenis susceptus Dei ouile introiuit, sub Serlone et Rogerio ad sacerdotium iam promotus militauit, aliosque uiriliter dimicare uerbis et exemplis docuit, et Guarini abbatis tempore x? kal' Aprilis in confessione Christi occubuit.? Subprioris curam diutius gessit" uicesque abbatis in diuinz legis prolatione sepius expleuit. Iussu Rogerii abbatis ad Vrbanum papam cum deposito Fulcone Romam adiit:? in quo itinere diras zegritudines plurimasque aduersitates pertulit. In senectute plus quam vii annis calculi molestia languit, diutinoque morbo gemens lecto non decubuit? sed cotidie ad diuinum opus surgens Deo gratias egit, et bene ut reor paratus tetra noctis in inicio decessit. Et quia multos ipse uersus edidit? Vitalis angligena discipulus eius super illo uersificauit, et inter lacrimas in die dormitionis eius tumulatione peracta carmen huiusmodi composuit. Ebdomadas dum tres complesset Martius? atra Ventis et pluuiis migrauit nocte Iohannes. Hic Remis natus, de Francis est oriundus, Ilbertusque pater fuit illi, Poncia mater. De subulz lucro* puerum quam pauit origo" Extulit ad celebres ars libertatis honores. Vtilibus studiis fuit a puerilibus annis

Deditus, unde solum Remense suosque reliquit. Venit ad externos Vticenses, iunctus eisdem Pene decem lustris monachus fuit usque celebris Ingenio subtilis erat, cito carmen agebat" Metro seu prosa pangens quacumque uolebat. Ocia uitabat, maiorum scripta legebat" Commoda priscorum carpens documenta uirorum, In cultu Christi laudabiliter uigilauit, Nocte dieque Deo sua reddere uota sategit. * A list of his works, copied from a 1682 catalogue of the library of Saint-

Évroul, has been printed by Delisle (Le Prévost, v, p. xxiii n. 2). 'They included an account of the restoration of the monastery, a short chronicle, a life of

Christ, and lives of several saints. Nothing now survives except the epitaph

on Peter of Maule (below, p. 178).

^ The date traditionally given, without positive proof, is 23 March II25 (Le Prévost, ii. 437 n. 3). This would imply that he had entered Saint-Évroul

about 1078, a date consistent with what Orderic relates about the Montpingon gifts. He died certainly after 1122, when Warin became abbot, and before 1127/8, when Orderic wrote this passage.

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long and after what fashion he lived under the monastic rule. He was a man of very keen intelligence and great application in his studies; he lived for about forty-eight years after he had taken the monastic habit, and toiled ceaselessly at his books, interpreting their obscure passages.! Received by Abbot Mainer, he joined the Lord's flock as a young man; being promoted to the priesthood he strove for perfection under Serlo and Roger, and taught others likewise to strive manfully, both by his life and doctrine; and in the time of Abbot Warin he died on 23 March,? confessing Christ. For a long time he filled the office of sub-prior, and often took the place of the abbot in expounding holy Scripture. At the command of Abbot Roger he accompanied Fulk, who had been deprived of his office, to Pope Urban in Rome;? suffering from severe illness and enduring many misfortunes on the journey. In his old age he suffered from stone in the bladder; but though tormented by chronic disease he refused to take to his bed; rising every day for the divine offices he rendered thanks to God, and, as I believe, was well prepared when he died in the early hours of a stormy night. And, because he himself composed many verses, Vitalis the Englishman, his pupil, wrote verses for him and, weeping bitterly, composed this poem on the day of his death, after his burial. After three weeks of March were gone, in a stormy Night of wind and of rain, John passed from earth. Rheims was his birthplace and his stock was Frankish; Ilbert his father's name, his mother's Poncia.

The humble last+ of youth did not dismay him, He rose by study to renown and honour. With the sound learning mastered in his boyhood He left the soil of Rheims and all his kindred, Journeying to Saint-Évroul where, with the brethren, He lived near fifty years, winning their praises. Acute in mind he was, in verse most fluent,

In prose or metre eloquent at will. Avoiding sloth he read the Fathers' works Gaining sound lore from men of former times. Assiduous in Christ's worship, night and day He offered prayers to God with vigilance. 3 In 1092, with Fulk abbot of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive (Le Prévost, iv. 293). 4 This is possibly a metaphor; but it may imply that John’s birth destined him for a shoemaker's craft, from which he raised himself by study.

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Actibus et uerbis exemplar erat pietatis, Diuinz legis feruenter opaca reuoluit.

Mistica discipulis grato sermone retexit, Sicut apes stimulum nectarque ferebat in ore, Cuspide pungebat tumidos, dabat innocuis mel, Consilio dulci tristes mulcebat et zegros,

Asperitate leues reprimendo, docebat ineptos, Adbreuiator erat sollers et prouidus, apte Materiam paucis ingentem uersibus arcens.

Plurima de Christo, de uirgine matre Maria Carmina deuote dictauit honorificeque, Plurima de sanctis pulchre reboauit amicis, Versifice sancti uitam descripsit Ebrulfi Dilecto patri Radulfo metropolitz. Plura coessentes ex eius habent meditatis Qui licet insignis esset uirtutibus almis" Non tamen omnino caruit liuore uel ira, Quis sine peccato ualet hanc transcurrere uitam? Vnus habens matrem sine patre, patrem sine matre Exegit uitae cursum sine uulnere culpa.

ii. 439

Saucius humanis excessibus atque grauatus" Verbere diuino correptus fleuit amare

Stranguriz morbo gemuit cruciante molesto? Crebraque septenis suspiria protulit annis. Sic caro peccatrix pro culpis subdita flagris? Pertulit exertum medicantis iure flagellum. Promeruit cedi uirga patris atque magistri Ad quem cum lacrimis clamauit anhelus obortis, Ut sibi placatum meruisset cernere uultum Tudicis ztherei post funus spiritus eius. Iste sacer monachus dum nox erat equa diei?

Exiit e tenebris mundique necisque procellis. Christus ei lucem det perpetuamque quietem In patria lucis et amena sede quietis. Amen.

I9 lAnno

ab

incarnatione

Domini

M°Lxxvi°

indictione

xiiii?

dum Goisbertus medicus compatriotas suos et amicos in Gallia ! The

date is given with such

precision

that

it seems

to come

from

a

written source: it might well be the date on Peter's charter, of which Orderic does not cite the dating clauses verbally. The document has all the characteristics of a pancarte (above, pp. xxii-xxiii) ;it incorporates a number of different

BOOK

V

17%

In words and deeds a model of devotion, He pondered on the mysteries of Scripture, Clearly explained the symbols to his pupils; As bees bear honey, yet are armed with stings, He pricked the proud, gave praises to the modest, Consoled with counsel sweet the sick and stricken,

Sharply reproved the frivolous, taught the simple. An apt, adroit epitomist, he shaped Weighty material without waste of words. Many the songs he wrote, of deep devotion To Christ, and to his virgin mother, Mary;

And many more in praise of good men round him; Then for his loved archbishop, Ralph of Rheims,

He wrote a metric life of St. Evroul. Various natures were in him together; For, though a man renowned for kindly virtues, He was not wholly without wrath or envy. Who without sin can make his way through life? No one that is of man and woman born Can run life’s course without the stain of guilt. Wounded and vexed by human frailties He felt the medicine of divine chastisement, Endured with bitter tears the cruel anguish Of strangury through seven long years of sighs. Thus the weak flesh, for sin condemned to bear

The heavy scourging of the healing lash, Earned respite from his Lord and Father’s rod, From whom he, suppliant, sought with plenteous tears That he might read forgiveness in the face Of the heavenly Judge after his spirit’s flight.

This holy monk, at the equinoctial time, Left the dark shades and storms of the world and death. Christ give him light and everlasting rest In the land of light and blessed abode of peace. Amen.

19 In the year of our Lord 1076, the fourteenth indiction, when Goisbert the doctor visited his friends and compatriots in France, gifts, including one from a donor who was not a vassal of Peter but added his gift for convenience to Peter’s charter, and covers a number of years before as well as after the formal date. If this hypothesis is correct Goisbert’s approach to Peter and the first stages of the foundation of the priory of Maule may have

been slightly earlier than 1076.

172

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uisitasset, et officium artis suze indigentibus atque petentibus impendisset? plures amicorum et familiarium suorum quibus antea fideliter arte sua seruierat adiit, et de suis superfluitatibus elemosinas facere pro eterna salute benigniter incitauit, maximeque de his rebus que ad laicam personam non pertinent monachis sancti Ebrulfi dare illos admonuit. Ad Petrum Manliensem filium Ansoldi Diuitis Parisiensis! diuertit, et inter reliqua familiaritatis et amicicie colloquia benigniter illum conuenit? ipsumque ut zecclesias de Manlia monachis Vticensibus donaret obsecrauit. Ille uero ut letus erat et dapsilis, et ad ardua inchoanda siue in bono siue in malo facilis? suadenti facile adquieuit, ac donationis cartam coram proceribus suis confirmauit. Textus autem cirographi quod egit huiusmodi est, ‘Mortalis uite breuitas, hominumque infidelitas? temporum mutatio, regnorumque desolatio, imminere mundi finem cotidie nos admonent. Quod Veritas nos docuit sic inquiens discipulis, “Cum hzc fieri uideritis? in proximo est regnum Dei."? Vnde formica prudens tanto attentius quanto hiemem uenire sentit ocius, grauiter prouidere debet? quatinus grana sua sic in tuto recondat, ut frigore non herbam sed farinam habundanter habeat. Nam de sua salute pigritantibus quodam loco sic dicitur, ““Videte uidete, ne fiat fuga uestra sabbato uel hieme."3 Harum ergo rerum consideratione, ego Petrus licet peccator et indignus michi praeuidere in futuro cupiens, apes Dei meis in uiridiariis eo tenore mellificare uolui, quatinus cum canistra sua gemmata fauis plena fuerint, creatori suo exinde referant laudes, atque sui benefactoris sint aliquando memores. Videlicet de rebus meis quas hactenus possedi quadam quamuis pauca beato Ebrulfo spontaneus dedi? unde fratres inibi degentes aliquantisper sustentationis corporez haberent, et mei libentius mentionem facerent. Quoniam uelimus

li. 441

nolimus? hzc omnia relinquimus. Nec post mortem quicquid prodest alicui? nisi boni quippiam in uita sua fecerit. Haec uero sunt quz beato Ebrulfo concessi et concedo, ac meo cirographo sub iure hereditario causa meze salutis illi perpetuo confirmo. In uilla scilicet quae Manlia nuncupatur? do duas zcclesias, scilicet t The lords of Maule were a younger branch of the family of Le Riche of

Paris. Their estates at Maule and elsewhere in the valley of the Mauldre came from secularized

estates of the abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés

(see above,

p. xix). ? Matthew xxiv. 33; Mark xiii. 29.

3 Matthew xxiv. 20.

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and practised his medical skill on the sick who sought his help, he approached a number of friends and acquaintances who had profited from his skill in past years, and gently persuaded them to give some alms from their abundant wealth for the good of their souls; and in particular urged them to give Saint-Evroul some of the things which laymen ought not to hold. He directed his steps towards Peter of Maule, son of Ansold Le Riche of Paris,! and in

the course of many friendly and intimate conversations he challenged him kindly, and begged him to give the churches of Maule to the monks of Saint-Evroul. And Peter, being a gay and openhanded man, impulsively ready to undertake anything difficult, whether good or bad, gave way at once to persuasion, and confirmed a charter of gift in the presence of his chief vassals. This is the text of the charter that he issued: “The brevity of mortal life, the treachery of men, the changes of fortune, the destruction of kingdoms, all warn us daily of the approaching end of the world. So the Word of Truth teaches us, saying to the disciples, "When ye shall see these things come to pass, know that the kingdom of Heaven is at hand." The wise ant ought to make provision all the more carefully when she perceives that winter is at hand, so that she may store up her grain in safety, and have a goodly supply of food when the cold withers the grass. For it is written in a certain place of those who are sluggish in seeking salvation, "Take care that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day."? And so bearing in mind these things I, Peter, though a sinner and unworthy, wishing to provide for my future good, desire therefore to encourage the bees of God to make honey in my woods, so that when their jewelled hives are full of honeycombs they may render thanks to their creator, and from time to time remember

their

benefactor. Therefore I freely give some things from the possessions I have held up to now, little though they be, to St. Évroul,

that the brethren dwelling in his monastery may have some bodily sustenance and so more willingly commemorate me. For whether we wish or no we shall leave all these things behind us. Nor is anything of profit to a man after his death unless he has done some good in his lifetime. These are the things which I have given and now grant to St. Évroul, and to procure my salvation confirm to the monks in perpetuity by my charter out of my hereditary possessions: in the village called Maule I give two churches,

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zecclesiam sancte Mariz, et zecclesiam sancti Germani,

li. 442

et sancti

Vincentii,! et sepulturas atriorum, et omnia que ad presbiterium pertinent. Terram quoque unius carruce et quattuor hospites et terram ad inhabitandum monachis et unum pomerium censumque trium semis agripennarum quas Gualterius cecus et Hugo nepos eius cognomento Muscosus in uinea Maineriz dederunt beate Mariz do: et hec omnia monachis sancti Ebrulfi sic libera sicut ego ea tenebam perenniter concedo. Et si aliquis de meis hominibus aliquid sanctis monachisque in elemosinam dare uoluerit, quicquid absque damno seruitii mei et imminutione iusticia mez datum fuerit? libentissime annuo cum filiis meis tali tenore et tam firma concessione, ut si aliquis ex ipsis pro quolibet reatu feudum suum amittat? ecclesia Dei elemosinam quam possidet nullatenus perdat. Hzc omnia Windesmoth uxor mea filiique mei Ansoldus et Tedbaldus atque Guillelmus concesserunt? et hanc elemosinam quamdiu uixerint defensuros se contra omnium infestationes pro posse suo pie promittunt. Homines quoque mei ut bonam erga seruos Dei uoluntatem meam uiderunt, salubri exemplo lacessiti monachorum familiaritati sese commiserunt, eisque de rebus suis gratanter largiti sunt. Cuncti nempe milites de Manlia in uita et morte societatem eorum obnixe petierunt? et fratres eorum ut monachili prece daemonum cuneo fortius resistere ualeant fideliter effecti sunt.? ‘Hugo itaque filius Odonis qui diuitiis et probitate contribulibus suis eminebat, zecclesize sanctae Mariz et monachis sancti Ebrulfi

dedit totam decimam de terra sua quam Manliz habebat" uidelicet de annona, de uino, de molendino, de furno, de porcis, de ouibus, de lana, de anseribus, de cannabo, de lino, et de omnibus de quibus decima datur. Et si forte homines sui aliam terram laborauerint,

sic omnino decimam habeant monachi? sicut ipse Hugo haberet. Haec Paganus Odo filius eius primo concedere noluit, sed postea captus a Normannis apud Mellentum sese redemit. Diuinitus igitur coactus ipse et Helisabeth uxor eius filiique eorum Hugo et Simon supradictam decimam omnino sancte Marize concesserunt? et donationem super altare coram me et Ansoldo filio meo ! There is a hint in this dedication of the connection with Saint-Germaindes-Prés (A. ii. 279 n. 2).

Longnon,

Polyptique

de

l'abbaye

de

Saint-Germain-des-Prés,

namely the church of St. Mary and the church of St. Germain and St. Vincent,! with the rights of burial in the churchyards and everything that pertains to the office of priesthood. Also I give the land of one plough and four customary tenants and land for the monks to build a cell, and one orchard and the rent of three halfarpents which Walter the Blind and his nephew Hugh called Muscosus gave to St. Mary in the vineyard of Maineria; and I grant all these things to the monks of Saint-Évroul in perpetuity as freely as I myself used to hold them. And if any of my men wishes to give anything as alms to the holy monks, provided it is given without detriment to the service due to me or diminution of my jurisdiction, I together with my sons most freely grant it, in such a way that if any of them should forfeit his fee for any crime the church of God shall not lose the alms that it holds. All these things my wife Windesmoth and my sons Ansold and Theobald and William have granted, and promise piously to defend this gift of alms as long as they live to the best of their ability against all attacks. And my men, seeing the evidence of my goodwill towards the servants of God and inspired by my salutary example, have joined themselves to the community of the monks, and have gladly made them gifts out of their property. For all the knights of Maule have resolutely sought for union with them in life and death; and have been made their brothers in religion, so that they may be able to resist the forces of devils more efficaciously thanks to the prayers of the monks.? *Hugh son of Odo, who surpassed all his peers in wealth and probity, gave to the church of St. Mary and the monks of SaintÉvroul the whole tithe of his land at Maule, namely of corn, of wine, of the mill, of the oven, of pigs, of sheep, of wool, of geese,

of hemp, of flax, and of everything subject to tithing. And if his men should bring any other land under cultivation, the monks shall receive all the tithe in the same way as Hugh himself would have done. His son Pain Odo at first refused to grant this, but later he ransomed himself after capture by the Normans at Meulan. 'Then by divine providence he and his wife Elisabeth and their sons Hugh and Simon granted the tithe fully, as specified above, to St. Mary, and laid their gift on the altar in my presence and that 2 The Liber vitae of Saint-Evroul (Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 10062, f. 79") contains this entry: ‘In omnibus missis atque beneficiis nostris faciat Deus participes fratres et sorores congregationis sancte Marie de Manlia . . .'

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Petroque puero aliisque multis posuerunt. Monachi uero Pagano dederunt decem libras denariorum, et uxori eius xx solidos. ii. 443 Adelelmus quoque de Gaseran Amalricum filium suum cum decima de Puseolis monachis commisit? decimamque si puer infra vii annos moreretur pro vii libris perenniter zecclesize concessit. Deinde prefatus puer creuit, et usque ad presbiterium ascendit, decimamque de Puseolis diu possedit, moriensque monachis eam iure reliquit, pro qua monachi eum nutrierant, et studiose docuerant; Hugo filius Gualonis cognomento Freisnellus antequam monachus fieret tres hospites sanctzee Marie dedit, et Stephanus Gisleberti filius terram dimidie carruce apud Gulpillerias monachis donauit, et licet de feudo meo non hoc esset, donationem

li. 444.

tamen in carta mea manu propria corroborauit. Haec itaque quz a me uel amicis meis data sunt monachis firmiter concedo" et alia omnia quecumque homines mei sine diminutione iustitize uel seruitutis meze sancto Ebrulfo, benignus astipulator annuo et peropto ut si aliquis inuidus aut peruersus data nostra uiolare uel minuere presumpserit instinctu diaboli, confestim resipiscat ab insania huiusmodi? ne pro reatu nefarize inuasionis et sacrilegii, cum reprobis et biotanatis ab zequissimo iudicio damnetur in die iudicii." Prefatus heros suprascriptam cartam subscriptione sua confirmauit, et Mainerio abbati predictarum inuestituram rerum coram multis idoneis testibus tradidit. Filii enim eius affuerunt Ansoldus, 'Tedbaldus et Guillelmus, generique eius Gualterius de Pexeio et Baldricus de Drocis, proceresque de Manlia Hugo et Stephanus, Gualterius presbiter et Gualterius miles cognomento Costatus, Richerius prepositus et Fulco filii Fulcherii, Hugo et Odo Gualonis filii, Herueus Heruardi filius, et magna pars Manliensis parrochiz. Porro Mainerius abbas ibidem Goisbertum priorem ordinauit? qui mox paruam ecclesiam quam Godefredus magne simplicitatis et innocentiz presbiter ceperat consummauit. Non multo post monachis intus et extra conualescentibus, bonisque parrochianis de prouectu eorum congratulantibus destructa ueteri basilica sanctee Marize noua pulchri operis cepta est:? et secundum opportunitatem per xx annos sub Goisberto et Guidmundo ac ! This is probably a later insertion in the pancarte, particularly if Pain's cap-

ture by the Normans at Meulan was in 1087. ? Either a much later addition to the pancarte, or an interpolation by Orderic. 3 Parts of the apse and the north wall of the nave of the church of Maule

date from c. 1070 (Joanne, p. 2550); they may be parts of the older church (cf. Le Prévost, ii. 444 n. 2). The conventual buildings were built on the south side of the church.

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of my son Ansold and the boy Peter and many others.! The monks

for their part gave Pain ten pounds in money, and his wife twenty

shillings. Also Athelelm of Gaseran gave his son Amaury together

with the tithes of Puiseux, and granted that if the boy were to die within seven years the monks should have the tithe in perpetuity in return for seven pounds. Afterwards the boy lived to grow up and was ordained priest, and for many years held the tithe of Puiseux; and on his death he left it lawfully to the monks, since they had brought him up and educated him well.? Hugh son of Walo called Fresnel gave three hdtes to St. Mary before becoming a monk; and Stephen son of Gilbert gave the monks half a plough-land at Goupilliéres; and though it is not of my fee nevertheless he confirms the gift in my charter by his own subscription. ‘All these things given by me and my friends to the monks I firmly grant; and as a benevolent supporter I agree and approve all other things whatsoever that my men have given to SaintÉvroul without diminution of my jurisdiction or the service due to me; so that, if any greedy or wicked person presumes at the instigation of the devil to violate or diminish our gifts, may he recover forthwith from his madness, or as a punishment for the crime of violent aggression and sacrilege may he be condemned by the most just Judge on the day of judgement together with the reprobate and those that die a violent death.’ Peter of Maule confirmed the charter with his subscription, and invested Abbot Mainer with all these things in the presence of many reputable witnesses. His sons Ansold and Theobald and William were present, also his sons-in-law Walter of Poissy and Baudry of Dreux, and his vassals of Maule: Hugh and Stephen, Walter the priest and Walter the knight, called Costatus, Richer the provost and Fulk son of Foucher, Hugh and Odo sons of Walo, Hervey son of Heroard, and a great part of the inhabitants of the parish of Maule. Abbot Mainer then blessed Goisbert as prior there, and he soon afterwards completed the little church that Godfrey, a priest of great simplicity and innocence, had begun to build. Not long afterwards, as the prosperity and conventual life of the monks increased, and the good men of the parish welcomed their progress, the old church of St. Mary was pulled down and a new one of very handsome design was begun.? Work of considerable craftsmanship was brought to completion in the course of twenty years as opportunity occurred, under the priors

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V

Rogerio et Hugone! prioribus eleganter peracta est. Plures ibidem li. 445

monachi usque hodie permanserunt: et in cultu diuino pie labora-

uerunt. Petrus autem Manliensis erus usque ad senectutem uixit? et res zcclesiastica Manlizeque popularis concio dapsilis patroni studio commode creuit. A subiectis et uicinis idem multum amabatur/ quia simplicitate magis quam uafra calliditate armabatur. Elemosinas amabat, et frequenter faciebat? sed ieiunia metuebat, et quantum poterat abhorrens a se procul excludebat. Multa facile promittebat? et precipua uili precio non nunquam distrahebat. Cupidus simul erat ac prodigus. Non curabat unde sibi copiose dapes apponerentur? nec prauidebat utrum de rapina seu de iusto questu necessari& opes conferrentur? rursumque paruipendebat cui quocumque modo parte res ingererentur. Nunquam ergo diuitiis abundauit. Hic ex Guindesmoth uxore sua quattuor habuit filios Ansoldum, Tedbaldum, Guarinum et Guillelmum,

totidemque

filias Hubelinam,

Eremburgem,

Ode-

linam et Hersendem. Ex his nimirum copia pullulauit nepotum, qui discurrentes instabilem uolubilis seculi rotatum? dispensante Deo quo reguntur omnia uarium subierunt euentum. Tandem Petrus

senio

confectus

ii? idus

lanuarii

obiit,

et in claustro

monachorum secus australem basilicae maceriam sepultus requiescit. Epitaphium autem huiusmodi Iohannes Remensis super illum edidit, ii. 446

Post annos agni centum cum mille superni? Flos procerum Petrus prope iani decidit idus. Dapsilis et letus multum fuit atque facetus? Plus epulis quam militize studiosus agoni. Summus apud proceres et nobilium fuit heres, Vixit honoratus terra qua pausat humatus/ Et dedit hanc sedem Christi genetricis ad zedem.

Bis senus iani sol nubilus extitit illi?

Sed sol iusticize prece fulgidus esto Mariae. Plangit Parisius, pangat super hunc paradisus Per sanctos sedem quibus hanc concessit et zedem.

Ansoldus Petri filius patri moribus in quibusdam multum fuit dissimilis? multimoda tamen uirtute maior uel ut moderatius loquar zqualis. Erat enim excellentis ingenii et magnanimus, ! See below, Appendix II.

* 12 January 1100 or 1101. Depoin, Cartulaire de Pontoise, p. 271, gives IIOI,

presumably beginning the year in March. At Saint-Évroul at this date, however it began at Christmas.

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179

Goisbert and Guitmund and Roger and Hugh.! Many monks have dwelt there up to the present day, and have devoutly performed the divine offices. Peter, lord of Maule, lived to a ripe old age, and the priory founded at Maule and the parish fraternity steadily increased under his generous patronage. He was greatly loved by his tenants and neighbours, because he was a man of simplicity without guile. He loved giving alms and gave freely; but he shrank from fasting, and so abhorred it that he avoided it as far as possible. He was lavish with his promises, and sometimes alienated valuable property at a very low price. He was greedy and generous at one and the same time. He gave no thought to the sources of his lavish expenditure, never troubling to determine whether his necessary supplies came from plunder or lawful acquisition; again, he cared little on whom these things, however acquired, were then lavished. Consequently he never had much available wealth. He had four sons by his wife Windesmoth: Ansold, Theobald, Warin, and William; and the same number of daughters: Hubeline, Eremburge, Odeline,

and Hersende. From these sprang a numerous progeny of grandchildren who, going their different ways through the chances and changes of the world suffered various fates by the providence of God which governs all things. At length Peter, worn out with old age, died on 12 January,? and was laid to rest in the cloister of

the monks by the south wall of the church. John of Rheims composed this epitaph on him: After the birth of Christ a thousand years And then a hundred more had passed, when Peter, Most noble lord, died near the Ides of January. Generous and light of heart he was, and merry,

And more intent on feasting than on wars; Heir to a noble race, first of his peers, Honoured in life here, where he buried lies; He gave this church in honour of Christ’s mother. The misty new year’s sun had risen twelve times; Now, Sun of Justice, shine through Mary’s prayers. Mourn, Paris; open, Paradise, for him, By the saints’ prayers for whom he gave this dwelling. Ansold, Peter’s son, was very unlike his father in character; in

many things he surpassed him or, to say the least, equalled him. For he was highly intelligent and brave, physically strong and tall,

180

ii. 447

BOOK

V

corpore fortis et procerus, ac militari probitate prestantissimus, auctoritate sullimis et in iudicio iustus, in sententiis disserendis audax ac facundus, atque philosophis pene adzequandus. /Ecclesize limina frequentabat, et sacris sermonibus patulas aures sollerter accommodabat. Res gestas prout antiquis codicibus insertz sunt ediscebat, a doctis relatoribus sagaciter inuestigabat’ auditasque patrum uitas tenaci memorize commendabat. Falsidicos relatores et uerbum Dei adulterantes et turpibus lucris inhiantes exosos habebat et detectis sophismatibus malignis ne insontes deciperent palam confutabat. Religiosam Guindesmoth matrem suam semper honorauit/ et in omnibus ut fidelis filius piz matri obsecundauit. Hzc nobilem ex Trecasino territorio prosapiam duxit, Deoque deuota fere xv annis marito suo in uiduitate superuixit. Felix anus quze usque in senium fida sobole in mariti talamo pie sustentata est: et ibidem consolatorem sui tutissimum uidens uiatico sumpto defuncta est. Hinc a dulci filio reuerenter ad tumulum deuecta est’ et in gremio zcclesi;& iuxta consortem thori corpus eius honorifice sepultum est. Predictus miles tirocinii sui tempore probis actibus emicuit? et relictis notis affinibus et karis parentibus inter exteros insertam sibi uirtutem exercuit. Italiam itaque expetiit, fortissimoque duci Guiscardo sociatus Greciam inuasit, et in conflictu quo Alexius imperator Constantinopolitanus uictus fugerat nobiliter dimicauit.' Post aliquot tempus obnixa petitione patris regressus in Galliam, uxorem duxit nobilem puellam et bene morigeratam nomine Odelinam? Radulfi cognomento Maliuicini? Madantensis oppidani filiam. Frugalitate sua militaris uir cunctos sibi coherentes ad honestatem prouocabat: parsimonizeque modesta restrictione, regularibus etiam personis exemplum portendebat. Nunquam poma in uiridiario comedit? nunquam uuas in uinea nec auellanas in silua gustauit. Canonicis solummodo ad mensam qua apponebantur sumebat horis, dicens brutorum animalium esse non hominis? comedere quicquid fors suggereret absque consideracione loci et temporis. Legali conubio contentus castitatem amabat: et obscenitatem libidinis non ut laicus uulgari uerbositate ' This refers to Robert Guiscard's victory over Alexius Comnenus near Durazzo in 1081. 2 The family of Mauvoisin had acquired former property of Saint-Germ ain-

des-Prés in the region of Mantes

(see Marie de la Motte-Callas

in Revue

d'histoire de l'église de France, xliii (1957), 69; and Depoin, Cartulaire de Pontoise, pp. 331-3).

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V

181

excelling in feats of arms, commanding in authority, just in judge-

ment; independent and eloquent in discussing abstract questions, and almost on a par with a philosopher. He was a constant worshipper in church, and listened eagerly, with open ears, to the spiritual discourses. He studied history as it was written in the ancient records, thoughtfully investigated what he could discover from learned narrators, and, once he had heard the lives of the

Fathers, committed them to his tenacious memory. He detested those who told inaccurate narratives or falsified the word of God or thirsted for dishonest gains; and when he detected any dangerous sophistries he refuted them publicly, so that they should not mislead simple people. He always honoured his pious mother Windesmoth, and never failed to obey this dutiful mother as a faithful son should. She came from a noble family of the region of Troyes, and survived her husband for about fifteen years as a widow devoted to God. Happy matron, who was dutifully supported by her faithful son in her husband's chamber up to old age! and who, with her steadfast comforter before her eyes, died there after receiving the viaticum! From there she was reverently taken for burial by her affectionate son, and her body was honourably buried in the bosom of the church beside her husband. Ansold himself was distinguished by his gallant deeds during the time of his military probation, and when he had left his friends and neighbours and loved kinsmen he showed his innate courage amongst strangers. For he set out for Italy, and taking service with the valiant duke, Guiscard, invaded Greece, distinguishing himself in the battle in which Alexius, emperor of Constantinople, fled

defeated.! Some time later he returned to France at his father's earnest entreaty, and took to wife a noble and well-conducted girl named Odeline, the daughter of Ralph called Mauvoisin,? castellan of Mantes. The knightly Ansold inspired all his companions to virtue by his temperance, and set an example even to monks living under a rule by the sober strictness of his abstinence. He never ate apples in an orchard, and never tasted grapes in a vineyard or nuts in a wood. He helped himself only to the dishes that were brought to his table at regular hours, saying it was the part of brute beasts and not of men to eat whatever came to them by chance without consideration of time and place. A lover of chastity, he was content with lawful marriage, and attacked the filthiness of lust not, like a layman, with coarse abuse, but like 822219X

Oo

182

ii. 448

BOOK

V

uituperabat, sed ut doctor ecclesiasticus argutis allegationibus palam condemnabat. Ieiunia et omnem continentiam carnis in omnibus laudabat: et ipse uiriliter in se pro modulo laici retinebat. A rapinis omnimodo abstinebat? suasque res labore partas callide seruabat. Decimas et primitias elemosinasque a predecessoribus datas Dei ministris legitime reddebat, discolis uero et iocosis nebulonibus seu meretricibus non solum munuscula non erogabat’ sed suum etiam consortium et familiare colloquium denegabat. Ex legitima coniuge quam adolescentulam desponsauerat, et religiose in omni modestia docilem instituerat? septem filios et duas filias habuit, quorum nomina hzc sunt, Petrus, Radulfus, Guarinus, Lisiardus, Guido, Ansoldus et Hugo? Maria et Guin-

desmoth? de quorum euentu historialis pagina suis in locis plura memorare poterit. Anno ab incarnatione Domini M?covr?? in fineFebruarii quando cometa longissimum crinem emittens in occiduis partibus apparuit, Buamundus famosus dux post captam Antiochiam in Gallias uenit? et Constantiam Philippi regis Francorum filiam uxorem duxit, et nuptias honorabiles apud Carnotum largiter administrante sufficientem apparatum Adela comitissa celebrauit.! Tunc tercia profectio occidentalium? in Ierusalem facta est? li. 449 multorumque maxima conglobatio milium pedibus suis Bizanteum stemma proculcare minitantium contra Traces progressa est. Ceterum iustissima Dei dispositio conatus concupiscentium inuadere rem proximi sui frustrata est’ unde superba conglomeratio ambitiosorum nichil eorum que incassum rata fuerat adepta est. Eodem anno infra tres septimanas quibus cometes emicuit" Ansoldus de Manlia stimulo diuini timoris punctus curiam sancte Marie humiliter adiit, et pro quibusdam contentionibus quas contra monachos habuerat cum multis fletibus Deo sponte satisfecit. Deinde coram cunctis baronibus suis qui in dormitorio monachorum? congregati aderant, omnia quz Petrus pater eius et Hugo ac Paganus et Anstasius et Rodbertus filius Hubelinz et Herueus filius Heroardi, et Odo filius Gualonis * Antioch fell to the Crusaders in 1098. Bohemond search

of reinforcements

in 1104

and

reached

France

I came to Europe in in 1106.

Constance’s

first marriage with Hugh count of Champagne had been annulled on grounds of consanguinity, and her marriage to Bohemond took place between 2 5 March and 26 May 1106 (D'Arbois de Jubainville, Histoire des . . . comtes de Champagne, ii. 90—7).

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a doctor of the church, openly, with reasoned proofs. He praised fasting and bodily abstinence in all men and practised these virtues stalwartly all his life in so far as a layman can. He abstained from every form of plunder, and prudently preserved the fruits of his labour. He rendered tithes and first-fruits and the alms given by his predecessors to the servants of God as the law required; he not merely gave no rewards to wandering players or jesters or whores, but refused to speak with them or have anything to do with them. By his lawful wife, whom he had married as a girl and had piously schooled in modesty when she was still unformed, he had seven sons and two daughters. Their names are Peter, Ralph, Warin, Lisiard, Guy, Ansold and Hugh, Mary and

Windesmoth, of whose fates the pages of history may record much in the proper place. In the year of our Lord 1106, at the end of February, when

a comet with a very long tail was seen in the western regions, the renowned Duke Bohemond came to France after capturing Antioch, and took as his wife Constance, daughter of King Philip of France. The marriage was celebrated magnificently at Chartres, where the Countess Adela made generous provision for it.' At that time the third expedition? from the west set out for Jerusalem, and a great concourse of many thousands marched against the Thracians, threatening to tread the Byzantine dynasty under foot. But by the just providence of God the attempt of men greedy to seize the property of their neighbours was brought to nothing, so that the proud army of ambitious men secured none of the things that they had vainly imagined to be within their grasp. In the same year, within three weeks of the comet’s appearance, Ansold of Maule was inspired by God to come in all humility to the court of St. Mary, where he voluntarily made satisfaction to God with copious tears for certain claims that he had made against the monks. Then in the presence of all his barons, who were assembled in the dormitory of the monks,? he granted to the church of God and St. Mary of Maule everything that his father Peter and Hugh and Pain and Anstasius and Robert son of Hubeline and Hervey

son of Heroard and Odo son of Walo and Fulk and Richer the 2 The

second

expedition had taken place in 1100-1.

Bohemond

began his

expedition in 1107 by a totally unsuccessful attack on the Byzantine empire (S. Runciman, History of the Crusades (Cambridge, 1951-3), ii. 49-51). 3 This suggests that no chapter-house existed at this date, or that the dormitory was the only room of adequate size.

184

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ac Fulco et Richerius filii Fulcherii, aliique homines sui cuiuscumque conditionis sint dederant uel daturi erant unde seruitium suum non amitteret, zecclesiz Dei et sanctae Marize Manlize con-

il. 450

cessit, tali pacto ut si aliquis ex ipsis pro quolibet reatu feudum suum perderet; zcclesia nullatenus elemosine dono priuetur. Ipse quoque Ansoldus decimam quam Hersendis soror eius in maritagio habuerat, et beatee Marie ante obitum suum reddiderat/ per uirgam quam in manu lohannis monachi et sacerdotis tradiderat, concessit ut liberam post obitum Petri nepotis sui! zecclesia decimam recipiat. Aream quoque molarum in silua Bola? dedit sanctee Marize? ita ut ex singulis molis duo denarii dentur ad luminaria zcclesiz. Et quisquis inde fraudem fecerit? quinque solidos persoluat. Antea nempe pro reatu huiusmodi sexaginta soluebantur solidi. Sed quia lex zcclesiastica mitior est quam secularis? quinquaginta quinque solidi indulgentur, et quinque accipiuntur. Harum itaque rerum donationem ipse et Odelina uxor eius et duo filii eius Petrus et Radulfus super aram sanctz Mariz per librum missalem imposuerunt, presenti quoque spectaculo cuncti milites Manliz affuerunt. Tunc Ansoldus Petrum primogenitum suum heredem totius possessionis suz constituit, et ipse puer Goisleno Maroliensi caraxante et praeconante? homagium et fidelitatem Manlianorum equitum recepit. Ibi nempe affuerunt Guillelmus frater Ansoldi et Rodbertus nepos eius,* Guiboldus miles filius Radulfi Maliuicini et Hugo de Marolio, Odo Paganus filius Hugonis, et Gislebertus filius Haimonis, Odo filius Gualonis et filii eius Petrus et Arnulfus, Fulco filius Fulcherii, et duo nepotes eius Iosfredus et Odo, Grimoldus Almani filius et Gualterius Fulconis filius.

ll. 451

Sepedictus heros post obitum patris xviii annis patrium ius legitime rexit" monachisque in omnibus fidele patrocinium exhibuit, et colloquio eorum pro edificatione morum cotidie inhianter sese applicuit. Res eorum in nullo diminuit, sed in quibusdam ut predictum est augmentauit/ et cirographum donationis suze ita contexuit.

‘Ego Ansoldus concedo et confirmo cuncta que pater meus Petrus pro antecessoribus suis Ansoldo et Guarino aliisque parentibus suis Deo et sanctee Mariz monachisque cenobii sancti Ebrulfi ' Although the Latin could equally well be translated ‘her nephew'

(i.e.

Ansold's son), the reference seems to be to Hersende's son, for another charter of Ansold (below, p. 186) grants to Maule the tithes of his two sisters if the

monks can secure them from his nephews (nepotibus meis’). ^ Property (A. EO

292, 316).

:

in Beule had belonged formerly to Saint-Germain-des-Prég Polyptique de l'abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, ii. 286—7, 289,

BOOK V

18s

sons of Foucher and his other men of whatsoever condition had given or were to give, provided that he lost no service thereby ;and in such a way that if any one of them should forfeit his fief for any offence, the church should not thereby lose the gift of alms. Ansold himself also granted the tithe which his sister Hersende had received as her marriage portion and had restored to St. Mary before her death, by placing a rod in the hand of John, monk and

priest, so that the church might hold it freely after the death of his nephew Peter.! Also he gave the quarry for millstones in the wood of Beule? to St. Mary, so that twopence should be given towards the lights of the church for every millstone. And if anyone tried to defraud the church he should pay five shillings. Formerly, indeed, the fine for this offence had been sixty shillings; but since the law of the church is milder than the secular law fifty-five shillings are pardoned and five taken. He and his wife Odeline and his two sons Peter and Ralph conveyed the grant of these things by placing a missal on the altar of St. Mary, and all the knights of Maule were witnesses of this ceremony. Then Ansold made his eldest son Peter the heir of all his property, and the boy received the homage and fealty of the knights of Maule with Joslin of Mareil calling the names and keeping the record.? Those present were William, Ansold's brother, and Robert his nephew,* the knight Gumbold, son of Ralph Mauvoisin, and Hugh of Mareil, Odo Pain, son son of Hamo, Odo son of Walo, and his sons Fulk, son of Foucher, and his two nephews Grimoald, son of Alman, and Walter, son of

of Hugh, Gilbert Peter and Arnulf, Josfred and Odo, Fulk.

Ansold of Maule ruled over his paternal inheritance by legal right for eighteen years after his father's death, and was a dutiful patron to the monks in all things, and eagerly sought daily converse with them for his moral improvement. He deprived them of none of their property; indeed he increased it in several ways as I have shown, and drew up this charter of gift: ‘I, Ansold, grant and confirm everything which my father Peter gave to God and St. Mary and the monks of the abbey of SaintÉvroul on behalf of his ancestors Ansold and Warin and his other 3 These words imply that some kind of record of the homage was kept, and that Joslin of Mareil, who appears to have been one of the lay tenants, was able to write. Possibly records of this kind were the forerunners of the later heralds' 4 Robert, son of Hubeline. rolls.

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donauit? eodem modo et pacto quo ille concessit. Decimam quoque de Manlia quam duz sorores mez possident in mariagio, Eremburgis uidelicet uxor Baldrici de Drocis, et Hersendis uxor Hugonis de Vicinis, si monachi ab illis seu nepotibus meis potuerint optinere prece seu precio, quantum ad me uel ad liberos meos attinet uoluntarie concedo. Noui utique quod decima Dei pars

est’ et hanc sibi a priscis temporibus ad subsidium leuitarum per

li. 452

Moysen retinere dignatus est. Vnde nemini sapientum ut reor occultatur, quod quisquis pertinaciter tali rapina uescitur? terribilem in futuro animaduersionem promeretur. Aream preterea molarum in saltu Bole do sancte Mariz? ita ut de singulis molis duo nummi dentur ad luminaria ecclesiz. Et quisquis inde fraudem fecerit, quinque solidos soluat: pro qua re hactenus lx solidi soluebantur. Haec Odelina uxor mea et filii mei Petrus et Radulfus concedunt. Inde habuimus beneficia et societatem fratrum, et pro testimonio unum equum centum solidorum" qui fuit Grimoldi de Salmarches ego habui dono monachorum. De hac itaque concessione ego cum uxore mea et filiis meis cartam facio? per quam fide mea absque malo ingenio inuiolabilem zcclesiz Dei donationem facio, ut miserante Deo coniungi merear fidelium collegio. Amen.’ Germundus Rufus de Monteforti, moriens dedit sanctze Marize

et monachis degentibus Manliz medietatem ex omnibus que habebat in Puseolis pro salute anime suze/ Eremburge uxore sua de cuius dote terra erat cum filiis suis Hugone et Gualterio concedente. Tunc statutum fuit quod heredes qui terram habebunt" omne seruitium domino,de cuius feudo illa est facient. Redditus autem qui de bosco et plano exierint adunabuntur ubi utrisque communiter placuerit, et per medium partientur. In illa die Hugo de Guaceio prior erat Manliz,? quo astante cum aliis multis posita est donacio super altare sanctae Maria’ antequam corpus supradicti traderetur gremio terre. Deinde quando Gualterius prefati Germundi filius miles factus est? negauit se hanc donationem concessisse, uolens asserere quod pater suus dederat illi prius quam monachis. Vnde monachi Amalricum comitem Montisfortis dominum adierunt: et de inquietudine Gualterii apud eum clamorem fecerunt. lustitia igitur eius cogente talis inter dissidentes ! Cf. above, p. 124 n. r. 2 Hugh of Gacé was prior before 1118, when David had succeeded him. See below, Appendix II.

BOOK

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kinsmen, in the same form and with the same obligations as he gave them. And I freely grant, in so far as I or my children have any share in them, the tithes of Maule which my two sisters, Eremburge, wife of Baudry of Dreux, and Hersende, wife of Hugh of Voisins, have as their dowries, if the monks can obtain them by

prayer or price from my sisters and nephews. For I know that tithe is the share of God, and that he thought proper to reserve it for himself from ancient time, by his word to Moses, for the support of the Levites.! So, as I believe, no wise man can fail to know that anyone who obstinately enjoys plundered tithes deserves a terrible punishment hereafter. Also I give to St. Mary the quarry of millstones in the woodland of Beule, so that for each millstone

twopence shall be given for the lights of the church; and if anyone takes stones fraudulently, he shall pay a fine of five shillings instead of sixty shillings as formerly. All these things Odeline my wife and my sons Peter and Ralph grant. In return we have spiritual benefits and association with the brethren, and as a proof of this I have received as a free gift from the monks a horse worth a hundred shillings, which formerly belonged to Grimoald of SaulxMarchais. I, together with my wife and sons, make a charter recording this grant, by which I honestly and with no fraudulent intent make an inviolable gift to the church of God, so that by God’s mercy I may prove worthy to be joined with the company of the faithful. Amen.’ Germund Rufus of Montfort on his death-bed gave to St. Mary and the monks dwelling at Maule half of all that he held in Puiseux for the good of his soul, with the consent of his wife Eremburge, whose dowry the land was, and of his sons Hugh and Walter. It was then laid down that the heirs who were to inherit the land should perform all the service due to the lord of the fee. The revenues which accrued from woods and fields were to be collected in one place convenient to both parties, and then divided into two equal parts. At that time Hugh of Gacé was prior of Maule,? and he and many others were witnesses when the gift was placed on the altar of St. Mary, before the body of Germund was committed to the earth. Later when Walter, Germund’s son, became

a knight, he denied that he had agreed to this grant, and attempted to assert that his father had given it to him before giving it to the monks. So the monks went to Count Amaury, lord of Montfort, and lodged a claim with him against Walter’s obstruction. And so

188

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concordia facta est. Monachi xl solidos apud Montemfortem Gualterio tironi dedere? et ipse omnia superius memorata conil. 453 cessit eis coram Richelde Amalrici uxore. Sequenti autem dominico Manliz ambo fratres Hugo et Gualterius praedictam concessionem confirmauerunt: et in presentia Dauid prioris aliorumque fratrum et Ansoldi filiique eius Petri et totius cleri omnisque populi in zcclesia adunati donationem super altare posuerunt. Deinde fratres eorum Engenoldus et Herueus hzc eadem concesserunt.^ Hoc actum est anno quo Henricus rex Angliz inuasit castrum sancti Clari in Francia:? et Ludouicus econtra rex Gallize castellum Vani construxit in Normannia? ex qua occasione inter eos ad multorum detrimenta furuerunt seua praelia. 3Niuardus de Hargeruilla omnem terram de Puncteluilla quam habebat monachis de Manlia donauit? et medietatem decimze illius terre, et inde habuit ex karitate monachorum xxviii solidos. Simon

uero frater eius hoc concessit? et inde subtolares corduanos Hugo prior ei dedit. Petrus autem et Guarinboldus filii Niuardi hoc quod pater eorum dederat concesserunt? et inde subtolares sex nummorum unusquisque eorum habuit. Subsequenti dominico ipse Niuardus Manliam uenit? et donum super altare sancte Marie coram tota parrochia posuit. Goiffredus de Marco dum monachile scema suscipere Manliam li. 454 uenit? totam zecclesiam in Marcositam et dimidiumatrii decimzeque monachis beati Ebrulfi donauit. Hzc Emmelina uxor eius et filii eorum concesserunt Guillelmus, Simon, Hugo, Stephanus et Paganus. Deinde Hugo Rufus de Fresneio de cuius feudo Goisfredus tenuerat Manliam uenit, precibusque monachorum quicquid Goisfredus monachis dederat quietum ab omni seruitio concessit, ita ut si haeredes de Marco

ei seruierint’ debitumue

seruitium denegauerint, monachi semper libere teneant. Hoc etiam Gualterius frater eius concessit. Gualterius Heldeburgis filius postquam letali plaga uulneratus

fuit" monachis Manliz totam decimam quam Puseolis de feudo Heruei filii Heroardi habebat donauit, ibique Isemburgis uxor eius cum tribus Gualterii fratribus Ricardo et Tedbaldo atque

Goisfredo affuit et concessit. Herueus quoque filius Heroardi ^ Deinde . . . concesserunt added in the margin in Orderic's hand * Daughter of Baldwin count of Hainault (GEC vii. 713). ? [n 1118.

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by his judgement this agreement was reached between the parties. The monks gave forty shillings to the young knight Walter at Montfort, and he granted them everything detailed above in the presence of Richenda, wife of Amaury.! On the next Sunday both brothers Hugh and Walter confirmed this grant at Maule, and, in

the presence of David the prior and the other monks and Ansold and his son Peter and all the clergy and people assembled in the church, laid the gift upon the altar. Then their brothers Engenold and Hervey granted the same things. This was done in the year in which Henry, king of England, attacked the castle of Saint-Clair in France;? and Louis, king of France, in retaliation built the castle of Gasny in Normandy, and consequently there was bitter fighting between them and great harm came to many people. 3Nivard of Hargeville gave all the land that he had in Boinville to the monks of Maule, and half the tithe of that land; and received

in return twenty-eight shillings as a free gift from the monks. His brother Simon granted the same gift, and for this Prior Hugh gave him a pair of leather shoes. Nivard’s sons Peter and Warin also granted what their father had given, and in return each of them received shoes worth sixpence. On the next Sunday Nivard himself came to Maule and laid the gift on the altar of St. Mary in the presence of the whole parish. Geoffrey of Marcq, when he came to Maule to take the monastic habit, gave the whole of the church at Marcq and half the churchyard and the tithe to the monks of Saint-Évroul. This grant was approved by Emmeline his wife and their sons William, Simon, Hugh, Stephen, and Pain. Afterwards Hugh Rufus of Fresnay, of whose fee Geoffrey held, came to Maule and at the request of the monks granted them all that Geoffrey had given quit of all service, so that, whether the heirs of Marcq performed their service or defaulted in the service due to him, the

monks should enjoy uninterrupted tenure. His brother Walter also granted this. Walter son of Hildeburge, after receiving a fatal wound, gave the monks of Maule the whole tithe which he had in Puiseux of the fee of Hervey son of Heroard, and Isemburge his wife, who was present with Walter's three brothers, Richard and Theobald and Geoffrey, granted the same. Also Hervey son of Heroard gave all 3 This gift was made before 1118, when Hugh of Gacé was prior. Cf. below, Appendix II.

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omnes decimas quas apud Puseolum habebat annuit? et Simon de Toiri partem decimz que de feudo suo erat monachis concessit. Monachi autem ne ulla superesset calumnia? dederunt Herueo unam domum cum multis utensilibus pro quattuor libris denariorum et unum aripennem uinez ad guardam,! quem Gualterius filius Alpes sancte Mariz dederat, et Odelinz coniugi eius de cuius li. 455 dote erat unum fustaneum" Simoni autem xx solidos, et uxori eius

de cuius hzreditate erat tres solidos. Baldricus Rufus de Monteforti quando ad monachatum uenit: monachis Manliz redditum quem apud Medantum habebat decem uidelicet solidos et unum sextarium salis dedit. Hzec ei Fiscannenses monachi qui Medanto morantur? in die festiuitatis sancti Remigii reddebant. Dedit etiam idem Baldricus quicquid habebat in zcclesia et in decima de Iumeluilla, et xii denarios quos filii Burgz dabant ei pro censu de Concita. Vxor uero eius hzc concessit" et inde unam uaccam habuit. Goisfredus quoque filius eius supermemoratas res monachis annuit? et ob hoc unum equum pro sexaginta solidis et xx solidos ab eis recepit. Inde firmi testes fuerunt Ansoldus Manliz dominus et Petrus filius eius, Odo filius Gualonis et Petrus filius eius, Goisfredus filius Richerii et Grimoldus filius Almani, Amalricus Floenel et multi alii. Mortuo autem

li. 456

Baldrico filius eius omnia supradicta negauit? unde xx solidis iterum ei datis iteratam concessionem adiecit. Medantum itaque cum Dauid priore perrexit? et Fiscannensibus monachis apud sanctum Georgium morantibus praecepit, ut ex illa die decem solidos et sextarium salis quz solebant patri suo reddere: singulis annis redderent monachis Manliz. Guillelmus etiam filius Henrici de Richeburg de cuius feudo erat monachis concessit? a quibus decem solidos et dimidium uini modium? in karitate recepit. Eremburgis filia Petri de Manlia et Amalricus filius eius medietatem illam decimz quam iniuste+ tenuerant Deo reddiderunt, donumque super altare sanctz Dei genetricis Marize coram populo imposuerunt. Huius nimirum doni fautor et fidelis instigator domnus Ansoldus affuit? et cum filiis suis Petro et Radulfo concessit. T'unc monachi ad redimendam decimam quia Guillelmus * Either for guard service or at La Garde. There was a wood of that name

at Maule (Le Prévost, ii. 454 n. 3).

? 'The priory of St. George at Mantes was a dependency of Fécamp. * For the size of the muid see Delisle, Classe agricole, pp. 544, 566.

the tithes which he had at Puiseux, and Simon of Toiry granted to the monks the part of the tithe that was of his fee. The monks for their part, to satisfy all possible claims, gave Hervey a house with many furnishings in return for four pounds in money, and an arpent of vines at La Garde,! which Walter son of Alpes had given to St. Mary; and to Odeline, Hervey’s wife, in whose dower it was, a piece of fustian; to Simon also twenty shillings, and to his wife, of whose inheritance it was, three shillings. When Baudry Rufus of Montfort became a monk he gave the monks of Maule a revenue that he had at Mantes, consisting of ten shillings and one sester of salt. This was paid to him by the monks of Fécamp residing at Mantes? on the feast of St. Remigius. Baudry also gave all that he had in the church and tithe of Jumeauville, and twelve pence which the sons of Burga paid him for the rent of La Concie. His wife also granted all these things, and received in return a cow. Geoffrey his son conceded the same things to the monks, and in return received from them a horse worth

sixty shillings and twenty shillings. The sure witnesses were Ansold, lord of Maule, and Peter his son, Odo, son of Walo, and Peter his son,

Geoffrey,

son of Richer, and Grimoald,

son of

Alman, Amaury Floenel, and many others. After Baudry’s death his son repudiated all the gifts; but after twenty more shillings had been given to him he renewed the grant. He then went to Mantes with David, the prior, and instructed the monks of Fécamp residing at St. George’s priory that from that time they should render the ten shillings and sester of salt that they had formerly paid to his father annually to the monks of Maule. William, son of Henry of Richebourg, of whose fee it was, confirmed the grant to the monks and received as a free gift from them ten shillings and half a muid? of wine. Eremburge, daughter of Peter of Maule, and Amaury her son restored to God the moiety of the tithe that they had wrongfully^ held, and placed the gift on the altar of St. Mary the mother of God in the sight of the people. Lord Ansold who approved and had piously advised this gift, was present himself, and granted it with his sons Peter and Ralph. Then the monks gave Eremburge ten 4 Cf. above, p. 186. The tithe was Eremburge’s marriage portion, held ‘unjustly’ against canon law because she was a laywoman. She had apparently pledged it to her brother William for £20. Her sister Hersende also surrendered

the reversion of her share of the tithe (above, p. 184).

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de Manlia in uadimonio pro xx libris eam habebat? decem libras Eremburgi dederunt, et tres aripennes uinez ipsi et heredi eius concesserunt.

Postquam autem uelata fuit eadem Eremburgis? iterum ipsa et predictus Amalricus filius eius partem suam de decima sepe memorata Deo reddiderunt? et donum sicut antea super altare matris Domini per textum euangeliorum imposuerunt. Ibi Guillelmus de Manlia et Rodbertus nepos eius et Goisfredus sororius ipsius cum Odone Pagano et Odone filio Gualonis et Fulcone clerico et Goisfredo Richerii filio adfuerunt, Deoque qui mulierem nefarie rapacitatis letali sarcina onustam alleuiauit gratias egerunt. Habitatorum itaque sollertia donisque confluentium Manliensis domus creuit et locupletata est? sed post aliquot tempus Ansoldo laudabili patrono cadente debilitata est. Is etenim postquam liii annis arma militiz gessit, iam seniles annos attingens zegrotare cepit/ et zeger fere vii septimanis ad tribunal Summi iturus sese confessione et poenitentia preparauit. Et quamuis lecto non decumberet, sed zecclesiam cotidie peteret, et uiuacitate memorize cum facundia uigeret- agnouit tamen se naturas corporis sui quili. 457 bus phisici perniciem hominibus uel incolumnitatem predicunt amisisse, mortisque imminentis conditionem euadere non posse. Vnde memor zeternz salutis ex toto ad Dominum se conuertit, auideque pro uita perenni complere festinauit? qua a sapientibus audierat, et libenter retinuerat. Quadam siquidem nocte audito sonitu signi surrexit, cum

uno

cliente suo ad zcclesiam

uenit,

Deumque ut satisfactionem suam susciperet atque uoluntatem impleret exorauit. Finito autem matutinali seruitio monachos uocauit, uotum suum eis aperuit? et monachatum ab eis petiit. Tunc ibi Dauid prior erat? et secum honorabiles monachos ac sacerdotes habebat, Iohannem

scilicet Remensem?

Osbernum

et

Odonem. His nimirum Ansoldus associari habitu peroptauit sicuti mente, dicens se omnem pietatem coniugis et filiorum amisisse" dominium terre nullo modo amplius tenere, mortem sibi propinquam esse? ideoque soli Deo uelle adherere, eosque sibi petitionem non debere negare. Monachi autem hzc audientes de bona uoluntate uiri lztati sunt? per biduum tamen propter absentiam primogeniti filii sui et heredis futuri quod petierat distulerunt. Ille uero dilationem tantam egre tulit? appetens inuisibilia * Ansold by this reckoning had been knighted c. 1065 (Depoin, de Pontoise, p- 271).

Cartulaire

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pounds to redeem the tithe, for it had been pledged to William of Maule for twenty pounds, and they also granted three arpents of vines to her and her heir. Afterwards however, when Eremburge took the veil, she and her

son Amaury renewed the gift of her share of the tithe to laid the gift on the altar of the mother of God as before, of a copy of the Gospels. Those present were William and Robert his nephew and Geoffrey his brother-in-law,

God, and by means of Maule with Odo

Pain and Odo, son of Walo, and Fulk the clerk and Geoffrey, son

of Richer, and all gave thanks to God that he had relieved this woman of the fatal burden of sinful greed. And so the cell at Maule grew and flourished through the care of its inhabitants and the gifts of visitors, but after some time it was crippled by the death of its worthy patron Ansold. For after he had borne arms for fifty-three years! and reached a good old age he fell sick, and after about seven weeks of illness prepared himself by confession and penance to go before the judgement seat of the Almighty. Although he did not take to his bed, but visited the church daily and still retained his keen memory and his powers of speech, nevertheless he realized that he had lost those bodily properties by which physicians diagnose the impending decline or recovery of men, and that he could not escape from approaching death. So, concerned for his eternal salvation, he turned his whole mind

to the Lord,

and, eager for eternal life, made

haste to

accomplish those things that he had learnt from wise men and willingly remembered. So one night, hearing the sound of the bell, he rose and came to the church with one of his servants, and prayed God to accept his repentance and fulfil what he desired. And when the office of Matins was over he called the monks and told them of his wish, begging them to receive him as a monk. At that time David was prior there, and had with him several worthy monks and priests, namely John of Rheims, Osbern, and Odo. Ansold

greatly longed to be joined to them in dress as he was in mind, saying that he had put aside all family ties of wife and sons and no longer held any temporal dominion; that he was near to death and wished to belong to God alone, and that they ought not to refuse his plea. When the monks heard this they welcomed his good intentions, but delayed granting his request for two days because of the absence of his eldest son and future heir. He himself took the delay to heart, for he longed to taste the invisible joys that the Father

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que uigilantibus seruis paterfamilias retribuit. Asserebat enim hoc totum desiderium suum esse, et totum uelle, cum pauperibus Christi uiuere, et cum eisdem uitam finire, ut promissionem quam

suis Deus pollicetur posset habere. Denique biduo transacto ut filium aduenisse audiuit? coniugem suam cum eodem ad se protinus accedere iussit. Quibus presentibus, filio coram multis mili-

ii. 458

tibus plurima intimauit, eumque coram pluribus diuersz ztatis e sexus sic admonuit. ‘Fili karissime quem nutriui deliciose, uolens haeredem et successorem meum Deo et hominibus acceptabilem relinquere? nunc ea qua te moneo deuotissime, retineto intentissime. In primis Deum semper et super omnia dilige. Pontificem tuum et regem ut

patronos tuos time, uenerare, eorumque preceptis prout poteris ne obliuiscaris obedire. Pro eorum prosperitate cotidie Deum deprecare, ut meritis et tuitione boni presulis perpes salus detur anime tuz et pacifici regis moderamine possis temporalem honorem quiete et iuste possidere. Hominibus tuis fidem quam debes exhibe? eisque non ut tirannus sed ut mitis patronus dominare. Dominium tuum in agris, nemoribus, pratis et uineis prudenter conserua, aliisque dando minuere deuita. Rapinas noli exercere, fures et raptores a te penitus abige. Res tuas legitime custodi? et res alienas per uiolentiam et inuasionem tollere noli. His nempe rebus uenit ira, deinde discordia. Sequuntur latrocinia, cedes et incendia? damna et homicidia, et alia mala fiunt innumera.

Sapiens est qui causas malorum quze uidet aliis euenire? ne sibi contingant scit precauere. Haec mea custodi ultima monita. Matrem nostram sanctam ecclesiam semper dilige et frequenta, uerbum Dei quod cibus est animze et uita? missas debitumque Dei seruitium cotidie reuerenter ausculta. Seruos Dei uerbis et operibus honora. Maxime dominos et fratres nostros monachos huius zcclesiz ministros prout poteris uenerare et adiuua: consilio et auxilio tuo si necesse habuerint sustenta. Res quas pater meus et ego dedimus eis pro nostra salute? ut in pace et quiete habeant li. 459 libenter concede. De rebus et redditibus suis nunquam uelis eos diminuere? nec aliquam eis uiolentiam per subditos tuos patiaris inferre. Ipsi nimirum si fidus eorum fautor studueris esse’ indesinenter Deum exorabunt pro te. Nunquam igitur eos siue res

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bestows on his faithful servants. He insisted that his whole longing and his whole will was to live with the poor of Christ and to finish

his life with them, so that he could receive the reward that God

promises to his own. Finally at the end of two days, when he heard that his son had arrived, he commanded his wife to come to him at once with his son. And when they were come, he gave his son many instructions in the presence of many knights, and admonished him thus in the hearing of all, old and young, of both sexes: ‘My dearest son, whom I have brought up carefully, wishing to leave an heir and successor acceptable to God and men, listen carefully to what I have to tell you, and guard it in your heart. First of all, love God always above all things. Fear and honour your bishop and your king as your protectors, and never forget to obey their commands as far as you are able. Pray to God daily for their welfare, so that through the care and merits of a good bishop you may obtain eternal salvation for your soul; and under the government of a peaceful king you may justly enjoy your worldly estates undisturbed. Treat your men with the loyalty that you owe them, and govern them not as a tyrant but as a kind lord. Maintain intact your demesne lands, whether fields or woods or meadows or vineyards, and avoid dissipating them by gifts to others. Never plunder others, and have nothing to do with thieves and robbers. Keep what is yours by right, and never seize others’ property by force or violence. For such things give rise to anger and then disputes; robbery, slaughter, and arson, injuries and murder and countless other evils follow in their train. Wise is he who knows how to avert from himself the evils which he sees afflicting others by anticipating the cause. Cherish these last precepts of mine. Always love and attend the offices of our holy mother, the Church; and hear each day with reverence the word of God, which is meat and life for the soul; hear also Masses and the holy offices. Honour the servants of God in word and deed. Especially revere and help in every way you can our lords and brethren, the monks who minister in this church, supporting them with your counsel and help if they have need of it. Grant freely that they may enjoy in peace and quiet the goods that my father and I have given them for our salvation. Never try to deprive them of any possessions or revenues, nor allow any of your men to do them any wrong. For if you take care to be a true patron to them, they will never cease to pray to God for you. Never show any hatred towards them or

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eorum odio habeas, sed semper diligas? et si Dominus tibi uitam ac prosperitatem dederit accrescere facias. Hzec itaque si custodieris et feceris, benedictionem Dei quam sancti patres nostri suis haeredibus reliquerunt, ex parte Dei tibi concedo, et ut super te ueniat ac maneat Deum exoro. Si uero secus quod absit egeris? maledictionem ex auctoritate Dei et sanctorum patrum tibi relinquo.' Finita uero ad filium hac oratione? memorabilis heros Odelinam uxorem suam tali aggreditur allocutione, ‘Grata soror et amabilis coniunx Odelina? queso mea benigniter nunc exaudi precamina. Hactenus coniugii fidem mutuo nobis legitime custodiuimus^ et sine litigio turpique querela plusquam xx annis opitulante Deo simul uiximus. Honestam sobolem per legitimam copulam genuimus? quam ut salubriter suo creatori subdatur sedulis incites hortatibus. Ecce ducor ad extrema: et uelim nolim mortis appropinquo confinia. Ecce iuxta morem uniuersz carnis dilabor? et commune debitum persoluere compellor. Nolo te per multa pertrahere colloquia. Cum uita tua multis doctrina possit esse? hoc solum consuetis bonis tuis adde, ut amodo casta uiuas in sancta uiduitate. Michi uero licentia detur a te ut monachus fiam,

et indumenta sancti patris Benedicti quamuis sint nigra! relictis seculi pomposis uestibus accipiam. Cupio eorum adipisci conii. 460 sortia’ qui pro Christo relinquunt mundi blandimenta. A coniugali ergo nexu me queso absolue domina, meque fideliter Deo commenda: ut ab omni expeditus mundiali sarcina, monachili merear designari habitu et tonsura. Hoc ex intimo corde deposco, hoc uotis omnibus concupisco’ ut anima mea in monachili possit computari collegio, sumptoque religionis scemate renouata in presenti iam cantare seculo, *'Nigra sum sed formosa".? Nigra sum per hispidz uestis nigredinem et deformitatem: sed formosa per sancti propositi humilitatem Deoque placitam deuotionem.’ Heec Ansoldo dicente et his similia, bona mulier eius uoluntati

nunquam resistere assueta? multis fletibus perfusa, sed sine clamoribus reuerenti uigens modestia? solitoque more oboediens marito concessit petita. Tunc sancta ecclesia uigiliam natalis * The colour of the monks’ habit is a subject frequently recurring in the literature of the time. Black was praised as a symbol of penitence (cf. J. Leclercq in Studia Anselmiana, xli. 41, 89-90; also J. Leclercq, La Vie parfaite (Paris, 1948), pp. 20-1, 76, 80, ror). ? Song of Songs i. 4.

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anything of theirs, but always love them and, if the Lord grants you life and good fortune, help them to prosper. If you observe and respect all these precepts I grant you in the name of God the blessing of God which our holy forefathers left to their heirs, praying that God may come upon you and abide with you. If however you do otherwise, which God forbid, then, by the authority of God and the holy Fathers, I leave my curse with you.’ When he had finished this exhortation to his son, the worthy lord addressed his wife, Odeline, in these words: ‘Dear companion and beloved wife, Odeline, hear, I now implore you, my prayers. Up to now we have loyally kept to the bond of lawful marriage, and have lived together by God’s aid for more than twenty years without dispute or shameful accusations. We have given birth to fine children in lawful wedlock, and you will lead them by constant exhortation to be obedient to their Creator for their spiritual good. But see, I am approaching my end, and whether I will or no Iam drawing near to death. See, I perish according to the common lot of all flesh, and am forced to pay the debt of all mortals. I do not wish to force a long speech upon you. Since your life may be an example to many, add only this to your accustomed virtues, that from this day forward you live chastely in holy widowhood. Let your permission be granted for me to become a monk and, abandoning the sumptuous garments of the world, put on the robes of the holy father Benedict, black though they be.! I long to be joined to the fellowship of those who for Christ's sake renounce the delights of the world. Therefore I pray you, my lady, to release me from the bond of wedlock and commend

me to God in faith, so that,

set free from every worldly obligation, I may be entitled to receive the habit and tonsure of a monk. This I ask from the depths of my heart, this I desire with my whole longing, that my soul may be numbered with the fellowship of monks and, when I have put on the habit of religion, may be restored to sing in this present world,? “IT am black, but comely’’. I am black through the blackness and Shapelessness of this rough garment, but comely through the humility of a holy purpose and a devotion pleasing to God.’ When Ansold had said this and more to the same purpose the good woman, who had never been in the habit of opposing his will, wept copiously but without protestations, preserving a seemly modesty, and, obedient to her husband as was her wont, granted all that he asked. At that time the Church was celebrating Christmas 822219X

P

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Domini festiue celebrabat, et uehemens uentus intolerabiliter orbem concutiebat, siluas et domos aliaque zdificia deiciebat, multisque damnis in mari et in terra factis humana mirabiliter

corda terrebat. Concessione itaque facta tiro Christi mox ton-

ii. 461

soratus, neophitus sacris uestibus induitur? quibus per triduum indutus Christo ut cum eo resurgere possit consepelitur. Tercia denique die mortem sentiens fratres acciri fecit? ac ut sibi morientium commendationem facerent rogauit. Qua peracta: aquam benedictam et crucem sibi afferri petiit. Quibus allatis aqua se aspersit? crucem adorauit, Christoque qui in cruce pependit? sic se quodam sophista preloquente commendauit, ‘In manus tuas domine Deus licet olim peccator, nunc uero poenitens commendo sicut seruus se debet committere domino suo spiritum meum.': Quo dicto? ut credimus feliciter exspirauit. Inde uigiliz

cantantur, psalmi et orationes in eius exitu cum multis suspiriis dicuntur? et missz deuote celebrantur. Quibus rite patratis terre matri omnium ad custodiendum et reddendum committitur? dum sancti Iohannis apostoli et euangelistze assumptio ab zecclesia Dei celebratur.^ His utique exequiis Odo Monasterolensis interfuit, ibique sacerdotale officium peregit" breuique loco nomen et officium diemque obitus eius et magnam pro eo precem sic comprehendit. Si quis erit qui scire uelit dum uiuus adesset"

Quis fuerit quem tumba tegit quod nomen haberet Ansoldi nomen fuit huic, et militis omen. Quinta dies fit ei requies in fine Decembris.

Detur ei pietate Dei merces requiei. Amen. Militia clarus et audacia Petrus uicinis metuendus Manlize prafuit? sed a paternis uestigiis in quibusdam operibus suis exorbitauit. Nam iuuenili leuitate usus mimos et aleatores dilexit, adolescentum persuasionibus fauens rapacitati studuit, pauperesque colonos tam suos quam alienos plerumque oppressit. Aliena temere diripit’ et sua infrunite distrahit. Vnde sicut ipse suis ™ I have been unable to trace the source of this quotation. 2 27 December

1118.

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Eve, and a violent tempest was sweeping relentlessly through the land, laying flat trees and houses and other buildings, causing great destruction on land and sea, and striking great terror into the hearts of men. When she had given her permission Christ’s new recruit was forthwith tonsured and clad in the holy garments of a novice, and when he had worn them for three days he was buried with Christ so that he might rise again with him. Finally on the third day, feeling that death was at hand, he called the brethren round him, and asked them to recite for him the commendatory office for the dead. After that had been done he asked for holy water and the cross to be brought to him. When they were brought, he sprinkled himself with the water and adored the cross, and commended himself to Christ who hung upon the cross in the words spoken before by a certain wise man: ‘Into your hands, Lord God, I, once a sinner but now repentant, commend my spirit as a servant ought to commit himself to his lord.’! So saying he died, happily, as I believe. Then vigils were sung, psalms and prayers were said with lamentations for his death, and masses were devoutly celebrated. When all this had been duly accomplished, on the day when the church celebrates the feast of the assumption of St. John the apostle and evangelist,? he was committed to the earth, the mother of all, to be preserved until the resurrection. Odo of Montreuil was present at these obsequies and there performed the priest’s functions; and he compressed into this short epitaph his name and station, the day of his death, and a heartfelt prayer on his behalf: If any come and wish to know, before the day of doom, What man he was, what name he had, who lies beneath this tomb,

Ansold his name, a man of fame and knightly station; when December’s sun had yet to run five days his rest began.

God give him grace and grant him peace; to this we say amen. Peter, who entered into possession of Maule, was famous for his courage and knightly prowess and was a terror to his neighbours, but in some of his actions he failed to follow in his father’s footsteps. For his youthful frivolity gave him a taste for players and gamesters, and through listening to the advice of young men he took to extortion and his hand was heavy on the wretched peasants, both his and other men’s. He recklessly seized the property of others

200

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li. 463

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damnosus est contribulibus? sic finitimi predones non minus inhiantur insidiantur et nocent ipsi suisque hominibus. Iratus durissima facile minatur, letus improuide difficilia pollicetur? in utroque mendax frequenter comprobatur. Vxorem post obitum patris sui duxit nobilissimam nomine Adam? Burchardi de Montemorentii neptem et comitis Gisinarum filiam: Monachos et clericos uerbis honorat? et correptiones eorum placide tolerat, sed excusatione iuuenilis zttatis impudentiam suam obnubit? et emendationem uitz in maturiori zuo quod utinam fiat promittit. Nunc ea que ab ipso uel sub ipso monachis data sunt breuiter annotabo. Ansoldus moriens optimum palefridum monachis dimisit? pro quo Petrus patre rogante terram de Monte Marcenii monachis dedit, eisque tunc omnia que predecessores eius dederant concessit. Vineam quoque de Clarofonte quam Iohannes de sancto Dionisio et Maria uxor eius et Ernulfus eorum filius sancta Mariz prius sponte dederant? sed postmodum Ierusalem adire uolentes cuidam Britoni de Monteforti nomine Fulconi monachis calumniantibus uendiderant, Petrus episcopali iusticia Britoni ablatam in sua manu accepit/ sed eandem paulo post diuinitus infirmitate tactus in confessione sua liberam ab omni censu sancte Mariz reddidit. Fructum etiam uinez in ipso anno ad emendam imaginem sanctze Virgini optulit. Grimoldus nepos et heres Stephani de Manlia? totam decimam terra sue tam de feudo Ansoldi quam de feudo Pagani décimamque molendini sui, et uinearum suarum monachis dedit, et donum

super altare cum Petronilla uxore sua posuit. Deinde ad obitum prefate coniugis sue duo arpenta terre in Monte Tedberti monachis annuit. Denique tercium in eodem loco ad obitum filize suze adiecit. Hic in Ierusalem cum Stephano Blesensi comite perrexit,! in itinere illo multa grauia pertulit, et inde reuersus legitime uixit.

Geroldus quoque cognomine Costatus predicti Grimoldi sororius infirmatus est’ diuinoque uerbere territus quandam decimam quam in territorio Marolii possidebat, partemque suam atrii eiusdem uilla monachis dedit annuente coniuge sua in cuius dote erat? Petro quoque domino Manliz uolente et concedente de * In rro2.

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201

and foolishly dissipated his own. So whilst he was a menace to the inhabitants of the region, his rapacious neighbours coveted his goods and ambushed and injured him and his men in the same way. When angry he quickly gave voice to terrible threats; when pleased he recklessly made promises hard to fulfil, and either way he was often found to have lied. After his father’s death he married a wife named Ada, of very good family, the niece of Burchard of Montmorency and daughter of the count of Guines. He speaks respectfully to monks and clerks and meekly accepts their reproaches, excusing his fecklessness on the grounds of youth, and promising to reform his life in riper years. May he in fact do so! Now I will briefly note the gifts that have been given to the monks by him or in his time. Ansold on his death had left his best palfrey to the monks, in place of which Peter at his father’s request gave them the land of Montmarcien and granted at the same time everything that his predecessors had given. As regards the vineyard of Clairfont, which John of St. Denis and Mary his wife and Arnulf their son had freely given to St. Mary but afterwards, wishing to go to Jerusalem, had sold to a certain Breton of Montfort called Fulk in spite of the claim made by the monks, Peter recovered it from the Breton in the bishop’s court, but retained it in his own hand; shortly afterwards however, falling sick by divine providence, he confessed his fault and restored it to St. Mary quit of all rent. He also gave the grape harvest for that year to the blessed Virgin, for the purchase of a statue. Grimoald the nephew and heir of Stephen of Maule gave the monks the whole tithe of his land both in the fee of Ansold and in the fee of Pain, and the tithe of his mill and of his vineyards, and

with his wife Petronilla placed his gift upon the altar. Afterwards he granted the monks two arpents of land in Montjubert to celebrate his wife’s obit and finally added a third after his daughter’s death. He set out for Jerusalem with Count Stephen of Blois! and endured many difficulties and dangers on the way, but returned safely to live an honest life. Gerald

called Costatus,

Grimoald’s

brother-in-law,

fell sick;

and fearing the wrath of God gave the monks a share in the tithe that he owned in Mareil-sur-Mauldre and his share of the churchyard dues of the same village, with the consent of his wife to whose dowry they belonged, and with the consent and approval

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cuius feudo erat. Albericus autem de Marolio duodecim iugera terre quz in supercilio montis in territorio Marolii ad occidentem

ii. 464

sita est, monachis dedit. Odo filius Gualonis eques honorabilis ad obitum Arnulfi filii sui dedit monachis de Manlia tria iugera terrae? quz tunc temporis Fulco presbiter excolebat. Duos quoque uini modios similiter dedit, darique de uineis suis per singulos annos constituit? ita ut nullatenus successione uel mutatione heredum Manliensis ecclesia predictum donum perderet, meritoque pro animabus filiorum eius Petri, Arnulfi et Milonis aliorumque amicorum eius Deum iugiter exoraret. Paucis denique transactis diebus contigit prefatum Odonem infirmari. Ex qua infirmitate uelut bonus filius de flagello patris proficere cupiens? coniugem suam Beliardem, nurum quoque suam Corneliam, filiamque Siciliam cum genero suo Gaufredo ad se conuocauit, eisque annuentibus omnes decimas suas Deo sanctzeeque Mariz donauit. Vnde prefate mulieres una cum Gaufredo ex Odonis precepto zcclesiam petierunt? et donum super altare posuerunt. Quo facto zgritudine ingrauescente factus est ibidem monachus, et in infirmaria monachorum iacuit decem

diebus. Interea Gualterius audax filius eius de Trecassino ubi diu moratus fuerat aduenit" patremque adhuc uiuentem reperit. A quo rogatus, quicquid genitor eius zecclesiz Dei dederat, et parentes sui annuerant, ipse concessit, tria uidelicet iugera terre, duos uini

li. 465

modios unoquoque anno, omnes decimas quas pater eius possiderat in annona, in uino et primitiis. Quarum omnium rerum mortuo patre et sepulto Gualterius donum super altare sanctz Dei genitricis per unum librum misit, et patrem imitatus hucusque bonus monachorum uicinus extitit. Tempore Hugonis de Vaceio et Dauid aliorumque priorum qui Manliz laborauerunt utiliter notum fuit multis, notumque fore uolumus posteris? quod Tesza uxor Bernardi Ceci dedit monachis sancti Ebrulfi Manliz degentibus medietatem terre Sancte Columbz tam plani quam nemoris, preter duo arpenna terrze, quae dedit eisdem ubi possent domum eedificare, et hospites sine alterius

parte si uellent habere. Hoc autem fecit concedentibus dominis suis, Goisleno scilicet qui aliam medietatem terre propter penuriam seruitii tunc in dominio tenebat, et Guaszone de Pexeio qui

BOOK

of Peter, lord of Maule,

in whose

V

203

fee it was.

And

Aubrey of

Mareil gave the monks twelve acres of land on the brow of the hill in the western part of the territory of Mareil. Odo son of Walo, a distinguished knight, gave the monks of Maule for the obit of his son Arnulf three acres of land which Fulk the priest was cultivating at the time. He also granted two muids of wine, to be given annually from his vineyards, in such a way that the church of Maule might never lose the gift through any change in ownership or descent of the inheritance, and might with good cause continually offer prayers to God for the souls of his sons Peter, Arnulf, and Milo, and his other friends. Finally

a few days later it chanced that Odo fell ill; and, wishing to profit from this illness like a good son from his father’s whip, he summoned his wife Beliard and his daughter-in-law Cornelia and his daughter Sicilia with his son-in-law Geoffrey, and with their consent gave all his tithes to God and St. Mary. Then these women and Geoffrey, at Odo’s bidding, went to the church and placed the gift on the altar. After that had been done his illness grew worse, and he became a monk and lay in the monks’ infirmary for ten days. Meanwhile his son Walter the Bold came from ‘Troyes, where he had long dwelt, and found his father still alive, at whose request

he granted all that this same father had given the church of God with the consent of his kinsfolk, namely three acres of land, two muids of wine annually, all the tithes that his father possessed of corn, wine, and first-fruits. After his father was dead and buried, Walter made over the gift of all these things by placing a book on

the altar of the blessed Mother of God, and following the example

of his father he has been a good neighbour to the monks up to this day. In the time of Hugh of Gacé and David and the other priors who toiled profitably at Maule it was common knowledge, and I wish it to be known to future generations, that Tessa, wife of Bernard the Blind, gave the monks of Saint-Évroul dwelling at Maule half the land of Sainte-Colombe, both fields and wood, excepting two arpents of land, which she gave them so that they might build a house and establish settlers (hótes) if they wished without the consent of the owner of the other part. This she granted with the

permission of her lords, namely Wascelin, who was holding the

other half in demesne at the time for lack of tenants, and Wazo of

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capitalis dominus erat. His nimirum patronis monachi multam diuerso tempore pecuniam dedere? optantes in pace legitima rem eecclesiasticam augere, et commoditatem aliquam subsequentibus sociis prouidere. Primus itaque Hugo! qui cupidus et magnanimus erat, hoc negotium in prioratu suo inchoauit: et prefate "l'ezsz x solidos et

Odoni filio eius unum fustaneum atque Guillelmo genero eius x solidos tribuit. Goisleno etiam dedit unum equum pro quattuor libris, et uxori eius xx solidos? atque Guazsoni xxv solidos et corneum sciphum eiusque coniugi alium. Hzec et alia plura supra-

dicti homines de karitate monachorum habuerunt, et donum super altare Domini ponentes coram multis testibus firmiter omnia concesserunt; sed postmodum stimulante iniquitate pluribus modis rupto fcedere mentiti sunt. Preecipue Guazso qui fortior omnibus erat, aliosque si deuiarent corrigere debuisset? elemosinam inquietauit, predam hospitum cepit, et domos eorum subuertit. Vnde idem locus sicut dudum fuerat solitarius factus est? monachi enim tali necessitate locum ii. 466 interim dimiserunt. Denique transactis pluribus annis Amalricus Guazsonis filius interfectus est. lunc monachi lugubrem pro morte filii Guatzonem adierunt? eumque ut damnum quod eis intulerat emendaret rogauerunt. Ille uero morte filii sui compunctus suppliciter eis respondit? et malum quod commiserat se emendaturum promisit. Prafatum itaque mandauit Goislenum et Amalricum de Belueder? cui nuper ipsum feudum reddiderat, et de quo tunc temporis Goislenus illud tenebat. Illi ergo apud Fraxinos? conuenerunt? et de correctione facinoris tractauerunt. Guatsone cum monachis rogante Amalricus concessit donum quod Tezsa fecerat? et Guazso ac Goislenus concesserant. Assensu itaque et concessu

omnium

facto, predicti domini

Guazso

scilicet, Amal-

ricus et Goislenus monachos palam saisiuerunt/ et hoc Grimoldus de Manlia et Rogerius filius Giroldi et Hugo filius eius aliique multi uiderunt et audierunt. Statuto denique die Amalricus apud Manliam uenit, donumque quod apud Fraxinos monachis concesserat, super altare sancte Marie posuit, et ex karitate monachorum xx solidos Medantensium recepit. Sic studiosorum procuratione monachorum Manliensis cella surrexit? et largifluis exhibitionibus confluentium ad laudem Dei * Hugh of Gacé; the first stages of this transaction therefore took place before 1118. See below, Appendix II.

? Now Ecquevilly.

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205

Poissy, the chief lord of the fee. To these lords the monks have at various times paid large sums, hoping to increase the property of the church lawfully, and provide for the convenience of the brethren to come after them. First of all Hugh,’ who was acquisitive and ambitious, began negotiations in his time as prior, and gave Tessa ten shillings and Odo her son a piece of fustian and William her son-in-law ten shillings. To Wascelin he gave a horse worth four pounds and to his wife twenty shillings, and to Wazo twenty-five shillings and one horn drinking-vessel for himself and another for his wife. These men received all these and more besides as free gifts from the monks, and placing their gift on the altar confirmed it lawfully in the presence of many witnesses; but afterwards, yielding to sin,

they falsely broke their agreement in many ways. Wazo in particular, who was the most powerful and ought to have corrected the others when they did wrong, molested the alms-land of the monks, carried away the produce of the peasants, and destroyed their homes. So the place became as uninhabited as it had been before, for the monks were forced by necessity to abandon it for a time. At length some years later Amaury, Wazo’s son, was killed. Then the monks approached Wazo whilst he was mourning for the death of his son, and asked him to make reparation for the harm he had done them. He, shattered by his son’s death, replied submissively and promised to make amends for the wrong he had done. So he sent for Wascelin and Amaury de Belveder, to whom he had recently restored the fief and from whom Wascelin then held it. They therefore convened a court at Fresnes,? and heard the case for reparation of the injustice. At the request of Wazo and the monks, Amaury confirmed the gift that Tessa had made and Wazo and Wascelin had conceded. And so by the assent and agreement of all, the lords Wazo, Amaury, and Wascelin publicly put the monks in seizin; and this was seen and heard by Grimoald of Maule and Roger, son of Gerold, and Hugh his son and many others. Finally, on a day appointed for the purpose, Amaury came to Maule and laid on the altar of St. Mary the gift that he had granted to the monks at Fresnes, and received twenty Mantes shillings as a free gift from the monks. So the cell of Maule rose by the prudence of devoted monks, and through the abundant gifts of worshippers grew and prospered

206

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competenter creuit. Erat enim idem uicus uineis et uberibus agris optime consitus’ Maldra quoque fluuio per medium currente irriguus, nobiliumque copia militum fortiter munitus. Hi nimirum ii. 467

eecclesize in uita sua libenter dant de terris suis et de aliis facultatibus, reuerenter ab eis honoratur ordo monasticus?

et in mortis

metu pro animze subsidio totis expetitur affectibus. Ibidem milites claustrum seruant cum monachis, sepe de practicis simul tractant et theoricis? sic scola sit uiuentium, et refugium morientium. Tempore Petri senioris Mainerius abbas Philippum regem Francorum expetit, et res in regno eius Vticensibus datas humiliter ab eo requisiuit. Ille uero benigniter ea qua data erant concessit? eosque qui secum erant ut habundantius darent clementer et hilariter admonuit. Hoc in itinere inter Speonnam et Medantum factum est. Deinde tempore Petri iunioris Ludouicus rex Manliam uenit, et in eundem Petrum pro quibusdam reatibus insolentis iuuente iratus lapideam munitionem qua prudens Ansoldus domum suam cinxerat cum ipsa domo deiecit.? Tunc idem rex hospitium in domo monachorum suscepit? et quaeque tempore trium dominorum Petri, Ansoldi alteriusque Petri data eis fuerant uel ipsi emerant regali concessione confirmauit. Tunc Guarinus Sagiensis uir callidus et bene litteratus prioratum habebat, seruitioque suo et familiari colloquio a rege sanctionem exegit omnium rerum" quas eidem loco procurauerant Goisbertus et Guitmundus, Guillelmus et Hugo, Dauid et Rannulfus? aliique priores eiusdem celle. Haec de Manlia in presenti libello dixisse sufficiat. 20

Famosus archiater Goisbertus postquam Manliz basilicam ut

ii. 468 diximus cepit? cum quibusdam notis amicisque suis de communi utilitate monasterii sui tractare studuit. Quibus illi adquiescentibus, abbatem suum obnixe rogauit? ut prioratum Manliz alii commendaret? quatinus ipse ad aliarum procurationem rerum liberior procederet. Quod et factum est. Guidmundus enim qui Solengiaci presbiter fuerat, uir bonus in loco eius subrogatus est? * See M. Prou, Recueil des actes de Philippe I*" roi de France (Paris, 1908),

p. xliii. ? The date is uncertain, but it must be between 1120 and 1125 (A. Luchaire,

Louis VI le Gros (Paris, 1890), pp. 168-9). * Probably Ralph of Sainte-Colombe; see below, Appendix II.

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ab

to the praise of God. For the place was very fertile, with vines and rich fields, watered by the river Mauldre which flowed through it, and strongly defended by a great number of noble knights. These during their lifetime gladly make gifts of their lands and other wealth to the church; for the monastic order is honoured by them and in the hour of death it is wholeheartedly sought by them for their souls’ good. These knights frequent the cloister with the monks, and often discuss practical as well as speculative matters with them; may it continue a school for the living and a refuge for the dying. In the time of the elder Peter, Abbot Mainer sought out Philip, king of France, and humbly asked his confirmation for the property given to the monks of Saint-Evroul in his kingdom. He willingly granted all that had been given, and smiling graciously advised all who were with him to give still more abundantly. This was done on a journey between Epone and Mantes.! Later, in the time of the younger Peter, King Louis came to Maule; and, being incensed against Peter for some offences of his insolent youth, levelled to the ground a stone fortification that the prudent Ansold had built around his house, and the house with it.2 Then the king lodged in the monks’ house, and confirmed with his royal grant everything that had been given to them or bought by them in the time of the three lords, Peter, Ansold, and the other Peter. At that time Warin of Séez, an able and learned man, was prior; and

during his attendance upon the king and intimate conversation with him he secured the confirmation of everything that Goisbert and Guitmund, William and Hugh, David and Ralph,? and the

other priors of the cell had procured for it. Now what I have said about the priory of Maule in this book must suffice. 20

After the renowned physician Goisbert had begun to build the church of Maule, as I have related, he talked seriously with some of his friends and acquaintances about the welfare of his monastery. And since they were all of one mind with him, he urged his abbot to entrust the priory of Maule to another, so that he himself

might be freed to set about procuring other endowments. His request was granted, and Guitmund, who had been priest at Soulangy and was a good man, was appointed in his place. Goisbert

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et prefatus medicus pro suorum commoditate fratrum toto nisu plures Gallorum equites aggressus est. Quosdam quidem illexit medicinali cura et subuentu, aliosque muneribus? utrosque uero

facundis hortatibus. Vnfridus igitur cognomento Harenc et Hauisa uxor eius et filii eiusdem Hauisz Paganus uidelicet ac Alexander, et Rogerius de Rollacrota uxorque eius Basilla et filius Basillz Guiardus? concesserunt Deo et sancto Ebrulfo zcclesiam de Villariis Vastatis,! et decimam ad eandem pertinentem, et terram uni carruce

sufficientem.

ii. 469

Concesserunt

etiam totius uille herbergagium7?

absque ullius participatione quietum. "lerram quoque tam in mansuris quam in rupturis totius parrochiz hominibus ibidem hospitatis excolendam, reseruato sibi tantummodo camparto. Istud autem donum coram domino Rodberto apud Iuereium? fuit factum? ipso concedente cum filiis suis Ascelino Goello et Guillelmo. Ipse quicquid in eadem uilla habebat concessit? pro qua re totum beneficium loci et unam unciam auri recepit. Non multo post stimulo grauis morbi diuinitus in uerendis percussus est: metuque mortis monachus Beccensis abbatiz factus est.* Ascelinus autem Goellus filius eius hereditario iure patrimonium eius optinuit/ et famosis facinoribus super omnes contribules suos diu claruit.5 Castrum enim apud Breheruallum munitissimum construxit? seuisque predonibus ad multorum perniciem repleuit. Arcem Ibreii furtim cum ingenti calliditate cepit" dominumque suum Guillelmum Bretoliensem bello uictum comprehendit, et in artissimo carcere grauiter cohercuit. Mille libras Drocensium et prefate turris asilium ab illo pro redemptione uiolenter extorsit, et Isabel filiam eius uxorem duxit? ex qua vii filios genuit. Hic cum uxore sua et filiis omnes res quas sanctus Ebrulfus de feudo eius habebat, Vilerias scilicet Vastatas et medietatem decime de Montinneio concessit, et inde ex karitate monachorum lx solidos

li. 470

habuit et kartam concessionis suz apud Breheruallum confirmauit. Idem alio tempore apud beatum Helerium in domo monachorum sancto Ebrulfo concessit ut omne dominium eius a passagio liberum esset in illo loco et in omni terra eius. Filii quoque eius * For Villegats see Le Prévost, Eure, iii. 376—7. ? Probably settlement dues.

3 Ivry was a ducal castle conceded after the death of William I to William of Breteuil who held it sicut proprium (see J. Yver in BSAN liii (1955-6), 38, 67).

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the physician then approached a number of French knights, and importuned them for the profit of his brethren. Some he won over with his medical skill and help, others with gifts, all with his eloquent entreaties. So Humphrey called Harenc and Hawise his wife and Hawise's sons Pain and Alexander and Roger of Rolleboise and his wife Basilia and Basilia’s son Guiard granted to God and SaintÉvroul the church of Villegats! and the tithe pertaining to it, and land for one plough. They granted also the ‘herbergagium’2 of the whole village, reserving no part for anyone else. Also all the land of the parish, both of old cultivation and future assarts, to be tilled by the tenants settled there, reserving for themselves only a proportion of the crops. This gift was made at Ivry? in the presence of Lord Robert, who consented to it with his sons, Ascelin Goel

and William. He granted all his rights in the same village, in return for which he received the spiritual benefits of the place and an ounce of gold. Not long afterwards he was, by God's providence, struck down by a serious disease in his genitals, and in fear of death he became a monk in the abbey of Bec.* T'hen his son Ascelin Goel secured possession of his patrimony by hereditary right, and became renowned above all his contemporaries for his outrageous acts of daring.5 For he built a strongly fortified castle at Bréval and filled it with cruel bandits to the ruin of many. He captured the castle of Ivry in a surprise attack with great cunning, and after defeating and taking prisoner his lord, William of Breteuil, he flung him into close confinement in a dungeon. For his ransom he violently extorted from him a thousand Dreux pounds and the castle of Ivry as a refuge, and took to wife his daughter Isabel, by whom he had seven sons. Together with his wife and sons he granted everything that Saint-Évroul had in his fee, namely Villegats and half the tithe of Montigny; in return he received sixty shillings from the monks as a free gift, and he con-

firmed his charter at Bréval. On another occasion at Saint-Hillier in the house of the monks of Saint-Évroul he granted that their whole demesne should be quit of all tolls for passage in that place and in all his territory. His sons also, Robert and William called * For his benefactions

to Bec see Porée, i. 434. He took the habit at Bec

between 1084 and c. 1089; the date of his death is uncertain (GEC viii. 209). 5 Ordetic gives a full account of the deeds of Ascelin Goel later. See Le Prévost, iii. 225.

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Rodbertus et Guillelmus cognomento Lupellus postmodum concesserunt? firmumque tenorem diu modo tenuerunt. Hugo Paganus Crassalingua et Agnes uxor eius atque Guido

filius eorum concesserunt sancto Ebrulfo uicecomitiam id est

uiariam,! quantam habebant in Villariis Vastatis, et ob hoc a

monachis quondam decem susceperunt solidos et unum

cerui

corium, et alio tempore xx solidos. Filius autem decem solidos Medantensium pro concessione recepit, kartam uero huius pacti Iohannes Remensis preloquente Hugone Fraisnello ante turrim Breherualli dictauit? et Hugo Paganus cum suis confirmauit. Post aliquot temporis prefatus Hugo monachus factus est: et filii eius Rodulfus,

il. 471

Simon

et Rodbertus

monachis

uicecomitiam

auferre

moliti sunt. Monachi uero ut habita in pace possiderent? Rodulfo qui primogenitus erat dederunt centum et decem solidos nummorum Medantensium, Simonique v solidos, et Rodberto subtolares corduanos. Anno quo Goellus obiit? Alexander et Gislebertus dederunt sancto Ebrulfo unum campum de mansura Rodberti cuiusdam uillani in presentia Rodberti de sancto Nicholao? ipso Rodberto conquerente, quod terram non haberet uni carrucz sufficientem. Quicquid Fulco de sancto Albino in Villariis de terra sua dedit sancto Ebrulfo? hzeredes eius 'Tedricus et Rainerius concesserunt, et uxores eorum Emmelina et Tescelina ex quibus erat hzereditas, retinentes inde partem aliquam ad hospitandum, domino illorum Alexandro annuente. Prolixam narrationem de rebus Vticensi zcclesiz datis protelaui, sed necdum omnes in presenti libello comprehendere ualui. Sunt etenim paruz, et a mediocribus aut blanditiis abstracte, aut ui seu precio uel alio quolibet modo extortz, sparsimque per plurimas dioceses diffuse; in quibus monachorum numerus secundum quantitatem possessionis constituitur, et pro fautoribus suis in

himnis et precibus et continenti uita Domino ‘cotidie famulatur. Quz restant in sequenti opusculo ueraciter colligentur? et noticize frattum qui nobis ad laborandum in agro dominico succedent liquido pandentur. Explicit liber quintus ecclesiastice historic t Cf. Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 46. 2 Ascelin Goel died between 1116 and 1119; his son Robert Goel died in or before 1123 (GEC viii. 209-10).

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21I

Lovel, afterwards granted all this and strictly observed the grant for long afterwards. Hugh Pain Crassalingua and his wife Agnes and their son Guy granted to Saint-Evroul the vicecomital rights, that is to say the viguerie,’ that he had in Villegats; for this he received from the monks on one occasion ten shillings and a deerskin and on another twenty shillings. His son also received ten shillings of the money of Mantes for the grant; and John of Rheims wrote a charter of this agreement outside the tower of Bréval, at the dictation of Hugh Fresnel; and Hugh Pain confirmed it with his family. Some time later this same Hugh became a monk, and his sons Ralph, Simon, and Robert tried to deprive the monks of the vicecomital rights. Therefore the monks, to retain their possessions in peace, gave Ralph, who was the eldest, a hundred

and ten

shillings of the money of Mantes, Simon five shillings, and Robert a pair of leather shoes. In the year in which Goel died,? Alexander and Gilbert gave Saint-Évroul a field from the tenement of a certain villein called Robert, in the presence of Robert of St. Nicholas, though Robert

complained that he had not enough land for one plough. All that

Fulk of Saint-Aubin had given to Saint-Evroul of his land in Villegats was granted also by his heirs Thierry and Rainer and their wives

Emmeline

and

Tesceline,

to whose

inheritance

it

belonged, retaining a part for settlement, with the consent of their lord, Alexander.

I have given a very lengthy account of the properties given to the church of Saint-Evroul, but I have by no means been able to include everything in this present book. They are indeed small, and have been wrung from men of modest fortune, sometimes by persuasion, sometimes by force or purchase or in some other way, and are scattered widely through several dioceses. In them as many monks as the property can support are established, and these serve the Lord daily in hymns and prayers and abstinence of life for the good of their benefactors. What remains shall be carefully gathered together in the next book and recorded for the information of the monks who will labour in the Lord’s field after us. Here ends the fifth book of the Ecclesiastical History3 3 Book V ends near the top of f. 157%. The beginning of Book VI runs on without a gap in ink of the same colour, and appears to have been written immediately afterwards.

Incipit liber sextus I

it

HUMANI acumen ingenii semper indiget utili sedimine competenter exerceri, et preterita recolendo presentiaque rimando ad futura feliciter uirtutibus instrui. Quisque debet quemadmodum uiuat cotidie discere, et fortia translatorum exempla heroum ad commoditatem sui capessere. Plerumque multa quz uelut inaudita putantur rudium auribus insonant? et noua modernis in repentinis casibus frequenter emanant: in quibus intellectuales inexpertorum oculi nisi per reuolutionem transactorum caligant. Studiosi ergo abdita inuestigant, et quicquid benigne menti profuturum autumant, pie amplexantes magni existimant. Ex beniuolentia laborant, et preterita posteris sine inuidia manifestant? quorum sollertiam dente canino nonnunquam inertes lacerant. Vnde inuidiosi quidam inuidorum morsibus iniurati plerunque torpescunt? et ab incepto specimine quod eterno fortassis silentio recludetur desistunt. Sic interdum friuola occasione szculo damnum oritur lugubre, quod beniuola posteritas si posset restaurare?

ill. 2

et intermissa

recuperare,

alacris excusso

insurgeret

torpore? et inuisi operis florem fructumque obnixa expeteret uoluntate, et ardenter perscrutaretur sedula perspicacitate. In priscorum questibus hzc plerunque legimus? et insignes didascalos de suorum insultationibus emulorum plangentes plangimus, Hieronimum et Origenem aliosque doctores de cauillationibus oblatratorum in allegationibus suis conquestos cernimus, et contristamur quod hac de causa nostris multa precipua subtracta sunt obtutibus" dum dicaces sophistz malebant in ocio quiescere, quam abdita diserte proferendo laborare? et maledicis corrodentium latratibus patere. Conticescant obsecro et quiescant qui nec sua edunt? nec aliena benigne suscipiunt, nec si quid eis displicet

Here begins the sixth book I

THE human mind needs to be constantly occupied with useful learning if it is to keep its keenness; it needs too by reflecting on past and interpreting present events to equip itself with the qualities necessary to face the future. Everyone should daily grow in knowledge of how he ought to live, and follow the noble examples of famous men now dead to the best of his ability. Often events that seem incredible come to the ears of the ignorant; and strange things occur unexpectedly to the men of our time; shallow minds find them obscure and can only understand them by reflecting on past events. So the learned explore the dark places of the past; they cherish and value highly whatever they think profitable to the well-disposed mind. They do their work out of goodwill and reveal past events to future generations ungrudgingly, though sometimes idle and ignorant men attack their achievements with wolfish fangs. So sometimes the victims, wounded by the teeth of the envious, lose heart and give up the investigation they have begun, leaving the subject, perhaps, to vanish into oblivion. Thus it happens that for a trivial cause the world suffers a sad loss. If future generations could restore the forgotten knowledge and recover the lost opportunity they would eagerly shake off sloth, seek with determination to bring the despised work to fruition, and passionately peruse it with industrious care. We often read such complaints in the writings of men of old, and lament with the men of fame and learning who bewail the insults of their rivals; we find Jerome and Origen and other

learned doctors deploring the cavils of their critics in their defences; and we regret bitterly that for this reason many great events are hidden from sight, since learned scholars would rather remain idle than strive to discover hidden truth and then endure the scurrilous attacks of their denigrators. Let those, I beg, cease speaking and be silent, who neither produce anything of their own nor accept the work of others with good will, nor peacefully correct what displeases them. Let them learn what they do not 822219X

Q

214

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VI

pacifice corrigunt. Discant ea quz nesciunt, et si discere nequeunt: patiantur saltem sinmatites suos edere quz sentiunt. De humano statu lapsuque, de labentis seculi uolubilitate, et prelatorum principumque nostrorum uicissitudine’ de pace seu bello et multimodis qui non deficiunt casibus terrigenarum, cuilibet dictanti thema scribendi est copiosum. De miraculis uero prodigiisque sanctorum, quia nimia nunc in terris est penuria eorum modo scriptoribus in referendo non est insudandum. Antiqui enim patres, Martialis et Taurinus,

ii. 3

Siluester,

Martinus

et

Nicholaus" aliique mirabiles uiri quorum linguz claues cceli factae sunt? qui diuinis karismatibus pleni ut phebus in ecclesia fulserunt, et elementis mundi aereisque potestatibus in uirtute omnipotentis imperantes dominati sunt: iam cum rege suo superna mercede potiti felices in coelis consistunt. Successores autem eorum qui potestatis apicem optinent, et rabi uocitantur! atque super kathedram Moisi resident? secularibus pompis et diuitiis quibus plerique nimium inhiant multipliciter pollent, sed merito sanctitatis potentiaque uirtutum et prodigiorum non zque renitent. De cursu tamen seculi et rebus humanis ueraciter scribendum est? atque ad laudem creatoris et omnium rerum iusti gubernatoris cronographya pangenda est. /Eternus enim conditor usque modo operatur et omnia mire disponit? de cuius gloriosis actibus quisque pro suo libitu et posse pie promat quod ei diuinitus inspiratum fuerit. 2

Anno ab incarnatione Domini M°Lxvi° indictione quinta? Guillemus dux Normannorum deficiente strenui regis Edgari stirpe, quz idonea esset ad tenendum sceptrum regale? cum multis milibus armatorum ad Anglos transfretauit, et in campo Senlac inuasorem regni Albionis Haraldum bello peremit. Deinde Francis et Anglis peroptantibus in die Natalis Domini apud Guestmonasterium ab Adelredo Eborachensi archiepiscopo rex consecratus est.’ regnoque Anglico xx annis et octo mensibus ac sedecim diebus fortiter potitus est.? Contumaces regni filios confregit, uinculis iniecit, exheredauit, expulit, et extra limitem natalis

soli dispersit. Clientes uero suos et fautores sullimauit, magnis ! Cf. Matthew xxxiii. 6-8.

See above, ii. 168-84. William was crowned on 25 December 1066 and died

on 9 September

1087.

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VI

215

know; and if they cannot learn, at least let them suffer their fellow

pupils to produce what they think fit. How abundant is the material for any writer to record, of the condition and fall of man, of the chances and changes of the fleeting world, of the vicissitudes of our prelates and princes, of peace and war, and of the varying fortunes that continually befall mankind! As for miracles and marvellous acts of the saints, they are now so rare in this world that writers need not sweat over describing them.

For the fathers

of old, Martial

and "Taurin,

Silvester, Martin, and Nicholas, and other wonderful men, whose tongues were the keys of heaven, who, filled with spiritual gifts, shone forth as the sun in the Church, and who, by the power of the Almighty, ruled over the elements of the world and powers of the air, have now gained their reward and dwell in bliss with their heavenly King in Paradise. Their successors, however, who have

achieved the highest offices and are called ‘master’! and sit in the seat of Moses, enjoy every kind of worldly pomp and wealth, to which most are far too addicted; but they do not shine in the same way with the merits of holiness and the power of miracles and wonders. But we must write truthfully of the world as it is and of human affairs, and a chronicle must be composed in praise of the Creator and just Governor of all things. For the eternal Creator still works without ceasing and marvellously orders all things; and of his glorious acts let each one according to his ability and desire duly relate what is shown him from on high. 2

In the year of our Lord 1066, the fifth indiction, after the extinc-

tion of the line of the valiant king, Edgar, which was fit to bear the royal sceptre, William duke of Normandy crossed over to England with many thousands of armed men and slew Harold, usurper of the realm of Albion, in battle on the field of Senlac. Afterwards, acclaimed by both French and English, he was consecrated king at Westminster on Christmas day by Ealdred archbishop of York and ruled the kingdom of England with a strong hand for twenty years and eight months and sixteen days. He broke the rebellious inhabitants of the kingdom, threw some into prison, disinherited others or drove them into exile and dispersed them far from the shores of their native land. But he raised his dependants and

216

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honoribus locupletauit, regnique negociis preeficiens magnificauit. Ex his Hugo Abrincatensis Ricardi cognomine Goz filius inter iii. 4 ceteros magnates effulsit, cui postquam Gherbodus Flandrensis ad suos recessit" rex comitatum Cestrensem consilio prudentum concessit. Hic nimirum amator fuit seculi seculariumque pomparum; quas maximam beatitudinum putabat esse portionem humanarum. Erat enim in militia promptus in dando nimis prodigus? gaudens ludis et luxibus, mimis, equis et canibus? alisque huiusmodi uanitatibus. Huic maxima semper adherebat familia? in quibus nobilium ignobiliumque puerorum numerosa perstrepebat copia. Cum eodem consule commorabantur uiri honorabiles clerici et milites quos tam laborum quam diuitiarum gratulabatur esse suarum participes. In capella eius seruiebat Abrincatensis clericus nomine Geroldus-? religione et honestate peritiaque litterarum praeditus. Hic seruitium Domini. cotidie fideliter agebat? et sacrosanctum libamen deuote frequenter exhibebat. Viros curiales quoscumque poterat? ad emendationem uite propositis antecessorum exemplis inuitabat. In multis uidebat meritoque uituperabat carnalem petulantiam? nimiumque in pluribus erga Dei cultum lugebat ingentem negligentiam. Przcipuis baronibus et modestis militibus puerisque nobilibus salutares monitus promebat/ et de ueteri testamento nouisque Christianorum gestis imitanda sanctorum militum tirocinia ubertim coaceruabat. Luculenter enim enarrabat conflictus Demetrii et Georgii, Teodori et Sebastiani? Mauricii ducis et Thebeze legionis, et Eustachii precelsi magistri militum cum sociis suis? lil. 5 qui per martirium coronari meruerunt in ceelis.3 Addebat etiam de sancto athleta Guillelmo, qui post longam militiam^ abrenunciauit seculo? et sub monachili regula gloriose militauit Domino. Multis igitur profuit eius exhortatio" quos ad tutam regularis uitae stationem e mundiali protraxit pelago. ! See above, ii. 260-2. ? According to a later history of the foundation of Tewkesbury,

containing

much legendary matter but some verifiable facts (Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 36985, f. 1"), Gerold was the son of a moderately wealthy Norman, Reginald de Breone; he came to England in the reign of William I and attached himself to the

household of Earl Hugh of Chester, who had him ordained as his chaplain by Wulfstan bishop of Worcester. 3 The cult of St. Theodore, St. George, and St. Demetrius originated in the Greek church; see H. Delehaye, Les Légendes grecques des saints militaires (Paris,

1909). Together with St. Maurice, primicerius of the Theban legion, St. Sebastian, and

St. Eustace,

they were

among

the most

popular

warrior

saints

of the

period, and a mass of heroic and prodigious stories accumulated round their hagiographical legends. One twelfth-century French version of the Eustace

BOOK VI

e

supporters to high rank, heaped great honors upon them, and promoted them to high office in the administration of the kingdom. One of these, Hugh of Avranches, the son of Richard called Goz, was pre-eminent among the magnates; and to him the king, on the advice of his counsellors, gave the county of Chester after Gerbod of Flanders returned to his own people.! He was a great lover of the world and of worldly pomp, which he thought the greatest blessing of the human lot. He was always in the forefront in battle, lavish to the point of prodigality, a lover of games and luxuries, actors, horses, and dogs and other vanities of the same

kind. He was always surrounded by a huge household, full of the noise of swarms of boys of both high and humble birth. A number of honourable men, clerks and knights, were also of his company, and he gladly shared with them his riches no less than his labours. Serving in his chapel was a clerk from Avranches, Gerold? by name, who was remarkable for his piety and good character and deep learning. He faithfully performed the divine offices each day, and regularly offered up the sacrifice of the Mass with great devotion. He did his best to convert the men of the court to a better way of life by showing them the examples of their forebears. He rightly condemned the worldly wantonness that he saw in many, and deplored the great negligence that most of them showed for the worship of God. To great lords, simple knights, and noble boys alike he gave salutary counsel; and he made a great collection of tales of the combats of holy knights, drawn from the Old Testament

and more

recent records of Christian achievements,

for them to imitate. He told them vivid stories of the conflicts of Demetrius and George, of Theodore and Sebastian, of the Theban

legion and Maurice its leader, and of Eustace, supreme commander of the army and his companions, who won the crown of martyrdom in heaven.? He also told them of the holy champion, William, who after long servicein war*renounced the world and fought gloriously for the Lord under the monastic rule. And many profited from his exhortations, for he brought them from the wide ocean of the world to the safe harbour of life under the Rule. legend was in the form of a chanson de geste (Paul Meyer, ‘Fragment d'une vie de Saint Eustache', Romania, xxxvi (1907), 12-28). 'l'hey represent a point in eleventh-century culture where hagiography shaded into epic and even romance.

4 Legends about St. William's exploits against the Saracens of Spain were in circulation before the middle of the eleventh century (R. Bezzola, Les Origines

et la formation de la littérature courtoise en occident (Paris, 1960), ii. 494 n. 1).

218

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VI

3 Nunc quia de sancto Guillelmo nobis incidit mentio" libet eius uitam breuiter huic inserere opusculo. Noui quod ipsa raro inuenitur in hac prouincia? et nonnullis placebit de tali uiro

relatio ueridica. Hanc etenim Antonius Guentoniensis monachus! nuper detulit? et nobis eam uidere sitientibus ostendit. Vulgo iii. 6 canitur a ioculatoribus de illo cantilena:? sed iure preferenda est relatio autentica, que a religiosis doctoribus sollerter est edita" et a studiosis lectoribus reuerenter lecta est in communi fratrum audientia. Verum quia portitor festinabat adire, et brumale gelu me prohibebat scribere? sinceram adbreuiationem sicut tabellis tradidi compendiose, sic nunc satagam membrane summatim commendare, et audacis marchisi famam propagare. Tempore Pipini regis Francorum Guillelmus ex patre Teoderico consule et matre Aldana natus est.* In infantia litteris imbutus est" et sub Karolo magno militie mancipatus est. Nomen consulis et consulatum, et in rebus bellicis primze cohortis sortitur principatum. Deinde a Karolo dux Aquitaniz constituitur? eique legatio contra Teodebaldum regem et Hispanos atque Agarenos iii. 7 iniungitur. Alacriter Septimaniam ingressus Rodanum transiuit, Arausicam urbem obsedit? et fugatis inuasoribus eripuit. Deinde cum barbaris transmarinis et uicinis Agarenis multos conflictus egit, in gladio suo populum Dei diuina opesaluauit? imperiumque Christianum dilatauit, et Sarracenos perdomuit. In territorio Luteuensi in ualle Gellonis inter innumeros scopulos in honorem saluatoris et xii apostolorum monasterium construxit? monachosque * Anthony, monk commemorated

of Winchester

(probably the same man), was specially

in the Liber vitae of Saint-Évroul

(Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 10092,

f. 79"); he also carried relics of St. Ethelwold to Thorney c. 1111 (St. John's College, Oxford, MS.

r7, f. 29").

? Cf. above, p. 216 n. 3, and Bédier, Les Légendes épiques (Paris, 1908—13), i. 114-22. | 3 The Vita seen by Orderic has been published by Mabillon in Mab. AA.SS. IV, i. 70-87, and by the Bollandists in AA.SS., May VI, 809-27. Although

based on an authentic short account in the Vita of St. Benedict of Aniane by Ardon (Migne, PL ciii, cols. 373-4) it had been adapted and rewritten to further the cause of the abbey of Saint-Guilhem-du-Désert at Gellone in its

struggle for independence against Aniane. All references to Gellone as a cella in any way dependent on Aniane were omitted, and supplementary material was added from both popular tradition, possibly by way of the chansons de geste, and by subtle adaptation from the genuine records of Aniane itself. 'The

evidence has been critically examined by C. Révillout, Étude historique et littéraire sur l'ouvrage latin intitulé ‘Vie de St. Guillaume’ (Publications de la

BOOK

VI

219

$ And since I have happened to mention St. William, I will now insert a brief account of his life in this book. I have found it very hard to come by in this region, and a true account of the life of such a man will delight many. Anthony, a monk of Winchester,! recently passed this way with a copy, and showed it to our eager eyes. Jongleurs sing a popular song? about him, but a reliable account, carefully written by pious scholars and reverently read aloud by learned readers for all the monks to hear,3 is certainly to be preferred to that. But in truth, since the bearer was in haste to depart, and the winter cold prevented me from holding a pen, I made a full and accurate abbreviation on wax tablets, and now

I gladly copy it on parchment, so making known the fame of this valiant marcher lord. William was born in the time of Pippin, king of the Franks, his father being Count Thierry and his mother Aldana.* He was well educated in childhood and began a military career under Charlemagne. He received the name and office of count and the leadership of the first company of soldiers in time of war. Then he was made duke of Aquitaine by Charles, and sent on a mission against King Theodebald’ and the Spaniards and Saracens. He swiftly crossed the Rhóne and entered Septimania, besieged the city of Orange and captured it after putting the invaders to flight. Afterwards he engaged in many conflicts with the barbarians from overseas and the Saracens settled in the neighbourhood, using his sword by divine providence to save the people of God, extending the frontiers of Christian rule and subduing the Saracens. In the region of Lodéve he built a monastery in honour of his Saviour and the twelve apostles, amongst the countless rocky crags of the valley of Gellone. There he placed holy monks with an abbot, and société

archéologique

de Montpellier,

1876);

Wilhelm

Piickert, Aniane

und

Gellone: diplomatisch-kritische Untersuchungen zur Geschichte der Reformen des

Benediktiner-Ordens im LX. und X. Jahrhundert (Leipzig, 1899); and J. Bédier, ‘Recherches sur les légendes du cycle de Guillaume d'Orange! in Annales du

Midi, xix (1907), 5-39. The Vita was probably composed c. 1122, and must have been relatively newly forged when Orderic saw it.

4 The first part of the Vita is considerably abbreviated by Orderic. The

historical William was a kinsman of Charlemagne, his mother, Alda, being one of the three daughters of Charles Martel (J. Calmette, “La famille de Saint

Guilhem’, in Annales du Midi, xviii (1906), 146).

5 'The Saracen king Theodebald was not a historical figure, but occurs in the

chanson, La Prise d’Orange (Bédier, in Annales du Midi, xix. 25-6).

220

iii. 8

ili. 9

BOOK

VI

religiosos cum abbate ibidem constituit, et omnia eis necessaria largiter preparauit, et ipsorum cartas suis et regalibus testamentis confirmauit.! Duz uero sorores eius Albana et Bertana factz sunt ibi sanctimoniales? et in Dei cultu bene perseuerarunt.? Post longum tempus a Karolo accitus Franciam expetiit, et honorifice susceptus se monachum uelle fieri denudauit. Rex illi cum multis fletibus concessit? et de thesauris suis quicquid uellet ad zcclesiam suam deferre iussit. Guillelmus autem omnes terrenas opes respuit, sed philacterium quoddam lignum sanctae Crucis continens requisiuit et optinuit. Illud nempe dum Karolus rex primo anno imperii sui Romz moraretur? lerosolimitanus patriarcha per Zachariam magni testimonii sacerdotem miserat.3 Audita mutatione Guillelmi tota domus regia consurgit, omnisque subito ciuitas ruit. Adest magna procerum frequentia, et plorans intrat cum uiolentia, et Guillelmo ne deserat eos supplicat cum lugubri querimonia. Ille uero igne Dei feruens omnia reliquit? et cum ingenti honore deductus omnibus ualefecit, demumque ab exercitu Francorum cum lacrimis suspirante discessit. Ad Briuatensem uicum perueniens arma sua ad altare Iuliani martiris offert, galeam et spectabilem clipeum in templo ad tumulum martiris: foris uero ad hostium pharetram et arcum, ingens telum et uersatilem gladium Deo presentat.^ Deinde peregrinus Christi per Aquitaniam ad monasterium properat? quod ipse paulo ante in heremo construxerat. Nudis pedibus appropinquat monasterio, ad carnem indutus cilicio. Audito eius aduentu uenitur ei obuiam procul in biuio, et ualde contradicenti festiua fit a fratribus processio. Ibi tunc offert philacterium omni auro preciosius, cum calicibus aureis et argenteis et aliis multis ornamentis multimodis, factaque petitione mundum cum suis omnibus reliquit pompis et lenociniis. ! The charters of William and Louis the Pious, printed in Mab. AA.SS., IV, i. 88-9o, were tampered with in the late eleventh or early twelfth century

to support the claims of Gellone. Monks were originally brought from Aniane; the account in the Vita avoids mentioning the name. The foundation charter was dated 15 December 804; the charter dated 14 December is wholly un-

i

E See R. Thomassy in Bibliothéque de l'École des Chartes, ii (1841),

vr Whose two sisters belong to local traditions of doubtful reliability (Bédier,

in Annales du Midi, xix. 20). 3 Aniane also claimed to have a fragment of the true Cross of the gift of Charlemagne. The relic at Gellone was revered from at least the tenth century:

BOOK

VI

221

provided them abundantly with all the necessities of life, confirming their charters with his own deeds and those of the king.! His two sisters, Albana and Bertha, became nuns there and devoted

themselves to the service of God.?

Long afterwards he went to Francia at Charles's bidding, and after an honourable reception revealed that he wished to become a monk. The king gave his consent with copious tears, and commanded him to take whatever he wished from the royal treasures for his church. William indeed spurned all worldly wealth, but asked for and obtained a reliquary containing some wood of the Holy Cross. Whilst Charles was in Rome during the first year of his imperial rule the patriarch of Jerusalem had sent it by the hand of Zacharias, a priest of high reputation. On learning of William's conversion the whole royal household rose up, and all the court hastened to where he was. A great throng of nobles who were present burst in, lamenting, and begged William with loud protests not to desert them. But he, burning with the zeal of God, forsook everything; and being most honourably escorted thence said goodbye to all, and finally left the army of the Franks amidst weeping and lamentation. Coming to the village of Brioude he offered his arms on the altar of Julian the martyr, placing his helmet and fair shield inside the church on the martyr's tomb, and his bow and quiver, his great spear and two-edged sword outside at the door, as a gift to God.* Then the pilgrim of Christ hastened through Aquitaine to the monastery, which he had built some time before in the wilderness. He approached the monastery barefoot, wearing a hair shirt next to his skin. When the brethren heard of his approach they came out to meet him a great way off, at the crossroads, and in spite of his protestations formed a festive procession. There he offered the reliquary, far more precious than gold, with chalices of gold and silver and many other ornaments of various kinds, and having made his postulation he abandoned the world with all its pomps and allurements. but this account of its acquisition, written to emphasize the dignity and independence of Gellone, is adapted from the account of the acquisition made by Aniane, interpolated in the Chronicon Anianense (W. Pückert, op. cit., pp. 11924). Orderic here quotes verbally from the Vita. 4 Arms were preserved in the church of Saint-Julien-de-Brioude in the

twelfth century, and the local tradition that William had placed his sword on the altar there was

Midi, xix. 8).

embodied

in the Moniage

Guillaume

(Bédier,

in Annales

du

222

BOOK

Igitur anno

ab incarnatione

VI

Domini

Dcccvie? imperii uero

Karoli quinto, in natale apostolorum Petri et Pauli! Guillelmus

iii. IO

comes monachus factus est? subitoque immutatus in Christo Ihesu et alteratus est. Factus enim monachus docebatur nec confundebatur, corripiebatur sed non irascebatur? interdum cesus et iniuriis lesus non resistebat neque comminabatur. Gaudebat in subiectione, et delectabatur in omni abiectione’ paratus cunctis seruire, obsequi et obedire. Proficiebat cotidie in omni sanctitate et religione" et in omni sanctz regulz obseruatione, sicut aurum in camino mirabili coctione. Monasterium quod ante monachatum ex toto non perfecerat/ adiuuantibus filiis suis Bernardo et Guillelmo? quos comitatibus suis prefecerat, comitibusque uicinis perfecit ut ceperat. Difficilem uiam ad iamdictum monasterium pro asperitate montium direxit, rupem cum malleis et securibus uarlisque ferramentorum generibus argumentose incidit, iactatoque de lapidibus fundamento secus flumen Araris uiam altius sustulit, et monti coniunxit.

Ludouicus Karoli filius rex Aquitaniz cum omni bonitate de fiscis sui iuris Guillelmo petente monasterio dedit? et cum precepto regio anulique sui auctoritate firmauit. Guillelmus circa monasterium fecit uineta et oliueta plantari, ortosque plurimos constitui, ipsamque uallem destructis arboribus infructuosis fructiferis pomeriis melius complantari. His ipse aliisque huiuscemodi studiis intentus laborabat, propriasque manus rusticanis actibus pro amore Dei mancipabat? et sic in uera humilitate et religione se iugiter exercebat. Coram abbate et fratribus crebro prouoluebatur: petens ut pro misericordia Dei amplius abici et humiliari sibi concedatur. Viliora in monasterio expetebat officia. Optat uilissimus fieri? et contemptui haberi. Vult esse ut iumentum ac ut pullus asini? portare onera fratrum in domo Domini. Quondam dux potentissimus: non erubescit uili asello gestari cum

suis flasconibus. Ecce domnus Guillelmus fit de consule cocus? de duce magno efficitur inquilinus, ligna collo deferens? amphoram * 29 June 806; actually the sixth year of Charlemagne’s empire. From this point, although Orderic abbreviates and adapts, almost every word in his

account comes from the Vita.

? William is an error for Gaucelme. The account of William handing on his counties to his sons is an anachronism of the forged Vita, though his sons

BOOK VI

223

.

Sointhe year of our Lord 806, the fifth of the empire of Charles, on the day of the nativity of the apostles Peter and Paul,! Count William became a monk and was suddenly changed, becoming a new man in Christ Jesus. After making his profession he was instructed and did not become perplexed, was corrected and did not grow angry. Sometimes he received stripes and unjust accusations without resistance or protest. He rejoiced in subjection and found pleasure in all humility, being ready to serve, follow, and obey all. Daily he grew in holiness and piety and in his observance of every detail of the blessed Rule, as gold is marvellously refined in the furnace. With the help of his sons Bernard and William,? whom he had left in charge of his counties, and the neighbouring counts he now completed the monastery, which had been only partly built when he became a monk, on the scale on which he had begun it. He made a road to the monastery by a difficult route through the rough mountains, cutting the rock painstakingly with hammers and axes and all kinds of iron tools, and after laying foundations of rocks raised a causeway beside the river Hérault, leading up to the mountain. Charles's son Louis, king of Aquitaine, at William's request, benevolently endowed the monastery out of his own estates, and confirmed the gift with his royal power and the authorization of his seal-ring. William had vineyards and olive groves planted around the monastery and made several gardens; the unfruitful trees were cut down and he had the whole valley better planted with fruitful orchards. He toiled hard, occupied with enterprises of this kind, using his own hands in this peasant's work for the love of God and so employing himself with true humility and piety. Often he threw himself at the feet of the abbot and monks, begging them for the love of God to allow him to be still further abased and humbled. He sought the meanest tasks in the monastery; he desired to be thought lowest of the low and held in contempt. He wished, like a beast of burden and an ass's colt, to carry the burdens of the brethren in the house of God. He who had once been a mighty duke was not ashamed to be mounted on a wretched little ass with his bottles. Behold, then, lord William, once a count, now a cook;

once a great duke, now without possessions, bearing wood on his Bernard and Gaucelme in fact held high office after him (J. Calmette, ‘La famille de Saint-Guilhem’ in Annales du Midi, xviii (1906), 145-65; and

*Gaucelme, marquis de Gothie sous Louis le Pieux', ibid., pp. 166—71).

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aque baiulans, ignem excutiens et succendens. Manibus propriis parapsides abluit, olera colligit? pulmenta condit, legumina infundit. Ipsa uero refectionis hora, nulla interueniente mora? cuncta

laute preparata fratribus anteponit, ieiunia continuans lares fouit et custodit.

Ipse pistor clibanum

calefacit, panes imponit; et

coctos extrahit. Quondam pro penuria lignorum ad coquendum panes sarmenta congerit, stipulam colligit? et quicquid manus inuenit, in caminum cito proicit, ac fortiter calefacit. Cumque seruum Dei tempus uehementer urgueret, eumque nimis introrsus redargueret? quod hora reficiendi fratres aliquantulum preteriret, nec ille haberet unde fornacem cineribus euacuandam extergeret? Christum

inuocat, signo crucis munitur,

medium

fornacis intrat, et

omnia quz ibi agenda erant diligenter illesus preparat. Carbones nudis manibus proicit, illeso scapulari cineres exponit, lares aptat" et intromittendis panibus temperat. Sic Guillelmus in igne diu stetit" nec ullam adustionem in corpore seu ueste sua pertulit. Postea consilio fratrum abbas seruilia ei opera omnino prohibuit, sed orationi et sanctze meditationi uacare przcepit? idoneamque cellam ei deputauit. Sic diu exercitatus in actiua, incipit requiescere in uita speculatiua? et post Marthe seruitium, frequensque ministerium: delectatur cum Maria, in perenni theoria. Tandem Guillelmus perfectus uirtutibus spiritu prophetiae donatur? et diuinis oraculis uita eius declaratur. Obitus sui diem abbati et fratribus predixit/ multisque uicinis scripto etiam significauit, et Karolo regi nuncium delegauit? et signum quod fieret dum moreretur manifestissime indicauit. landem omnibus rite

consummatis migrauit beatus Guillelmus v? kal' Iunii angelis ili, 12

gaudentibus? et terrigenis plorantibus.! Tunc fit per omnes circumquaque prouincias, per omnes maiores ac minores zecclesias magnus ualde et insolitus clangor signorum et campanarum sonitus, longa pulsatio mirabilis tinnitus, nullis hominibus funes trahentibus, uel signa commouentibus, nisi sola uirtute diuina * William died probably c. 812 (Mab. AA.SS., IV, i. 87, note a).

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back, carrying a pitcher of water, seeking fuel and lighting a fire.

With his own hands he washes dishes, gathers herbs, cooks the

pottage, and mixes it with vegetables. He himself at the hour of repast, promptly and without delay, sets all that he has so carefully prepared before the monks and, himself still fasting, sees to the necessary tasks about the house. Acting as baker he heats the oven, places the loaves in it, and takes them out when they are baked. Once for lack of wood he gathered brushwood and collected stubble and anything he could lay his hands on, flung it in haste into the stove, and heated it vigorously. But as time was pressing for the servant of God, and he reproached himself inwardly that the hour for the monks’ dinner was somewhat past, and he had nothing for clearing the cinders out of the oven, he invoked the name of Christ, fortified himself with the sign of the cross, and

stepped inside the oven, where he carefully made all the necessary preparations unharmed. He threw out the burning brands with his bare hands, swept the ashes out with his shoulder cloak without damaging it, prepared the oven, and cooled it for putting in the bread. In doing this William stood in the fire for a long time, yet neither his body nor his clothing was even scorched. Afterwards the abbot with the approval of the monks forbade him to perform any servile work, and ordered him to give his time to prayer and meditation, providing him with a cell for the purpose. So after leading the active life for a long time he began to find refreshment in the contemplative life, and after the duties of Martha and being busy about many things, he delighted with Mary in perpetual contemplation. ; At last, when William had increased in virtue, he received the

gift of prophecy, and his future life was shown to him by divine revelation. He foretold the day of his death to the abbot and monks, and made it known in writing to many neighbours and sent a messenger to inform King Charles, indicating clearly what sign should come to pass when he was to die. Finally when everything had been fully accomplished the blessed William departed this life on 28 May, to the joy of angels and the woe of men.! Then throughout the surrounding provinces, in all churches large and small, sounded a loud and extraordinary pealing of bells of all kinds, a prolonged tolling and miraculous ringing though no human hands held the ropes or shook the clappers, for they were

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que superuenit coitus. Eximii uiri sanctum corpus ibidem honorifice tumulatur? multisque miraculis gloriose patratis laus Dei fideliter cantatur. Venerabile cenobium illic usque in hodiernum diem perseuerat, et ingens monachorum exercitus domino Deo sabaoth cum tripudio militat, atque meritis sancti Guillelmi ex illustri milite religiosi monachi turba infirmantium conualescens exultat, in Christo Ihesu qui omnes sibi adherentes in zternum glorificat. 4

Ip

Inuictissimorum itaque militum trophea frequenter Abrincatensis Geroldus referebat? et coessentes athletas armigerosque generosos ad similem conuersationem blanditiis et terroribus incitabat. In primis igitur quinque illustres uiri de familia consulis egressi sunt’ quorum nomina hzc sunt, Rogerius Erneisi filius! nepos Guillelmi de Guarenna comitis Suthregiz, et Ernaldus Vnfridi de Telliolo filius nepos Hugonis de Grentemaisnilio uicecomitis Legrecestre:;? cum Guidone Medantensi eiusdem armigero, Drogo etiam filius Goisfredi de Nouo Mercato-3 et Odo capellanus comitis, filius Ernulfi Dolensis. Isti nimirum instinctu Ernaldi cuius parentes Vticensem abbatiam construxerant Vticum adierunt? et a Mainerio abbate gratanter in monasterio suscepti sunt. Qui longo tempore regulariter ibidem conuersati sunt et zecclesiasticas res industria et sollicitudine sua commode auxerunt. Geroldus autem qui sicut gallus dormientes in profunda nocte cantando excitat, sic in obscuritate lethez obliuionis et profunditate mundialis illecebrz illectos uerbum Dei serendo ad meliora extulerat’ sese tandem propriis pennis percutiens a torpore uiuaciter excussit, discipulosque suos de quibus predictum est sequens Vticum adire sategit. Verum uolente Deo in Anglia remanere coactus est. Nam ubi Guentam peruenit, grauiter egrotare coepit? metuque mortis in ueteri monasterio sancti Petri monachile scema deuote suscepit, diuque sub Gualchelino presule et Godefrido peritissimo ac religioso priore regulariter uixit. Inde 1 His family was closely connected with Saint-Évroul; his brother Richard was a benefactor (below, p. 230) and his brother Ralph was of the fraternity of

the abbey (Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 10062, f. 79").

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b

moved solely by divine power from on high. 'T'he holy body of this remarkable man was reverently buried there, and there where many miracles have been wonderfully worked the praise of God is chanted devoutly. A renowned monastery has continued there to the present day, and a great army of monks strives jubilantly for the Lord God of hosts, and by the merits of St. William, first

a famous knight and then a holy monk, a great multitude of the sick are healed and give praises in the name of Christ Jesus who glorifies eternally all those who truly follow him. 4 In this way Gerold of Avranches often related the victories of invincible knights, and converted heroes of the same mind and highly born squires to a similar way of life, pointing to the joys or striking fear into their hearts. So first of all five eminent men left the earl's household. Their names are Roger, son of Erneis,! the nephew of William of Warenne earl of Surrey, and Arnold, son of Humphrey of Tilleul, nephew of Hugh of Grandmesnil sheriff of Leicester,? with his squire Guy of Mantes; Drogo, son of Geoffrey of Neufmarché,? and Odo, the earl's chaplain, son of Arnulf of Dol.

All these at the instigation of Arnold, whose kinsfolk had founded the abbey of Saint-Évroul, came to Saint-Évroul and were gratefully received into the monastery by Abbot Mainer. There for many years they lived under the Rule, and they brought great profit to the community by their labours and practical ability. So Gerold, by spreading the word of God, roused men sunk in the darkness of spiritual blindness and caught in the deep pit of worldly temptation to better things, as a cock crowing awakens sleepers in the dead of night; and then, beating his own wings, he vigorously shook off his sluggishness and prepared to go to SaintÉvroul in the footsteps of his disciples, of whom I have spoken. But by God's will he was obliged to remain in England. For when he reached Winchester he became seriously ill; and in fear of death devoutly took the monastic habit in the Old Minster of St. Peter. There for a long time he lived the monastic life under Bishop Walchelin and Godfrey, a talented and pious prior. But later he 2 See above, ii, genealogical table facing p. 370.

3 For his father see above, ii. 112. He was also a nephew of Gilbert of Auffay, founder of the priory of Auffav (below, pp. 252-4).

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post aliquot tempus ad regimen zecclesiasticum canonice prouectus est, et Teochesburize dum Baiocensis Samson Guigornensi episcopio preerat primus abbas effectus est. Ibi nempe cenobium

sanctze Marie Rodbertus Haimonis filius! super Sabrinam fluuium lii. 15

iii. 16

construxerat; et multis opibus tempore Guillelmi iunioris Anglorum regis affatim locupletauit. Geroldus autem officium sancte predicationis quod in clericatu gratanter exercuerat, quo plures de ceno libidinis et rapacitatis ad puritatem innocentis uite pertraxerat’ in pastoralis culmine regiminis positus uigilanter excoluit, et pluribus opitulante Deo profuit. Nouum monasterium regularis ordinis sanctionibus instituit, nouiciorum copiam monachili norme mancipauit’ neophitisque optimos ritus rigidz conuersationis tradidit. Ad exercitium spirituale cum subiectis commanebat, ad laboriosa etiam iuniores interdum przibat" sollertique studio monasterii res intus et extra prudenter disponebat. Post plures annos inuidus Sathan in dominicum gregem surrexit? et opilione nequiter proturbato teneras oues atrociter uexauit. Rodbertus enim Brito post mortem Rodberti filu Haimonis abbatem suum, a quo susceptus fuerat ad monachatum" de quibusdam falsis criminibus accusauit apud regem Henricum. Porro abbas ante regem accersitus prolixis rationibus uti noluit, sed innocenti conscientia contentus abbatie dominatum regi ultro reliquit et post laboriosos Marthe famulatus optimam Marize partem inter secretum Guentoniensis claustri repetiit. Denique dum post aliquot tempus a uenerabili Radulfo Rofensi episcopo inuitatus fuisset,^ et ipse rogatu plurimorum eundem pontificem causa sanctz collocutionis adisset? ibidem uocante Deo in lectum decubuit, et completis omnibus qua seruo Dei rite competunt reuerenter obiit. Rogerius uero de Guarenna quem prefati sacerdotis diximus hortatu correctum fuisse, et Vticum quasi de flammis Sodomze cum quattuor commilitonibus pro monachatu accurrisse’ fere xlvi annis ibidem uixit, et in ordine feruens multimoda honestate ! Robert was the son of Hamo, steward of the royal household. He married Sybil, daughter of Roger of Montgomery, and died in 1107. ? For the early history of Tewkesbury Abbey see VCH Glouc. ii. 61 and Brit. Mus. Add. MS. 36985. It had originally been a cell of Cranborne, where Gerold of Avranches was made abbot; but in 1102 the greater part of the community was transferred to a greatly enlarged abbey at Tewkesbury, and Cranborne became a dependent cell.

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was canonically promoted to ecclesiastical rule, being made the first abbot of Tewkesbury when Samson of Bayeux was bishop of Worcester. Robert fitz Hamon! had built St. Mary's abbey there on the banks of the river Severn,? and endowed it richly with many possessions in the time of William the younger, king of England. Gerold continued to practise the duties of preaching, as he had done when a clerk to such good effect by turning many from the filth of lust and greed to the purity of a life of innocence; now that he was set in a high position of pastoral responsibility he developed this gift, and with God's help brought salvation to many. He established the new monastery firmly under the precepts of the Benedictine rule, subjected a great number of novices to the monastic way of life, and gave the neophytes the best traditions of a strict observance. He shared in the spiritual exercises with the monks under him, sometimes even surpassing the young monks in his labours, and devoted himself to administering the internal and external affairs of the monastery wisely. After some years envious Satan attacked the Lord’s flock, drove away the shepherd, and cruelly worried the helpless sheep. For after the death of Robert fitz Hamon, Robert the Breton accused the abbot to whom he had

made his profession, laying false charges in the court of King Henry. When the abbot was summoned before the king he did not wish to offer a long and involved defence but, satisfied with a good conscience, spontaneously resigned the government of the abbey into the king’s hand, and having borne the labours of Martha sought once more the better part of Mary in the solitude of the cloister at Winchester. Finally, after he had spent some time there, he received an invitation from Ralph, bishop of Rochester,* and, since many urged him to go, went to discuss spiritual matters with the bishop. Whilst he was there, receiving God’s summons, he took to his bed; and there, after all the offices appropriate to a servant of God had been completed, he made a pious end. Roger of Warenne, who as I have related was converted by the preaching of this priest and had come to make his profession at Saint-Evroul with four fellow knights, like one escaping from the flames of Sodom, remained there for about forty-six years and 3 He resigned and returned to Winchester in 1109 (Annales Monastici (RS), : ! ii. 43). 4 Ralph d'Escures,

previously abbot of St. Martin

Rochester from 1108 to 1114. 822219X

R

of Séez, was

bishop of

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uiguit. Erat enim corpore uenustus, habituque uili sponte deiectus. In omni esse suo uenerabili pollebat modestia, uoce clara et facunda loquela. Ad labores tolerandos erat ualidus, ad psalmos et ymnos canendos uoluntarius/ in conuersatione uero sua contubernalibus tractabilis et bene morigeratus. In uictu sibi parcus aliisque largus: in uigiliis semper promptus et inedicibiliter sobrius. Non fastu carnalis nobilitatis tumuit, sed in humilitate consistens

iii. 17 regule succubuit? et uilia quaque fratrum obsequia hilariter

iii. 18

agitare preelegit. Per plures enim annos ultro solitus est omnium caleiamenta fratrum perunguere, pedulesque lauare? aliaque seruitia quz quibusdam hebetibus et turgidis despicabilia uidentur libenter exercere. Textum euangeliorum auro et argento gemmisque decorauit, et plura uestimenta cappasque cantorum et tapetia! cum cortinis aliosque plures ornatus ecclesiz suze procurauit. Fratribus et parentibus suis quaque poterat oportune rapiebat" et subtracta corporibus pro salute animarum diuino cultu gaudens applicabat. Ricardus igitur de Coluncis prefati Rogerii frater Vticum uenit, et aecclesiam de Estolueio quam ab Erneiso quodam homine suo redemerat beato Ebrulfo dedit." Decimam quoque duum molendinorum adiecit. Harum itaque donationem rerum cum Adelaisa coniuge sua et prefato Erneiso super altare posuit. Pro hac concessione monachi dederunt Ricardo octo libras nummorum" Rodberto etiam de Molbraio qui capitalis dominus erat centum solidos dederunt, et ipse incunctanter in uiridiario Turstini de Solengi sancto Ebrulfo concessit zcclesiam de Estolueio ut monachi petierunt. Prefatus autem Ricardus ualde locupletatus est: et Henrico regi amicus inter compares suos magnificatus est. Vsque ad senectutem prospere uixit? et ex coniuge sua xi filios et iiii filias habuit, quibus hzc indita sunt uocabula, Hugo, Goisfredus et Ricardus, Iohannes et Rodbertus, Odo et Henricus, Iuo et Rodulfus, Guillelmus et Henricus, Rohes ac Adeliza, Mathildis

et Auicia. Ex his duo ab infantia Deo dicati sunt, Iohannes enim monachatui Vticensis zcclesize addictus est? et Adelaidis in cenobio sancte Trinitatis Cadomi sanctimonialis effecta est.

* Probably tapestries; but the word could also mean carpets. See A. Morey and C. N. L. Brooke, The Letters and Gharters of Gilbert Foliot, p. 319 n. 1.

^ A confirmation of Henry I of 1123 x 1128 specifies, ecclesiam de Estouvi

cum decimis et aliis pertinentiis suis et totam decimam molendini de Rovreio de

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lived a life of great virtue, ardently obeying the precepts of the Rule. He was a handsome man of great charm, but he chose to hide these attributes under a most wretched dress. His whole bearing was dignified and venerable; he had a clear voice and an eloquent tongue. Patient and strong to endure labours, always willing to sing psalms and hymns, he was adaptable and courteous in his daily intercourse with his fellow monks. Abstemious himself at table, he gave generously to others; he was always wakeful at vigils and his temperance was absolute. He was not arrogant because of his high rank in the world, but, persisting in humility, submitted to the Rule and cheerfully undertook to perform the meanest duties of the monks. For several years by his own wish he greased the shoes of all the monks and washed their slippers, and gladly performed other mean tasks which seem contemptible to dull and commonplace minds. He procured various gifts for his church: a copy of the Gospels ornamented with gold and silver and precious stones, a number of vestments and cantors' copes, tapestries! and hangings and various other ornaments. He found the right moment for wheedling gifts out of his brothers and kinsmen, and joyfully diverted their wealth from their bodily comfort to support the divine offices for the salvation of their souls. So Richard of Coulonces, Roger of Warenne's brother, came to Ouche and gave to Saint-Évroul the church of Étouvy which he had redeemed from a vassal of his named Erneis.? To this he added the tithe of two mills. With Adela his wife and the said Erneis he placed the grant of these things on the altar. For this grant the monks gave Richard eight pounds in cash; to Robert of Mowbray, the chief lord, they gave a hundred shillings, and he immediately granted the church of Étouvy to Saint-Évroul, at the monks'

request, in the garden of Thurstan of Soulangy. This same Richard rose to very great wealth, and as a friend of King Henry was exalted above his peers. He lived and throve to a good old age, and by his wife had eleven sons and four daughters, who were given the following names: Hugh, Geoffrey and Richard, John and Robert, Odo and Henry, Ivo and Ralph, William and Henry, Rohais and Adela, Matilda and Avice. 'T'wo of these were vowed to God in childhood: John was sent as an oblate to Saint-Évroul, and Adela became a nun in the abbey of the Holy Trinity at Caen. dono Ricardi de Coluncis, et capellam de Estouvi de dono Roberti de Corceio’ (Le Prévost, v. 204).

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Deinde anno ab incarnatione Domini M*cxxv? prefatus Ricardus xvii? kal’ octobris obiit, et sequenti anno filius eius Hugo Vticum uenit, scutellam argenteam Deo super altare optulit, et omnia que pater eius ut supradictum est dederat libenter concessit, donumque super aram posuit, se etiam ex toto deuouit.

5

iii. 19

Serenitate prosperi temporis arridente Mainerius abbas in Anglia xiii? anno regiminis sui! transfretauit’ et Rogerium de Guarenna Drogonemque de Nouomercato secum adduxit. Curiam uero Guillelmi regis a quo multoties accersitus fuerat adit? et Lanfrancum archipresulem aliosque sibi karissimos karitatiue uisitauit. A rege et optimatibus eius honorifice susceptus est? et fratres Vticensis zecclesiz prudenti affatu exhortatus est^ illos uidelicet qui de Normannia exierant, et in Anglia exuberantius spe sullimati fuerant. Illustres quoque monachi a nobilibus regni proceribus gaudenter suscepti sunt’ et de opibus in aliena regione uiolenter adquisitis ut forensis fauor appetit honorati sunt. Rex itaque et magnati fundos et pecunias ac ornatus zcclesize cum gaudio eis dederunt? et orationibus eorum sese fideliter et deuote commendauerunt. Possessiones et zecclesize decimzeque quas amici et affines Vticensium eis condonarunt: ad notitiam future posteritatis in karta consignate sunt. Magnificus enim rex Guillelmus huiuscemodi testamentum sancto Ebrulfo condidit" in quo sua hominumque suorum dona in his uerbis regali auctoritate gratanter confirmauit. 2“Guillelmus Dei gratia rex Anglorum et dux Normannorum atque princeps Cenomannorum" omnibus fidei katholicz fautoribus, pacemque in zecclesia seruantibus, summum et inexplicabile gaudii munus. Quoniam breuis est mortalis uita, et de generatione in generationem transeunt omnia’ uolumus litterarum testimonio temporis nostri decreta confirmare, ut que nos recte facimus e nostro iure et ex data a Deo potestate? nemo

successorum

nostro-

rum audeat uiolare, ne scilicet ei contradicat? qui omnia regna suo arbitrio dispensat. Ego itaque Guillelmus Dei gratia rex in regno michi diuinitus commisso, elemosinam quze michi perenniter 1 Between July 1080 and July 1081. William was at Winchester for Pentecost

in late May 1081, and Mainer must have been present at that court (Regesta,

i. 37).

? Cf. Regesta, i, no. 140; ii, p. 394.

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Afterwards Richard died in the year of our Lord 112 5 on 15 September, and in the following year his son Hugh came to Saint-Évroul, offered a silver dish on the altar of God, and freely granted all that his father gave as described above; placing his gift on the altar he also promised his whole devotion.

5 Taking advantage of a tranquil time, Abbot Mainer came to England in the fourteenth year of his rule,! taking Roger of Warenne and Drogo of Neufmarché with him. He attended the court of King William, by whom he had often been invited, and

out of friendship visited Archbishop Lanfranc and others who were very dear to him. He was honourably received by the king and the magnates, and gave sound advice to the monks of Saint-Évroul, who had left Normandy and had been exalted in England more abundantly than they had hoped. For renowned monks found much favour with the noble lords of the kingdom, and were rewarded

with the wealth that these lords, since fortune favours

strangers, had acquired by force in a foreign land. So the king and magnates gladly gave estates and money and church ornaments, piously and devoutly commending themselves to the prayers of the monks. The possessions, churches, and tithes which the friends and neighbours of the monks of Saint-Évroul gave them were ratified in a charter for the information of future generations. For the illustrious King William made this charter for SaintÉvroul, and in it he willingly confirmed by his royal authority both his own gifts and those of his men in these words: 2William, by the grace of God king of England and duke of Normandy and lord of Maine, to all faithful believers of the catholic faith who keep peace in the church, the gift of infinite and inexpressible joy. Since human life is brief, and all things pass away from generation to generation, we wish to confirm the acts of our own time with written evidence, so that none of our succes-

sors may presume to undo the things that we have lawfully done through our own right and the power given by God, lest by so doing he offends God who disposes all kingdoms according to his will. ‘I therefore, William, king by the grace of God in the kingdom committed to me from on high, am disposed to grant to the abbey

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ill. 22

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VI

prosit cenobio beati Ebrulfi tradere dispono? et ea que fideles nostri pro communi omnium salute de possessionibus quas eis dedi legitime Deo dant concedo, presentique cirographo confirmationem nostram presentibus et futuris omnibus Dei fidelibus notifico. In primis igitur Vticensi monasterio, quod beatus Christi confessor Ebrulfus construxit in heremo; de dominio meo pro amore Dei dono in Gloucestrescira uillam qua Rawella! id est caprez fons dicitur, et in Nicholescira quandam zcclesiam et quicquid ad eam pertinet in uilla qua Nethleham? uocatur. Praeterea optimates nostri de rebus suis sancto Ebrulfo hzc largiti sunt? atque ut in karta regiz auctoritatis contra omnium infestationes inserantur poposcerunt. Rogerius comes Scrobesburiz dedit omnem quod habebat in Melleburna? in Grantebrugescira, Othnam* quoque et Merestonams in Estafordescira, et unam hidam terre in Graphan,® et terram Vulfuini aurifabri in Cicestra, decimamque caseorum et lanarum de Pultona,”? et decimam de Senegai? in Grantebrugescira. Mabilia uero filia eiusdem comitis de redditibus suis in Anglia Ix solidos sterilensium pro decimis suis dedit sancto Ebrulfo per singulos annos ad luminaria ecclesiz. Guarinus uicecomes de Scrobesburia dedit sancto Ebrulfo Neutonam et zcclesiam de Halis cum decima, decimamque de Guestona? in Estafordzescira, et hzec dominus eius Rogerius comes concessit. Porro Hugo de Grentemaisnil qui cum Rodberto fratre suo et auunculis suis Guillelmo et Rodberto filiis Geroii Vticense restaurarat cenobium? hzc eidem dedit in Anglia in perpetuam haereditatem. Totam terram quam habuit in parua Pilardentona!? in Guareuichescira, omniumque duas partes decimarum totius terre suze dedit et xvi rusticos ad ipsas decimas custodiendas, atque nouem ecclesias. Dedit enim tres uillanos Sceltonz, tres Guaris, duos Belegrauez, unum Stotone, unum Langhetone, unum 'lormodestone, unum Cherchebie, unum Mersitone, ! DB i. 166b. 2 There is no trace of this gift to Saint-Evroul in Domesday Book. It was confirmed by Alexander III (PUF ii. 256) and in the very suspicious 1128 charter of Henry I (GC xi. Instr. 205). The advowson later belonged to the bishop of Lincoln. 3 See above, p. 141 n. 4. 4 See above, p. 141 n. 3. 5 Marston in St. Mary’s, Stafford (DB i. 248; VCH Staffs. iv. 46). $ See above, p. 141 n. 5. ? Earl Roger's manor of Poulton, then in Wiltshire, is now in Gloucestershire

(VCH Wilts. ii. 133, 186).

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235

of Saint-Evroul a gift of alms for my perpetual weal; and I confirm those things which my vassals lawfully give to God for the common salvation of all out of the possessions which I gave to them, and I make my confirmation known to all present and future generations by this charter. First of all I give to the monastery of Ouche, which Evroul the blessed confessor of Christ built in the wilderness, out of my own demesne for the love of God a villin Gloucestershire called Rowell,! which means Roe-well, and in Lincolnshire

a church and all that pertains to it in the vill of Nettleham.? Furthermore my chief barons have given these things out of their posses-

sions to Saint-Evroul, and have asked for them to be inserted in

a charter issued with the royal authority as a guarantee against all claims. Roger earl of Shrewsbury gave all that he had in Melbourne} in Cambridgeshire, and Onn* and Marstons in Staffordshire; and a hide of land in Graffham® and the land of Wulfwin

the goldsmith in Chichester, and the tithe of cheese and wool in Poulton,’ and the tithe of Shengay’ in Cambridgeshire. And the same earl's daughter Mabel gave to Saint-Évroul sixty shillings sterling annually as her tithes out of her revenues in England for the lights of the church. Warin the sheriff of Shrewsbury gave to Saint-Évroul Newton, the church of Sheriffhales with the tithe,

and the tithe of Weston? in Staffordshire, and his lord Earl Roger also granted these things. T'hen Hugh of Grandmesnil, who with his brother Robert and his uncles William and Robert, the sons

of Giroie, restored the abbey of Saint-Évroul, gave these things in England in perpetual inheritance: all the land which he held in Pillerton Priors!? in Warwickshire, and two thirds of all the tithes

of all his land, and sixteen peasants to collect these tithes, and nine churches. He also gave three villeins in Shilton, three in Ware, two in Belgrave, one in Stoughton, one in Langton, one in Thurmaston, one in Kirkby, one in Marston, one in Oxhill, one in Charlton 8 The tithe of Shengay is the only one of Earl Roger's gifts not included in

Orderic’s version of his charter (above, pp. 138-42). 9 In 1086 Reginald of Bailleul, who received Warin's fiefs after his death,

held Newton in Blithfield and Weston-under-Lizard in chief and Sheriffhales, where

Saint-Évroul

had the church's

land, of Earl Roger (DB i. 248; VCH

Staffs. iv. 46, 56, 61). The gift of the church of Sheriffhales was later confirmed by William

Pantulf and his son Hugh

(Brit. Mus.

MS.

Cotton Otho B xiv,

f. 118). The monks appear not to have retained the tithes of Weston (VCH Staffs. iv. 173). 10 Saint-Evroul held 6 hides 1 virgate in Pillerton Priors in 1086 (DB i. 242; VCH Warwicks. v. 136).

236

11525

lil. 24

BOOK

unum Ostesiluz, unum Cherlentonz, et alium in alia Cherlentona.! Dedit eciam zecclesiam de Guaris et totam decimam que ad illam pertinebat terramque duarum carrucarum, zecclesiam de Turchillestona? decimamque ad illam pertinentem et duas uirgatas terre, zecclesiam de Clenefeld? cum decima tota et duabus uirgatis terre, zecclesiam de Charlentona* cum decima et quinque uirgatis terrz, zecclesiam de Noueslai* cum decima et duabus uirgatis terre, ecclesiam de Merthegraua que nunc alio nomine Belegraua? dicitur cum tota decima et xi uirgatis terre, et Guillecotam et quicquid Hugo Clericus de Sappo in Anglia de ipso tenebat,7 zecclesiam de Mersitona$

iii. 26

VI

cum

tota decima et terra ad

ecclesiam pertinente, zcclesiam quoque de Pilardentona? cum decima et rebus ad zcclesiam pertinentibus, et zecclesiam de alia Charlentona!? cum decima et tribus uirgatis terrze, zecclesiam uero de Coteford'" cum decima et una hida terre, zcclesiamque de Pellingis cum toto quod Leofricus ibidem de ipso tenebat.!? Hzec sunt quz Hugo de Grentemaisnil sancto Ebrulfo me concedente dedit in Anglia. Radulfus quoque de Conchis eidem sancto dedit duos manerios Alwintonam?? in Guighercestrescira, et Caldecotam in Nortfuch, et Hugo filius Constantii dedit ecclesiam de Guafra et unam hidam terrze.'^ Hugo autem Cestrensis comes filium suum * After the establishment of a dependent priory at Ware, probably by the twelfth century, all these holdings were administered by the prior of Ware, who

became the general proctor in England of the abbot of Saint-Évroul. Orderic

never mentions a prior of Ware, but a reference to a park and vineyard at Ware in Domesday Book (VCH Herts. iii. 387, 394) suggests that it was already a residence of Hugh of Grandmesnil. 2 Saint-Evroul retained the advowson of Thurcaston, but the church was not appropriated (Rot. Hug. de Welles, i. 252). 3 At Glendfield Saint-Evroul retained the advowson (Rot. Hug. de Welles, i. 245). 4 The holding of Saint-Evroul in Charlton Curlew is not mentioned in

Domesday Book, but occurs in a garbled version in the Leicestershire Survey

of 1124-9 (VCH Leics. i. 291, 345). 5 Cf. VCH Leics. v. 267. The advowson was retained until 1336. $ The abbey continued to hold the advowson, and in the thirteenth century

also received a pension of ro marks (Rot. Hug. de Welles, i. 256—7;. Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 115).

? Wilcot (Glos.) (DB i. 169), where Hugh of Grandmesnil's clerk occurs as his under-tenant.

BOOK VI

237

Curlew, and one in Charlton-on-Otmoor.! He also gave the church of Ware and the whole tithe pertaining to it, and the land for two ploughs, and the church of Thurcaston? and the tithe pertaining to it and two virgates of land, and the church of Glendfield’ with all the tithe and two virgates of land, and the church of Charlton‘ with the tithe and five virgates of land, the church of Noseley’ with the tithe and two virgates of land, the church of Merthegrave which is now known by another name of Belgrave® with the whole tithe and eleven virgates of land, and Wilcot and whatever Hugh the Clerk of Le Sap held of him in England,’ the church of Marston? with all the tithe and the land pertaining to the church;

also the church

of Pillerton? with the tithe and other

things pertaining to the church, and the church of Charlton-onOtmoor!? with the tithe and three virgates of land; also the church

of Cottisford'! with the tithe and a hide of land, and the church of

Peatling with all that Leofric there holds of him.'? These are the things which Hugh of Grandmesnil gave to Saint-Évroul in England with my consent. Also Ralph of Conches gave the same saint two manors, Alton? in Worcestershire and Caldecote in Norfolk,

and Hugh son of Constantius gave the church of Over and a hide of land.'^ Also Hugh earl of Chester gave his son named Robert to 8 The abbey retained only the tithe and not the church of Butler’s Marston (VCH Warwicks. v. 30). 9 The abbey did not retain the advowson of Pillerton Hersey, and by the thirteenth century its rights had been converted into a pension of 5 marks

(D. Styles, Ministers’ Accounts of the Collegiate Church of St. Mary, Warwick (Dugdale Society, xxvi), p. 30 n. r1). 10 ''he abbey retained the advowson and a pension of 4 marks (Rot. Hug. de

Welles, i. 263). 11 [n 1086 Cottisford was held of Hugh of Grandmesnil by his son-in-law Roger of Ivry (DB i. 2245), and Roger may have made this gift. Adelina his wife gave a manor in Cottisford to the abbey of Bec, and in 1167 the property of Saint-Évroul in Cottisford was granted to Bec in return for a silver mark annually (M. Chibnall, Select Documents of the English Lands of the Abbey of Bec (Camden Society, 3rd ser. Ixxiii (1951)), 17). 12 In 1086 Leofric held of Adeliza of Beaumont, wife of Hugh of Grandmesnil,

in Peatling Magna (DB i. 236b). Saint-Évroul later secured the full appropriation as well as the advowson of the church (Rot. Hug. de Welles, i. 240). 13 Cf. above, p. 126. There is no mention of Saint-Évroul's holding in Domes-

day Book, where Alton (in Rock) is said to be held of Ralph of Tosny (DB i. 176; VGH

Worcs. iv. 321—7); and the same is true of Caldecote (DB ii. 235).

14 Hugh, son of Constantius, appears as a tenant of Hugh of Grandmesnil in Loxley

(Warwicks.)

(DB

i. 242). Le Prévost's

suggestion

Guafra may have been Churchover remains unsubstantiated vi. 62-4); the identification is uncertain.

(iii. 25 n. 3) that

(VCH Warwicks.

238

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VI

nomine Rodbertum in Vticensi monasterio ad monachatum Deo

iii. 27

optulit, et eidem zecclesize dedit unam hidam terre in parua Pilardentona,! et decimam ac unum rusticum in uilla quz dicitur Brichella, decimamque de Sanleia? in Buccingehamscira. Rodbertus uero de Rodelento? prefato Hugone Cestrensi comite domino suo concedente dedit sancto Ebrulfo Cherchebiam cum duabus ecclesiis, una scilicet que in ipsa uilla est, et alia prope illum manerium in insula maris, et zcclesiam sancti Petri apostoli et quicquid ad eam pertinebat in Cestrensi urbe,* et in Merestona qua est in Northamtonescira zecclesiam sancti Laurentii et quicquid ad eam pertinet, et in eadem prouincia zcclesiam de Biuella cum duabus terre carrucatis. 5 Alii quoque homines Hugonis comitis Vticensi zecclesize decimas suas dederunt in Nicholescira Rozscelinus de Estentona, Osbernus Tezsonis filius de Neubela,

iii. 28

Baldricus de Farefort decimam cum uno rustico, Rogerius de Millai, et Brisard et Rodbertus Pultrel in Legrecestrescira.7 Omnes hi sancto Ebrulfo decimas suas dederunt? et predictus comes gratanter concessit. Hzc itaque qua de nostro dominio sepememorate zecclesize dedi, et omnia que sicut a baronibus nostris eidem data sunt concessi? anno ab incarnatione Domini millesimo octogesimo primo, indictione iii^ presenti cirographo in urbe Guenta corroboro? et proceribus meis qui elemosinas suas dederunt uel astipulatores earum sunt hoc testamentum signo sanctae Crucis dedicandum trado, ut in aeternum regali auctoritate rata sit hac donatio, et sacrilegos sacrarum uiolatores rerum irremediabilis nisi a reatu resipuerint feriat maledictio." In hac nimirum carta Guillelmus magnus rex Anglorum primus signum sanctze Crucis edidit, et subsequentes magnati subscripserunt, quorum hic nomina subscripta sunt, Rodbertus et Guillel-

mus filii regis, maximique consules Rogerius de Scrobesburia et Hugo de Cestra, Rodulfus de Conchis et Guillelmus de Britolio,

Hugo de Grentemaisnil et nepos eius Rodbertus de Rodelento, ! Hugh earl of Chester held x hide 3 virgates in Pillerton Priors in 1086 (VCH Warwicks. v. 136). All Hugh's gifts were confirmed by Ranulf earl of Chester (CDF, no. 636). ? For Shenley and Great Brickhill see VCH Bucks. iv. 298, 446.

3 For the gifts of Robert of Rhuddlan see his charter, Le Prévost, v. 187. * West Kirby with its church and that on Hilbre Island, and the church of

St. Peter of the Market. These gifts are not mentioned

in Domesday

Book

(James Tait, The Domesday Survey of Cheshire (Chetham Society, 1916), pp. 46—7). The churches of Hilbre and St. Peter's were later surrendered to St. Werburgh’s, Chester (G. Ormerod, History of Chester (1882), i. 323; ii. 501).

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238

be a monk in the monastery of Saint-Évroul, and gave the same church a hide of land in Pillerton Priors! and the tithe and one peasant in the vill called Brickhill, and the tithe of Shenley? in Buckinghamshire. Also Robert of Rhuddlan,3 with the consent of this same Hugh earl of Chester his lord gave to Saint-Évroul Kirby with its two churches, namely one in the vill itself and another near to that manor in an island of the sea, and the church

of St. Peter the apostle and whatever pertains to it in the town of Chester,* and in Marston in Northamptonshire the church of St. Lawrence and all that pertains to it,5 and in the same county the church of Byfield with two carucates of land. Also the other men of Earl Hugh gave the church of Saint-Évroul their tithes: Roscelin the tithe of Stainton, Osbern son of Tezso the tithe of

Newbold, Baudry the tithe of Farford with one peasant, all in Lincolnshire; and Roger of Mélay and Brisard and Robert Pultrel their tithes in Leicestershire. All these gave their tithes to SaintEvroul and the said earl freely confirmed their grants. ‘These things which we gave to the oft-named church out of our demesne, and all the things which have been given to it by our barons and conceded by us, I confirm by this present charter in the city of Winchester, in the year of our Lord 1081, the fourth indiction,

and I hand this charter to those of my barons who either gave their alms or assent to them for subscription with the sign of the holy cross, so that this gift may be ratified for ever by royal authority, and a curse may strike all sacrilegious invaders of these sacred possessions, never to be lifted unless they repent of their crime.’ On this charter therefore William the Great, king of England, first made the sign of the holy cross, and afterwards his magnates subscribed. Their names are as follows: Robert and William, the

king’s sons, and the great earls, Roger of Shrewsbury and Hugh of Chester; Ralph of Conches and William of Breteuil, Hugh of 5 The abbey retained the advowson of the church of Marston St. Lawrence (Rot. Hug. de Welles, i. 6; ii. 186; Cal. Pat. 1350-4, p. 71). At times a monk

resided here (Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 144", ‘Item due scripture facientes mencionem de monacho apud Merston Laurens). 6 The charter of Hugh earl of Chester granting the church

of Byfield was

among the lost archives of the priory of Ware (MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 116). 'The abbey retained the advowson (Cal. Pat. 1354-8, p. 11) and some land at Byfield (Brit. Mus. MS. Cotton Otho B xiv, f. 144).

7 Cf. DB i. 237, 249-249b, for the holdings of Earl Hugh's men. All these gifts, except those of Robert Pultrel and Roger of Mélay, who also gave tithes in Normandy, were confirmed by Ranulf earl of Chester (CDF,

no. 636).

240 iii. 29

ili. 30

VI

Molinis et Richerius de Aquila, Eudo dapifer et Guarinus uicecomes de Scrobesburia. Regressus de Anglia Mainerius abbas huiusmodi cartam secum detulit? et archiuis zecclesie ad seruandum porrexit. "lunc Mathildis regina comperto laudabili rumore de moribus Vticensium orationis gratia Vticum uenit, et a fratribus honorifice suscepta marcum auri super aram optulit" seque cum filia sua Constantia precibus fratrum commendauit, eisque datis sumptibus! lapideum tricorium ubi una reficerent construi precepit. Casulam auro et margaritis comptam et elegantem cappam cantoris sancto Ebrulfo dedit, et plura si diu uiueret promisit? sed morte preueniente promissa complere non potuit. Adelina quoque uxor Rogerii de Bellomonte albam aurifrasio copiose ornatam Vticensibus contulit?/ qua indutus sacerdos precipuis in solennitatibus missam celebrare consuescit. Sic alii plures utriusque sexus przdicto monasterio de suis donariis in diuersis speciebus erogabant" et participatione beneficiorum quz ibidem cali architecto conferebantur spiritualiter perfrui peroptabant. His temporibus tres ibidem germani laudabiliter Deo militabant

lii. 31

BOOK

Rodbertus filius Murdaci et Gulferius de Vilereio, Guillelmus de

in monachili

habitu,

Rodbertus

cognomento

Nicholaus,

Rogerius et Odo. Hi fuerunt filii cuiusdam presbiteri nomine Geruasii de Monasterolo? quem 'T'eodericus abbas iamdudum de Sartis transtulit ad regendam diocesim de Sappo. Tres itaque predicti fratres ad conuersionem in iuuentute uenerunt, et bonis moribus inter fratres pollentes Deo grati et hominibus habiti sunt. Primus eorum illiteratus sed feruidus amator uirtutis erat? nouzeque basilicae que construebatur operi sollerter praeerat. Alii duo erant gramatici, et sacerdotes conspicui" abbatisque sui adiutores strenui, et intus ac foris illustres uicarii. Prefatus

enim archi-

mandrita Odonem qui ztate iunior sed eloquentior et ad tolerandos labores erat robustior priorem monasterii sui constituit Rogerium uero qui etate et eruditione litterarum maior erat in Angliam pro utilitatibus zecclesiasticis destinauit. Ipse autem haud segniter iussa magistri compleuit, et capsam in qua reliquize 1 Cf. above, ii. 148-50, where the sum is given as a hundred Rouen pounds.

BOOK

VI

241

Grandmesnil and his nephew Robert of Rhuddlan, Robert son of

Murdac and Gouffier of Villeray, William of Moulins and Richer

of Laigle, Eudo the steward and Warin, sheriff of Shrewsbury.

When Abbot Mainer returned from England he brought this charter with him and placed it for safe keeping among the archives of the church. Afterwards Queen Matilda, who had heard good reports of the observance of the monks of Saint-Évroul, came to the abbey to pray; and after being received with honour by the monks placed a mark in gold on the altar, asked to be remembered in the prayers of the brethren together with her daughter Constance, and left instructions for the building of a stone refectory, where they could all take their meals together, and enough money! to pay for it. She also gave a chasuble decorated with gold and pearls and a fine cantor's cope to Saint-Évroul; and she promised more if she lived long enough, but death intervened and she was unable to fulfil her promises. Adeline, the wife of Roger of Beaumont, gave the monks of Saint-Évroul an alb richly ornamented with orphrey, which the priest is accustomed to wear for celebrating mass on the greater feast-days. In this way many other men and women made gift-offerings of various kinds to the monastery, and earnestly sought to share in the spiritual benefits which were there bestowed by the Creator of the universe. At this time three brothers were serving God gloriously there as monks: Robert called Nicholas, Roger, and Odo. They were the sons of a certain priest named Gervase of Montreuil, whom Abbot Thierry had translated from Les Essarts to take charge of the parish of Le Sap a long time before. 'T'he three brothers came to the monastic life at an early age, and since they were conspicuous among the monks for excellence of character they became acceptable to God and men.

The oldest of them was unlearned,

but

a man of genuine goodness, and he supervised the work of building the new church with skill. 'l'he other two were scholars and became priests of note and able helpers of the abbot, acting competently on his behalf in the internal and external affairs of the monastery. The abbot appointed as prior of his monastery Odo, who, though the younger, was the more eloquent of the two and more robust when hard work was necessary. He sent Roger, who was older and more profoundly learned, to England to look after the affairs of the church there. Roger carried out his master's orders with great energy, and also made by his own skill a casket in which the relics

242

iii. 32

BOOK

VI

sanctorum apte conderentur procuratione sua fabricauit, quam auro argentoque comiter ornauit. Sollertia itaque sua zecclesiz suz nactus est plurima bona, uariam scilicet suppellectilem et cantorum cappas atque uestes, candelabra et argenteos calices, aliosque ornatus diuino cultui congruentes. Erat enim mitis et modestus, in cibo et potu somnoque sobrius, et pro inolita mansuetudine amabilis omnibus. Per diuersa igitur officia xx annis ut ordo monasticus exigit exercitatus est’ et succedenti tempore post Mainerium et Serlonem ad tenendum regimen Vticensis abbatize communi fratrum electione promotus est. Quod triginta tribus annis in aduersis et prosperis tenuit, senioque fractus uni discipulorum suorum nomine Guarino commisit? et ipsum quantum in ipso fuit tribus annis ante obitum suum sui uicarium et successorem constituit. Verum de his in subsequentibus si uita comes fuerit, si facultas opitulante Deo suppetierit’ sedimine nostro manifesta posteris enarratio res gestas enodabit.! Nunc ad disserendas res sancto Ebrulfo datas regrediar. 6 Radulfus tiro filius Alberti de Creuento dum primitus arma militaria gestare cepit? contra Guitmundum monachum? cum famulo

lii. 33

suo

Manlia

uenientem

in Valle

Guidonis

insurrexit,

deiectoque monacho caballos abduxit. Monachus uero pedes Paceium expetiit, Albertum merens ut erga filium sibi suffragaretur rogauit? cui prefatus miles proterue respondit, et de reddendis equis omne subsidium mox denegauit. Hoc uidens Alberada uxor eius cepit plorare, manus torquere, capillos trahere, atque filium quasi mortuum iam deflere. Alta uoce uelut amens clamabat" et cum multis fletibus eiulans dicebat, ‘Fili mi Radulfe, qualem cepisti non militiam sed dementiam exercere? Detestabilibus pedagogis prave proh dolor agitaris, quorum letiferis sophismatibus insulse nunc seduceris, et in baratrum perditionis miserabiliter traheris. O quam triste michi nuncium misisti, quamque acerbum michi merorem peperisti. Decepte iuuenis quid tibi dicam? Nequiter iniuriando inermem famulum Christi, mortiferam tibi deiectionem promeruisti. Fili mi Radulfe quid debachando fecisti, ! See above, p. xiv. ? Probably the later prior of Maule. Cf. below, Appendix II.

BOOK

VI

243

of the saints are honourably preserved, and decorated it handsomely with gold and silver. He also took trouble to acquire a number of treasures for his church: various furnishings and cantor’s copes and vestments; candlesticks and silver chalices and other ornaments necessary for the holy offices. He was gentle and modest, abstemious in taking food and drink and sleep, and beloved by all for his natural kindness. So he fulfilled the duties of various offices as the Rule requires for twenty years, and later was promoted by acclamation of the brethren to rule the abbey of Saint-Evroul after Mainer and Serlo. For thirty years he held the charge in adversity and prosperity, and when he was crippled with old age he committed it to one of his pupils named Warin, whom he appointed as his vicar and successor as far as he had the power three years before his death. But I will give a full account of the achievements of these men from my own knowledge in my later books, if my life is spared and the opportunity is given me by God's grace.! Now I will return to enumerating the gifts made to Saint-Evroul. 6 The young Ralph, son of Albert of Cravent, when he first took arms as a knight, attacked the monk Guitmund? in Vallée, as he

was travelling to Maule with his servant, flung him to the ground, and took away his horses. The monk reached Pacy on foot, and with loud lamentations asked Albert for help against his son. To this the same knight replied insolently, and refused any kind of help in recovering the horses. Seeing this his wife Aubrée began to lament and wring her hands and tear her hair, and to weep for her son as though he were already dead. She cried out with a loud voice, as if out of her mind, and said as she wept and wailed, ‘O Ralph, my son, why have you begun your initiation with deeds not of knighthood but of madness? Alas, you are being led astray by abominable teachers, by whose fatal sophistries you are now foolishly seduced, and are being dragged wretchedly to the pit of damnation. Oh how sad is the message you have sent me, and what bitter grief you have brought me! Misguided youth, what can I say to you? By unjustly injuring a helpless servant of Christ you have deserved a fatal punishment yourself. O Ralph, my son, what did you do in your frenzy, when you struck your first blow as a knight

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qui primordia tue militiz contra omnipotentem exercuisti? Noui certissime, quod breue gaudium et longam tristiciam habitura sum pro tuo facinore. Nonne omnes doctores pariter consonant, et una uoce passim przdicant/ quod Altissimus in sanctis suis habitat,

et cum illis leta uel aduersa pie tolerat? Succurre pater insanienti filio, et omni elabora studio’ ut ablati cornipedes lugubri reddantur monacho, ne unicus filius tuus pro tanto scelere statim tradatur demonio.’ Sic prudenti matrona pro salute filii supplicante, monachumque desolatum fideliter mulcere satagente? Albertus

ili. 34

lil. 35

cum

omni

familia sua commotus

contremuit,

mulam

suam monacho tradidit? armigerosque suos cum illo Breheruallum destinauit, filiumque suum ut ei sine mora quzeque ablata fuerant redderet terribili adiuratione obtestatus constrinxit. Guitmundus itaque receptis equis Paceium remeauit, Alberto et uxori eius gratias egit" a quo uterque ueniam pro commisso reatu postulans impetrauit. Prafata nempe mulier Hugonis Baiocensis episcopi! filia fuit/ et inter affines pro modulo suo multa honestate uiguit. Eodem anno prefatus tiro zegrotauit, factique sui peenitens ab Vticensibus ueniam petiit? se et omnia sua sancto Ebrulfo deuouit. Quo defuncto pater merens corpus eius Vticum deuehi fecit, et medietatem decimz de Vlmeio totam liberam sicut eam ipse tenuerat sancto Ebrulfo concessit. Aliam nempe medietatem decimz de eo monachi Columbenses tali tenebant pacto? ut omnes episcopales consuetudines et omnes exactorias seruitutes persoluerent pro illo. Hzec itaque donatio facta est Vticensibus anno dominicz incarnationis millesimo septuagesimo, tempore Philippi regis Francorum, et Goisfredi Carnotensis episcopi, nepotis scilicet Rainaldi Parisiensis episcopi.? Radulfus autem cognomento Malus Vicinus qui capitalis dominus erat, gratanter apud Medantum annuit poscenti Mainerio abbati decimam de Vlmeio quz ut dictum est in ius zecclesiz cesserat. Non multo post praefatus Albertus defunctus est et corpus eiusdem Vticum delatum est. Hzredes uero eius decimam quam * Hugh bishop of Bayeux (d. 1049) was a son of Ralph of Ivry. It is possible that Aubrée had been previously married to a knight named Robert, the father

of Robert of Ivry (GEC viii. 208).

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^

against the Almighty? Know most surely that I shall have little

joy and long sorrow for your misdeed. Do not all the learned doctors agree, and declare with one voice in many places, that the Most High dwells in his saints, and patiently endures joys and sufferings with them? O father, help your crazy son, and try by every means in your power to ensure that the stolen horses are restored to the sorrowing monk, lest your only son become possessed of a demon here and now for such a crime.’ So as this wise mother pleaded for the preservation of her son and endeavoured to console the injured monk, Albert together with his whole household was deeply moved and terrified, gave his mule to the monk, sending his men-at-arms to escort him to Bréval, and bound his son with a terrible oath to restore without delay everything that had been taken from him. So Guitmund, after recovering his horses, returned to Pacy, giving thanks to Albert and his wife, and both of them begged his forgiveness for the wrong done to him, and obtained it. The lady Aubrée was a daughter of Hugh, bishop of Bayeux,! and had a high reputation among her neighbours for the great virtue, appropriate to her station, that she

showed. In the same year the young knight fell sick and, repenting of his misdeeds, sought forgiveness from the monks and vowed himself and all his possessions to Saint-Évroul. On his death his sorrowing father had his body carried to Saint-Évroul, and granted half the tithe of Lommoie freely as he himself held it. The monks of Coulombs held the other half from him under an agreement whereby they were to pay all episcopal customs and all obligatory dues on his behalf. This gift was made to the monks in the year of our Lord 1070, in the time of Philip king of France and Geoffrey bishop of Chartres, the nephew, that is, of Reginald bishop of Paris. Ralph Mauvoisin also, who was the chief lord, willingly granted at Mantes, on Abbot Mainer's request, the tithe of Lommoie which, as I have related, had passed into the hands of the church. Not long afterwards Albert himself died and his body was brought to Saint-Évroul. His heirs granted the tithe that he had 2 Geoffrey was bishop of Chartres from 1077 to 1089. It is possible that his subscription was added later to a charter dated 1070. Le Prévost suggested (iii. 34 n. 4) that 1070 might be an error for 1080; but Orderic, writing about 1130, stated that the tithe had been held for about sixty years. 822219X

S

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dederat sancto Ebrulfo concesserunt,

Guido scilicet gener eius

Ebrardi de Rui filius et Radulfus de Cunella aliique qui usque in hodiernum diem successerunt? eamque Vticenses monachi sub tribus episcopis Goisfredo, Iuone et Goisfredo per annos ferme Ix opitulante Deo quiete possederunt.

iii. 36

7 Nunc qualiter et quo tempore Alfagiensis cella sit in comitatu Talogii constructa, et Guillelmi regis atque Iohannis archiepiscopi tempore Vticensibus subacta? placet scripto posteris intimare, et cartam donationis atque confirmationis quz tempore Henrici regis sancita est huic operi coaptare. Quia mortalis uita cotidie labitur, et mortalis homo irrecuperabiliter perdit mundanos honores quos cum summo labore adipiscitur? debet quisque preceptis Dei dum uiuit et potest fideliter optemperare, ut contemptis labilibus per Dei gratiam aeterna possit impetrare. Hzc diligenter considerans quidam generosus in Normannia miles nomine Gulbertus Ricardi de Hugle uilla filius,! instinctu Beatricis coniugis suz decreuit in patrimonio suo apud Alfagium monachos constituere, quorum precibus meritisque iuuaretur in extremo examine. Et quia Drogo nepos suus secularem militiam nuper reliquerat? et apud Vticum in cenobio sancti Ebrulfi confessoris monachatum assumpserat? Mainerium abbatem et Vticenses monachos uehementer adamauit, eisque zecclesiam sanctee Mariz de Alfagio cum omnibus prebendis suis dedit" tali pacto ut sex monachi pro sex canonicis qui tunc ibidem deseruiebant constituerentur, et canonicis quolibet modo uel emendatioris uite pio conatu mundum relinquentibus prebendas eorum nanciscerentur.3 Dedit etiam prefatus heros eisdem monachis totam uillam de Parco cum ecclesia et tota decima eiusdem uillz ita liberam, et ab omni molesta consuetudine absolutam" sicut ipse

hactenus tenuerat eam.* Homines de Parco omnino absoluit ut * For the family of Gilbert of Auffay see G. H. Fowler, ‘De St. Walery’ in Genealogist N.S. xxx (1914), 1-17; and genealogical table below, p. 367.

? Drogo of Neufmarché; marché. See below, p. 254.

Gilbert's sister Ada married Geoffrey of Neuf-

3 Cf. L. Musset, ‘Recherches sur les communautés de clercs séculiers en Normandie au XI* siécle’, in BSAN lv (1959-60), 5-38. It seems from Orderic’s

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given to the monks. They were Guy, his son-in-law, the son of Evrard of Ray, and Ralph of La Cunelle, and others who have succeeded them up to the present day; and the monks of SaintEvroul have now held the tithe peacefully by the help of God under three bishops, Geoffrey, Ivo, and Geoffrey, for about sixty

years.

7

Now it is my pleasant task to record for posterity an account of how and when the cell of Auffay in the region of Talou was founded and subjected to Saint-Evroul in the time of King William and Archbishop John; and to include in this work the charter of donation which was ratified in the time of King Henry. Since human life passes away daily, and mortal man loses for ever the worldly honours which he accumulates with such great labour, every one ought faithfully to obey the commandments of God while he lives and has the power, so that through scorning transient things he may by God’s grace win those things that are eternal. So, pondering on these things in his heart, a certain wellborn knight of Normandy, named Gilbert, the son of Richard of Heugleville,! at the suggestion of Beatrice his wife, decided to establish monks in his patrimony at Auffay, so that by their prayers and merits he might be succoured in the last Judgement. And because his nephew Drogo had recently abandoned his career as a knight? and had made his monastic vows at Ouche in the abbey of Saint-Evroul, he had a great affection for Abbot Mainer and the monks there, and gave them the church of St. Mary of Auffay with all its prebends, stipulating that six monks were to be placed there instead of the six canons who at that time served the church,

and were to obtain their prebends as the canons either died or turned to a better way of life in a monastery.3 This same lord also

gave the monks his whole village of Notre-Dame-du-Parc, with the church and the whole tithe of the village, as freely and as quit of every burdensome custom as he himself had held it up to then.*

He also freed the men of Notre-Dame-du-Parc entirely from every subsequent account that of the six canons two, Gilbert and Walter, became monks; one, Ralph, was drowned; and the remaining three, Winimar, Benedict, and John, lived with the monks as canons until their death.

4 The canons had not enjoyed these rights, which the lord now granted for the first time (cf. J. Yver in BSAN lvii (1963-4), 205).

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nullam sibi coacticiam exhibeant seruitutem? nec eant nisi in generalem principis Normanniz expeditionem.! In molendino de Alfagio dedit pro decima duos modios tritici singulis annis? et in alio molendino super Sedam dimidium modium cuiuslibet segetis. Concessit etiam ut monachi de lignis silue suze que Harulsart 11057 dicitur ad fomitem ignis duas saginas asini cotidie acciperent. Prefatus miles duas quadrigatas uini de principe Normannorum in feudo tenebat singulis annis?? ex quibus unum modium ad celebrandas missas perenniter concessit monachis. Duas nimirum dedit zecclesias cum tota decima et terra quz ad easdem pertinebat, unam scilicet de Parco qua in honore sancte Dei genitricis Marize constructa erat, aliamque de Belnaio quz in honore sancti Petri principis apostolorum condita erat. Quas quia prebendz Alfagiensis zcclesiz erant? duo canonici tunc possidebant. Radulfus enim zcclesiz de Parco deseruiebat, quem post aliquot tempus de Anglia redeuntem marina tempestas inuoluit, et fracta naui cum omnibus sociis fluctus absorbuit. Gualterius autem ecclesiam de Belnaio tenebat: qui postmodum monachus sancti Ebrulfi factus est. Hzc omnia Gulbertus cum coniuge sua Beatrice libenter ecclesie; Dei pro eterna salute contulit" hominesque suos et amicos ut elemosinam suam augmentarent multoties benigniter obsecrauit. Goisfredus igitur miles eius zecclesiam sancti Dionisii cum tota decima sanctz Marize dedit? partesque decimze quas de eo tres milites Osbernus Capes et duo filii Azsonis Bernardus et iii. 38 Radulfus tenebant hortatibus et muneribus datis zcclesi;& Dei recuperauit. Ipse quoque terram et uillanos et omnes consuetudines de ipsis uillanis in Vico Siluatico concessit. Rodbertus miles de Huglz uilla zecclesiam sancti Albini cum tota decima monachis concessit? et inde ex eorum karitate xvi libras Rodomensium habuit. Bernardus Goisfredi de Nouo mercato filius ecclesiam de Speinis et totam terram ad ipsam pertinentem cum tota decima quam Ebrardus presbiter tenebat sancte Marie dedit; et pro mutuatione zecclesiarum de Burchella et de Bruneshopa xx solidos de censu Neoburiz ad festiuitatem sancti Michahelis concessit.3 '* Cf. Haskins, Norman Institutions, p. 23. ? An early fief-rente (B. Lyon, From Fief to Indenture

1957), P- 25).

(Cambridge,

Mass.,

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249

service they might owe to him, except the duty of obeying a general summons of the duke of Normandy.! For the tithe of the mill at Auffay he gave two measures of wheat annually, and for the tithe of the other mill on the river Scie half a measure of any kind of grain. He also granted that the monks should receive daily from his wood called Hérichards two ass-loads of wood for kindling their fire. This knight held two wagon-loads of wine annually in fee from the duke of Normandy,? from which he granted the monks one measure in perpetuity for celebrating masses. He also gave two churches with all their tithes and the land pertaining to them, one at Parc, which was built in honour of Mary, the holy

mother of God, and the other at Beaunay, which was founded in honour of Peter, chief of the apostles. Two canons held them then because they were prebends of the church of Auffay. Ralph, who served the church of Notre-Dame-du-Parc, was returning some time later from England when he was caught in a storm at sea; the boat broke to pieces and he and all his companions perished in the waves. Walter, who held the church of Beaunay, later became

a monk of Saint-Evroul.

All these things Gilbert and his wife Beatrice freely gave to the church of God for the sake of eternal salvation; and on many occasions he quietly urged his vassals and friends to add to the alms he had given. So Geoffrey, his vassal, gave the church of Saint-Denis-sur-Scie with all its tithe to St. Mary; and by persuading and giving compensation recovered for the church of God the shares in the tithe which three knights, Osbern Capes and the two sons of Azo called Bernard and Ralph, held of him. He also granted the land and villeins and all the dues and services of the villeins in La Rue-Sauvage. Robert, a knight of Heuglevillesur-Scie, granted the monks the church of St. Aubin with the whole tithe; and received from them as a free gift sixteen pounds of Rouen money. Bernard the son of Geoffrey of Neufmarché gave to St. Mary the church of Speen and all the land pertaining to it, together with the whole tithe which Evrard the priest held; and granted in exchange for the churches of Burghill and Brinsop twenty shillings from the rent of Newbury at Michaelmas. 3 Bernard of Neufmarché became lord of Brecon, but most of his extensive estates in England appear to have been acquired after 1086 (cf. J. H. Round

in VCH Hereford, i. 281; Loyd, p. 72; I. J. Sanders, English Baronies, pp. 6—7). For Newbury and Speen see VCH Berks. iv. 108, 134.

250

iii. 39

iii. 40

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Baldricus filius Nicholai! ad Deppam? dedit unum burgensem: et Radulfus Anseredi filius? ad Hotot dedit unum hospitem. Anno itaque dominice incarnationis M?LXX? nono indictione ii^ anno scilicet xiiii^ Guillelmi magni regis Anglorum et ducis Normannorum, prefatus Gulbertus et Beatrix uxor eius suprascriptarum rerum donationem super. altare sancte: Marie posuerunt? et hi sunt testes qui presentes affuerunt, Gislebertus et Radulfus, Gualterius et Iohannes quattuor canonici eiusdem zecclesiz, Bernardus de Nouo Mercato, et Goisfredus de sancto Dionisio, Osbernus Capes et Osbernus Buflo, Eustachius de Carquita et Eustachius de Torceio, Rodbertus de Huglzuilla et Rogerius de Parco et alii multi. Denique Gulberto xvii? kal’ Septembris defuncto,5 et a monachis quos in fundo suo constituerat honorabiliter sepulto? Gualterius filius eius paternum honorem optinuit, et omnia quz pater suus hominesque eius sanctee Mariz dederant concessit. Iterum tempore Rodberti ducis Normannorum postquam Auiciam Herbranni de Salcheuilla filiam uxorem duxit? ipsius instinctu patris et matris elemosinam concessione sua confirmauit. Decimam quoque telonei de Alfagio addidit, et sex burgenses omnesque consuetudines eorum concessit/ eosque penitus sic absoluit, ut sibi nil ab eis exigat, nisi generale comitis Normanniz seruitium. Totam uero aquam suam ad piscationem annuit? prout monachis libuerit. Prater hac Auicia uxor eius amore Dei feruens, sexaginta solidos de censu suo kal' Octobris monachis ut inde ceram et oleum ad luminaria ecclesiz et thus per totum annum emant singulis annis concessit? et donationem super altare sanctze Marize cum marito suo posuit. Testes harum donationum sunt, Adam et Guillelmus filii Tedfredi, Osbernus Buflo et Eustachius de Torceio, Rodbertus de Cropuz et Rodbertus filius Godmundi,

Iohannes Catus et multi alii. Post aliquot annos idem Gualterius et Auicia uxor eius in amore Dei proficientes a Rogerio abbate sancti Ebrulfi duodecim monachos expetierunt, eisque ad uictum necessarium molendinum de Parco quod reddebat xi modios et * Baudry son of Nicholas occurs as a witness on behalf of Gilbert of Auffay in a suit with the abbey of Fécamp in 1085 (P. Chevreuse and J. Vernier, Les

Archives de Normandie et de la Seine-Inférieure (Rouen, 1911), pl. VII). ? R. Généstal, La Tenure en bourgage (Paris, 1900),p.240, considered that this indicated the creation of a town at Dieppe by the lord between 1067 and 1079; there may however have been only a few burgesses there at this date.

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Baudry, son of Nicholas,! gave a burgess at Dieppe;? and Ralph,

son of Ansered,? gave a héte at Hotot. So in the year of our Lord 1079, the second indiction, which was the fourteenth year+ of William the Great, king of England and duke of Normandy, Gilbert of Auffay and his wife Beatrice laid their gift of all these things on the altar of St. Mary; and these are the witnesses who were present: Gilbert and Ralph, Walter and John, four canons of the church

of Aufífay; Bernard

of Neuf-

marché and Geoffrey of St. Denis, Osbern Capes and Osbern Buflo, Eustace of Carcuit and Eustace of Torcy, Robert of Heugleville and Roger of Notre-Dame-du-Parc, and many others. Afterwards when Gilbert had died on 15 August and had been honourably buried by the monks whom he had established in his patrimony, his son Walter entered into possession of his father's honor, and confirmed everything that his father and his vassals had given to St. Mary. On another occasion, in the time of Robert duke of Normandy, after he had married Avice, daughter of Herbrand of Sauqueville, he confirmed the alms given by his father and mother with his own grant, at her suggestion. He also added the tithe of the toll of Auffay, and granted six burgesses with all their customary obligations, and freed them so completely from all obligations that he retained nothing for himself except in relation to the general service of the duke of Normandy. He also gave fishing rights everywhere in his waters, so that the monks might fish where they pleased. Besides those things his wife Avice, filled with the love of God,

granted the monks sixty shillings from her revenues annually on I October, for the purchase of wax and oil for the lights of the church and incense throughout the year. She placed the gift on the altar of St. Mary with her husband; and the witnesses of these gifts are Adam and William the sons of 'T'edfred, Osbern Buflo and Eustace of Torcy, Robert of Cropus and Robert son of Godmund, John the Cat and many others. Some years later Walter and Avice his wife, growing daily in the love of God, asked Abbot Roger of Saint-Évroul for twelve monks and, to provide the sustenance necessary for them, gave the mill of Notre-Dame-du-Parc which 3 Ralph, son of Ansered, acted as witness with Baudry, son of Nicholas (above, n. 1). See also F. Lot, Etudes critiques sur l'abbaye de Saint-Wandrille, pp. 98-100. 4 1079 was William I’s thirteenth regnal year.

5 In 1087 (Le Prévost, iii. 257-8).

"s

lii. 41

BOOK VI

quinque acras terre ad Hugle uillam, et tres hospites in anno xv solidos reddentes, ac ad uillam que Centum acras dicitur zecclesiam sancte "Trinitatis cum tota decima dederunt. Hzec omnia que a Gulberto et ab hominibus eius data Vticensibus retuli? Guillelmus rex Anglorum et Iohannes! atque Guillelmus Rotomagenses archiepiscopi concessione sua confirmauerunt. Deinde quicquid Gualterius Gulberti filius elemosinz patris addidit" Rodbertus secundus dux Normannorum monachis sancti Ebrulfi concessit, et nundinas etiam ad Parcum in natiuitate sancte Mariz ipsis erigere permisit? et per seniorem Gualterium cognomento Gifardum? omnino interdixit, ne ullus aliquam consuetudinem seu priuilegium absque monachorum uoluntate in ipsis haberet. Fratres quoque eius Guillelmus Rufus et Henricus reges Anglorum atque Goisfredus archiepiscopus omnia que prescripta sunt’ Vticensibus monachis concesserunt, qui iam per multos annos eadem in pace possederunt. Canonici quippe monachis cesserunt; quia uirtutes eorum quos assequi nequibant in omnibus excellere uiderunt. Guinimarus enim et Benedictus atque Iohannes filius ipsius monachis pluribus annis comitati sunt? morbisque tandem ingrauescentibus decesserunt. Gislebertus autem qui sociis omnibus sapientior eminebat et Gualterius monachatum sponte subierunt et emendatiorem uitam pollicentes iam. senio fracti migrauerunt. 8

ill. 42

Nunc de generositate Alfagensium heroum et moribus eorum libet parumper annotare. Gulbertus cognomento Aduocatus de Sancto Gualerico filiam Ricardi ducis uxorem duxit? ex qua Bernardum patrem Gualterii de Sancto Gualerico et Ricardum de Hugleuilla genuit. Ricardus autem duci Normannie auunculo uidelicet suo diu militauit, cuius dono nobilem Adam Herluini senis

de Hugleuilla relictam cum toto patrimonio eius accepit. Multa siquidem dux illi dedit, et multo maiora promisit; et promissa * John of Avranches died in 1079, and had been incapacitated by illness for

some time previously. His confirmation may relate to some of the gifts to the earlier collegiate foundation.

rendered eleven measures of corn, and five acres of land at Heugleville, and three hétes rendering fifteen shillings annually, and the

church of Holy Trinity in the village called Les Cent-Acres, with

the whole tithe.

!

All these things which, as I have described, were given to the monks of Saint-Évroul by Gilbert and his men were confirmed and granted by William, king of England, and John! and William, archbishops of Rouen. Moreover Robert II, duke of Normandy, granted the monks of Saint-Évroul all that Walter son of Gilbert added to the alms of his father, and also gave them permission to hold a fair at Notre-Dame-du-Parc on the feast of the Nativity of St. Mary, and through Walter Giffard the elder? utterly prohibited anyone from exacting any kind of custom or due from the fair without the free consent of the monks. And his brothers William Rufus and Henry, kings of England, and Archbishop Geoffrey granted everything I have described to the monks of SaintÉvroul, who have now enjoyed peaceful possession of them all for many years. The canons assuredly gave way to the monks because they realized that the virtues of the monks were far greater than anything they could achieve. Winimar and Benedict and his son John lived with the monks for a number of years, and finally sickened and died. But Gilbert, who was far wiser than all his

companions, and Walter voluntarily accepted the monastic rule, and after successfully following a better way of life finally died at a great old age. 8

Now I will say a little about the noble descent of the lords of Auffay, and about their characters. Gilbert, called the Advocate, of Saint-Valéry married a daughter of Duke Richard, who bore him Bernard, the father of Walter of Saint-Valéry and Richard of Heugleville. Richard for many years fought for the duke of Normandy, his great-uncle, and received from him the hand of

the noble Ada, widow of Herluin the elder of Heugleville, with all her inheritance. The duke indeed gave much to him and promised far more; and he would have fulfilled his promises abundantly if 2 The elder Walter Giffard died in 1084; if this statement is correct Robert Curthose’s

grant must have been made before he succeeded his father in the

duchy of Normandy. But Orderic may mean the second Walter Giffard, later earl of Buckingham.

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liberaliter complesset, si humiliter illi famulando placuisset. Hic super Sedam in uico qui olim Isnelliuilla uocabatur burgum constituit? et pro imminenti monte altis fagis obsito Alfagium nuncupauit, leges etiam Cormeliensium colonis intulit. Militari probitate et ingenti liberalitate uiguit’ unde hostibus formidabilis

et fidus amicis extitit.

lil. 43

lil. 44

Tempore Guillelmi iuuenis filii Rodberti ducis cum Guillelmus de Archis contra ducem rebellauit:! et pene omnium Talogiensium parilis defectus nothum principem deseruit, solus Ricardus contra rebelles in castello suo secus zecclesiam sancti Albini perstitit? et pro fidelitate ducis contra discursus Arcasiensium prouinciam circumiacentem defensare sategit. Adiutores autem eius in illo conflictu Goisfredus gener eius et Hugo de Moriomonte Turchetilli de Nouo Mercato filii fuerunt? ex quibus Hugonem cum omnibus suis Arcacenses apud Morium montem repente circumdederunt, seseque uiriliter defendentem interemerunt. Porro Goisfredus ex Adda Ricardi filia Bernardum et Drogonem genuit" quibus uarius euentus extitit. Drogo enim relicta militia apud Vticum religiose uixit et in monachatu litteras didicit, et per sacrorum gradus ordinum usque ad sacerdotium ascendit. Bernardus autem usque ad senium militiz inhesit? et sub tribus Angliz regibus strenue militauit. Denique tempore Guillelmi Rufi contra Resen Guallorum regem pugnauit? quo perempto Brachaniaucum castellum condidit, regnumque Britonum cuius caput Talgard uocatur multis annis possedit, ecclesiam quoque in honore sancti Iohannis Euangelistae in oppido suo construxit? ibique monachos constituit, et omnium eis rerum suarum decimas donauit.

Gulbertus autem Ricardi filius Beatricem filiam Christiani de Valencenis illustris tribuni uxorem duxit? que uiro suo Gualterium et Hugonem atque Beatricem peperit. Przfatus heros consanguineus ducis semper ei fidelis extitit et cum illo precipua coetibus suis stipatus in bello Anglico discrimina pertulit. Verum '* In 1052-3

(Douglas, WC, pp. 62-6). The fighting around Saint-Aubin

was in October 1053.

^ Knowles and Hadcock, p. 6o. Brecon priory was subject to Battle Abbey.

Richard had remained in his favour by serving him obediently. He established a borough on the Scie, in the place formerly called Isneauville, which he named Auffay from the hill behind it, covered with tall beech trees, and established the laws of Cor-

meilles for the inhabitants. A man of courage in war and great generosity, he flourished as the prop of his friends and the scourge of his enemies. In the time of William I, the son of Duke Robert, when William

of Arques rebelled against the duke,! and almost all the men of Talou together treacherously abandoned him because he was a bastard, Richard alone held out against the rebels in his stronghold behind the church of St. Aubin, and out of loyalty to the duke tried to defend the surrounding province against the attacks of the men of Arques. His son-in-law Geoffrey and Hugh of Morimont, who were the sons of Thurkill of Neufmarché, helped him in this struggle: but the men of Arques suddenly surrounded Hugh with all his men in Morimont, and cut them to pieces as they defended themselves valiantly. Afterwards Richard’s daughter Ada bore Geoffrey two sons, Bernard and Drogo, whose fortunes

were very different. Drogo abandoned a career of arms and lived as a monk at Saint-Evroul, where he learned his letters and rose

through minor orders to the priesthood. Bernard for his part served as a knight until he grew old, and fought courageously under three kings of England. At length in the time of William Rufus he fought against Rhys, a Welsh king; and after killing him built a castle at Brecon, and for many years held the kingdom of the Welsh whose capital is called Talgarth. He also built a church in honour of St. John the Evangelist in his fortified town,? and placed monks in it, granting them the tithes of all his possessions. As for Gilbert son of Richard, he married Beatrice, the daughter of Christian of Valenciennes, a famous lord; and she bore him Walter and Hugh and Beatrice. This lord was a kinsman of the duke, and always remained loyal to him, fighting at his side surrounded by his companions in all the principal battles of the English war. But after the kingdom had been pacified and William 3 This implies that Duke William’s supporters with their tenants formed compact

units for fighting; see J. Le Patourel,

‘The Norman

colonization of

Britain’, in I Normanni e la loro espansione in Europa nell’ alto medioevo (Spoleto,

1969), pp. 422-3.

256

lil. 45

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postquam regnum pacatum est et Guillelmus regnauit; Gulbertus rege multas in Anglia possessiones offerente Neustriam repetiit, legitimaque simplicitate pollens de rapina quicquam possidere noluit.! Suis contentus aliena respuit? filiumque suum Hugonem zcclesiasticee discipline sub magisterio Maineri abbatis in Vticensi monasterio deuotus optulit. Cum religiosa coniuge quz Mathildis reginz consobrina erat diu uixit? et elemosinis ac orationibus aliisque sanctis operibus usque ad finem laudabiliter studuit. Venerabilis autem Beatrix post obitum uiri sui tribus annis superuixit’ et in sancta confessione ii non’ Ianuarii obiit. Gualterius uero puer elegans sed parum sapiens fuit? et ob hoc Godmundo aliisque dolosis tutoribus ultro subiacuit. Societatem nebulonum familiariter sibi asciuit, quorum nefaria persuasione paternum honorem insipienter dilapidauit, et monachos ac clericos legitimosque colonos iniuriis crebro illatis perturbauit. Tandem miles effectus pulchram et eloquentem Auiciam Herbranni filiam uxorem duxit? cuius consilio et sagaci conatu a pristina prauitate aliquatenus retrahi cepit. Erat enim prudens et facunda, et a puerilibus annis Deo deuota, multisque pro posse suo bonis operibus dedita. Hac tres fratres habebat preclaros milites Iordanum, et Guillelmum atque Rodbertum? quorum auxilio sororius eorum in dolosos peruasores preualuit, et plura que fraudulentis surreptionibus nequicquam distraxerat ac perdiderat, recuperauit. Prefata mulier uiro suo filios et filias numero xii peperit" quorum maiorem partem immatura mors in infantia mox absorbuit. Deinde ipsa completis cum uiro suo quindecim annis viii? kal’ Martii^? defuncta est’ et in claustro monachorum quos ualde dilexerat ad hostium basilicae sepulta est. Arcum uero lapideum super ipsam Guarinus prior construi fecit? et Vitalis angligena epitaphium huiusmodi edidit. Nobilis Auiciz corpus iacet hic, sine fine Christus ei tutam concedat in zethere uitam.

Cui proba dum uixit cum laude? frequens inhiauit Ac studuit iugi conatu iure lucrari. Pulchra fuit ualde, facunda satis sapiensque, ?^ MS. Februarii

! This is correct; Gilbert of Auffay never held any lands in England (J. F. A.

Mason in EHR xxi (1956), 66).

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reigned secure, Gilbert returned to Normandy, though the king offered him great estates in England; for he, who lawfully enjoyed a modest inheritance, declined to have any part in plunder.! Content with his own, he rejected other men's goods; and he piously submitted his son Hugh to the monastic life in the abbey of SaintÉvroul under the rule of Abbot Mainer. He lived for many years with his devout wife, who was a cousin of Queen Matilda, and

devoted himself to alms, prayers, and other holy works to the end of his days in the most admirable way. The pious Beatrice survived her husband for three years and died after making a full confession on 4 January. The young Walter was handsome but lacking in wisdom, and consequently he was easily dominated by Godmund and other false teachers. He collected round himself a group of frivolous companions, and led astray by their pernicious influence he dissipated his inheritance, and continually injured and harassed monks and clerks and honest peasants. But when at last he became a knight he married a beautiful and persuasive wife, Avice, daughter of Herbrand, and by her advice and wise influence he was somewhat restrained from his earlier folly. She indeed was prudent and golden-tongued, devoted to God from her earliest years and utterly given over to good works. She had three brothers, all distinguished knights, called Jordan, William, and Robert; by their help their brother-in-law shook off the influence of his greedy sycophants and recovered some of the property that had been dissipated and lost to no purpose through fraud and robbery. This lady bore her husband twelve sons and daughters, most of whom died prematurely in infancy. Finally after living for fifteen years with her husband she died on 22 February,? and was buried in the cloister of the monks she had so truly loved, by the door of the church. Warin the prior had a stone vault built over her, and Vitalis the Englishman composed this epitaph: Beneath lies the body of Avice, born nobly; May Christ help her to Heaven, to have life eternal. To her Lord while she lived she looked with great longing And practised his precepts, abiding in probity. Most fair of face, well-spoken, and full of wisdom, 2 The feast of St. Peter in Cathedra in Antiochia falls on 22 February; and, as Avice's epitaph states that she died on that day, ‘February’ in the MS. must be a mistake for ‘March’.

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Cultibus assidue diuis satagebat adesse. Cotidie missas audire studebat et horas,

Viuere sponte sua sic cepit honesta puella. Denique Gualterio generoso nupta marito/A

Cum quo quindenis uixit feliciter annis; Edidit optatam prolem numero duodenam,

Moribus egregiis specialiter hzec era fulsit. ZEcclesize cultum satagens extollere multum?

Contulit ornatus proprios altaris in usus. iii. 46

Presbiteros, monachos, uiduas, zegros et egenos: Semper honorauit multoque iuuamine fouit.

Casta fuit tantum? quod eam nullus nebulonum Infamare palam notis preesumeret unquam.

In Februo lucem qua Petrus pontificalem Conscendit cathedram" nece mestam sensit et atram. Pro tantz casu dominze flent Alfaienses, Ast animz Deus Auiciz det gaudia uitze. Amen.

Gualterius autem post humationem coniugis fere iii annis uixit, et diutino languore cruciatus monachi cucullam induit? et paulo post data confessione perceptaque poenitentia vi? kal’. Iunii obiit. Porro corpus eiusdem Hildegarius prior ad pedes prefate coniugis suz tumulauit: et Vitalis huiusmodi nenias super illo prompsit. Alfaiensis eros Gualterius hic requiescit, In requie uera locus illi perpetuo sit.

Viginti septem soles iam Maius habebat? Dum uir hic in monachi tunica de carcere migrat, Quem longus languor cruciauerat: ipse reatus Confessus proprios pro te sit Christe solutus. Amen.

Defuncto Gualterio quattuor pupilli desolati remanserunt, Ricardus et Iordanus, Gualterius et Helias, quos Henricus rex in

sua tutela suscepit, et Alfagiense ius Rodberto uicecomiti duobus annis regendum precepit. Porro Iordanus de Salcauilla seruitiis et muneribus regi oblatis totum ius optinuit, ipsosque nepotes suos alturus cum patrimonio suo recuperauit, et iiii annis honorifice iii. 47 conseruauit et auxit. Interea Ricardus duodennis puer obiit? et in aecclesia sanctze Dei genetricis Mariz tumulatus quiescit. Iordanus deinde successit frater eius? iuuenis pulcher bonisque pollens moribus. In curia Henrici regis inter coeuos militauit, cui prefatus

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She strove without ceasing to share in God’s service; For holy masses and hours she was daily hearing. So as a modest maid she modelled her living. After, when she was wedded to the noble knight Walter,

For fifteen more years she lived in felicity And gave him in gladness twelve goodly children. Specially she shone with the light of sound morals; The cult of the church she steadfastly cherished, Bestowing her best jewels for the benefit of the altar. Generous in giving to priests, monks, all of God's needy, To widows, waifs, and the sick she was gentle and well-doing;

So chaste and so constant that not the most craven Dared to breathe one base word against her bright honour. On the feast of St. Peter, falling in February, Came dark death upon her, and closed her devotions. Men of Auffay lament for the loss of this lady; May God grant her soul gladness and glory eternal. Amen.

Walter survived for about three years after the burial of his wife, and endured much pain from chronic disease; finally he was clothed in the habit of a monk, and after confession and absolution died on 27 May. Then the prior Hildegar buried his body at the feet of his wife, and Vitalis wrote this elegy for him: Here Walter lies, of Auffay lord, Eternal rest be his reward! Upon the twenty-seventh of May Clothed as a monk, he found his way From earthly prison, by pain oppressed, To seek Christ's grace, his sins confessed. Amen.

After Walter's death four orphan children remained: Richard and Jordan, Walter and Elias. King Henry took them into his

wardship, and entrusted the administration of Auffay for two years to the vicomte, Robert. Then Jordan of Sauqueville in return for services and gifts to the king secured the whole wardship and received the children, who were his nephews, to support, together with the whole inheritance which, for four years, he kept up well and improved. During this time the boy Richard died, when he was twelve years old, and was laid to rest in the church of St. Mary the holy Mother of God. Jordan, a handsome boy of very good character, next succeeded his brother. He served in the court of King Henry among companions of his own age, and the king gave

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rex prudentem et pulchram coniugem nomine Iulianam Godescalchi filiam dedit, quz cum Adelide regina! de Louennensi regione in Angliam uenit. Huc usque de rebus sancti Ebrulfi diutius locutus sum? quz nostrum magna ex parte implent libellum. Inde michi queso non indignentur lectores, si beneficii accepti memor recolo nostros benefactores. Opto equidem fundatores et beniuolos cooperatores eorum, scripto commendare tenaci memoriz posterorum, ut filii zecclesie coram Deo in conspectu angelorum memores sint eorum, quorum beneficiis in hac mortali uita sustentantur ad peragendam seruitutem conditoris uniuersorum. Hinc uictor Abram postquam a cede quattuor regum remeauit: et Loth nepotem suum cum concaptiuis suis utriusque sexus et substantia sua reduxit, sociis suis ut partes suas de spoliis Sodomorum acciperent precepit. Per Abram qui 'pater excelsus' interpretatur, perfecti uiri designantur, qui contra malignos spiritus et uicia carnis cotidie dimicant, mundum mundique principem superant, terrenos

fastus

et lenocinia

carnis

conculcant,

ac

ueluti

stercus

reputant. Per Loth a barbaris in captiuitatem ductum, sed uiuaci iii. 48 uirtute spiritualis patrui nobiliter ereptum, qui 'uinctus' uel 'declinatio' interpretatur, carnalis animus seu bestialis populus significatur, qui in Sodomis id est delectabilibus flagitiis illaqueatur, et nexu peccati uinctus a Deo declinans a malignis spiritibus captiuatur. Per socios Abre qui pugnasse dicuntur, fideles laici iure intelliguntur, qui iussu eius sibi portionem exuuiarum sumpsisse referuntur. Sic enim in libro Geneseos scriptum est, ‘Dixit rex Sodomorum ad Abram, ‘‘Da michi animas, cetera tolle tibi." Qui respondit ei, "Non accipiam ex omnibus qua tua sunt: exceptis his que comederunt iuuenes, et partibus uirorum qui uenerunt mecum, Aner, Escol et Mambre" isti accipiant partes suas."'? Plerique laicorum mansuetis et modestis moribus adornantur, fide et bona uoluntate perfectis Christi bellatoribus adiunguntur, eisque in demones uiriliter pugnantibus benigniter congratulantur. Fragile tamen seculum non relinquunt, omnino mundana deserere nolunt, sed legali coniugio deseruiunt legis iii. 49 transgressionibus Deum in multis offendunt, elemosinis tamen ' Adeliza of Louvain, daughter of Godfrey VII, count of Louvain, married

King Henry I in 1121. The king gave Norton Ferris in Kilmington (Somerset) to Jordan on his marriage (Loyd, Early Norman Families, p. 8).

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him as his wife Juliana, daughter of Godeschalk, a wise and beautiful girl who had come to England with Queen Adeliza from the region of Louvain.! Up to now I have spoken at some length about the endowments of Saint-Evroul, and indeed they occupy the greater part of this book. But I ask my readers not to be impatient if, mindful of

benefits received,

I commemorate

our benefactors. For I wish to

commit to writing an account of our founders and those who so generously helped them, for the lasting remembrance of future generations, so that the sons of the church may commemorate in the presence of God and his angels those by whose gifts they are supported in this mortal life and enabled to serve the maker of all things. In such a way Abraham, when he returned victorious after the battle of the four kings and brought back his nephew Lot with his fellow captives of both sexes and his goods, bade his companions take their portion of the spoils of the men of Sodom. By Abraham, which signifies ‘supreme father’, are represented those men of perfection who strive daily against evil spirits and the vices of the flesh, holding them to be filth. By Lot, which signifies ‘binding’ or 'turning aside', led into captivity by the barbarians, but nobly delivered by the enduring valour of his spiritual uncle, is signified the worldly spirit or bestial people which is ensnared in Sodom, that 1s, in sinful delights, and which, enslaved to sin, turns aside

from God and is led away captive by evil spirits. By the companions of Abraham, who are said to have fought, are to be understood those faithful laymen who, as we have related, at his command received their portion of the spoils. For as it is written in the book of Genesis, ‘And the king of Sodom said to Abraham, ‘“‘Give me the persons and take the goods to thyself." And he answered him, “I will not take anything that is thine, save only that which the young men have eaten, and the portion of the men which went with me, Amer, Eschcol, and Mamre;

let them take their portion."2

For many laymen are graced with gentle and seemly manners and are joined by faith and goodwill to the dedicated soldiers of Christ, bringing them succour in their valiant battles against the demons. Nevertheless they do not abandon the transient world, and are unwilling to renounce worldly things completely: and so they accept lawful wedlock and give offence to God by many transgressions ? Adapted from Genesis xiv. 21—4. For tbe interpretations of Abraham and Lot see Jerome, De nominibus Hebraicis (Migne, PL xxiii. 775, 782). 822219X T

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peccata sua secundum Danihelis consilium redimunt.' Isti nimirum partes suas de manubiis hostium accipiunt, dum de terrenis possessionibus Deo seruientium monasteria construunt, et de iniquo mammona pauperum et infirmorum xenodochia pie constituunt et de substantiis suis oratoribus celi uictum et uestitum porrigunt. Porro rex Sodomorum triumphanti Abram adulans diabolum figurat, qui mille artibus nocendi sanctos cotidie temptat, quos blanditiis et terroribus nocte dieque impugnat, et omnia mundi delectamenta diuitiasque uel honores ad hoc callide sumministrat, ut animas solummodo in baratrum perditionis secum pertrahat. Abram uero blandientis assentationes regis contempsit, nec laudes nec munera quzelibet ab illo recipere dignum duxit, sed commilitonibus tantum suis partes suas et que ad esum necessaria erant sumere permisit. Sic nimirum sancti uiri dum in hac uita tempus militia suz peragunt, omnia mundana pro celesti desiderio spernunt, nec ullam mercedem pro sanctitatis suze remuneratione appetunt. Verum mundanos principes qui fide katholica et zeternorum desiderio bonorum comitantur admonent ut zcclesiis partes suas de patrimoniis et questibus suis donent, et egenos mundique contemptores suis beneficiis sustentent, ut a Christo qui se in pauperibus esse asserit perennem gloriam sibi uendicent. Multis approbari potest auctoritatibus et exemplis, quod tantum sibi homines retinent ad emolumentum zterne salutis, quantum in elemosina misericorditer distribuunt iuxta preceptum saluatoris. Nam ea quz pro delectatione carnis prodige distrahunt, seu pro mundialis inani splendore felicitatis inutiliter diffundunt? sine dubio uelut aqua defluens irremeabiliter transeunt. Alii uero qui haeredibus suis ingentes gazas augent et reseruant/ proh dolor augmentum maliciz miserizeque sibi multoties accumulant, natosque suos ad multorum detrimenta sollerter educant. Ipsi enim furtis et rapacitatibus multimodisque nequitiis summopere inseruiunt, meritoque malignitatis suze dignis ultionibus multati depereunt. Sic nempe fit ut nec ccelo nec terra digni iudicentur et amplos honores ingrati successores adipiscantur, et antecessores qui prauis heredibus nimias opes procurauerint a multis maledicantur. ! Daniel v. 27 (24).

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of his law, but nevertheless redeem

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their sins with their alms,

as Daniel counsels.! And so they receive their portions of the plunder taken from the enemy; but out of their worldly possessions they build monasteries for the servants of God; out of the mammon of unrighteousness they piously found hospitals for the poor and sick; and out of their substance they provide food and clothing for the bedesmen of heaven. Next, the king of Sodom fawning on the victorious Abraham signifies the devil, who daily, with a thousand deadly wiles, tempts the saints, assaulting them night and day with blandishments and fears, and cunningly employing all the delights of the world, all riches and honours, for one sole purpose: to draw souls with him into the pit of damnation. Abraham indeed spurned the specious offers of the flattering king, deemed it unworthy to receive any kind of praise or gifts from him, but allowed his companions in arms to take only their fair portions and the food they needed. So indeed holy men, as long as they serve in the battle of this life, reject all worldly things for the love of heavenly things, seeking no payment as a reward for their virtue. But they warn the princes of the world, who share with them the catholic faith and hope of everlasting triumph, to make gifts to churches of a part of the possessions they inherit and acquire, and support with their endowments the poor and the despisers of the world, so that they may deserve to receive eternal glory for themselves from Christ, who declares that he abides in the poor. Many authorities and examples could be cited in support of this, that men keep for themselves for their eternal salvation only as much as they mercifully distribute in alms according to the Saviour’s precept. For it cannot be doubted that what they recklessly dissipate for the delights of the flesh, or throw away to no purpose on the empty splendour of worldly felicity, passes away like flowing water and is gone for ever. Others indeed who amass and hoard huge treasures for their heirs, sad to tell, accumulate for themselves only greater evil and wretchedness, and by their pains bring up their children to be the scourge of others. For they continually abandon themselves to theft and plunder and every kind of iniquity, and deservedly perish when just vengeance is taken for their wickedness. So it happens that they are judged worthy of neither heaven nor earth, their ungrateful successors acquire wide honors, and the ancestors who accumulated vast wealth for depraved heirs are cursed far and wide.

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Prouidi sophistze de mammona iniquitatis amicos sibi faciunt." qui dum carnalia eorum ad presentis uitae sustentationem percipiunt, meritis et orationibus spiritualia benefactoribus suis in eternum rependunt. Baiocensis Ebrulfus summopere sibi perquisiuit debitores huiuscemodi? de cuius iam rebus in presenti opusculo plurima retuli. Amodo de ipso patre ordiar, et eius. gesta sicut a priscis scripto seu relatione traduntur breuiter prosequar, et uitam eius ad refectionem legentium hic ita inserere nitar.

iii. 51

9 ?Venerabilis igitur pater Ebrulfus admodum nobili ortus prosapia, Baiocasinz urbis oriundus extitit. Quem parentes nimia educantes cura, katholice fidei magisterio tradiderunt. Qui mira uelocitate diuina et humana diligenter percurrens studia? etiam adhuc puer ipsos magistros dicitur praecessisse doctrina. Coelestis enim gratia quz sibi eum religionis doctorem futurum preeuiderat, in omnibus efficacissime docilem reddiderat. Neque ex insolentia ut mos est huius etatis, superbe aliquid agendo tante indolis dignitatem inficiebat. Vultu siquidem spectabilis et affectu dulcis? nulli leuitate aliqua existebat grauis. Qui sicut dictum est nobilitatis lampade clarus, immortalis Dei iam notus prescientiz, mox innotuit Clothario? regi filio Clodouei’ qui primus ex regibus Francorum Christianus factus est’ et a beato Remigio Remorum archiepiscopo cum tribus nobilium milibus baptizatus est. Qui comperiens quis uel cuius nobilitatis esset, illico presentari sibi eum iubet, condignum fore diiudicans, ut quem mentis nitor extulerat, regalibus ministeriis deseruiret. Per humilitatis autem officium tantam ei supernus imperator contulit gratiam apud terrenum, quatinus ceteris praelatus in palatio maximum optineret locum. Oratoris quippe facundia przeditus? ad agendas causas inter aulicos residebat doctissimus. Ita tamen secularibus intendebat ! Cf. Luke xvi. 9.

2 For the date of Évroul's life and the versions of the Vitasee above, pp. xv-xvi ; below, Appendix I. Orderic copied Vita B, with minor changes in phraseology and word order, adding long interpolations which embody local traditions.

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Wise men with foresight make to themselves friends of the mammon of unrighteousness,! and whilst they receive earthly goods for supporting their present life they lay up for their benefactors spiritual goods in heaven through their prayers and merits. Evroul of Bayeux, of whose acts I have already had much to tell in this modest work, most diligently provided himself with debtors of this kind. Now I will begin an account of the saint himself; I will briefly describe his acts as they are handed down from former times orally and in writing, and will be at pains to insert here an account of his life for the refreshment of my readers.

9 ?Our venerable father Évroul was born of good parentage and came from the city of Bayeux. His parents brought him up with great care and handed him over for education in the catholic faith. He was remarkably quick and diligent in both sacred and secular studies, and whilst still a boy is said to have surpassed even his masters in learning. For heavenly grace which marked him out as a future doctor of the church made him eminently teachable. And he did not mar the dignity of his natural gifts by doing anything with the arrogance customary in those of his age. Striking in appearance and gentle in bearing, he was never thoughtlessly harsh to anyone. Being, as we have said, illustrious by his high birth and already marked out by the foreknowledge of immortal God, he soon came to the notice of King Chlotar,? son of Clovis the first king of the Franks to accept Christianity, who was baptized by St. Remigius archbishop of Rheims together with three thousand nobles. The king, learning who he was and of what high birth he came, commanded that he should be brought into his presence at once, thinking it fitting that a man distinguished by such intellectual brilliance should hold office among the royal ministers. Through his dutiful performance of humble tasks his heavenly King brought him into such favour with his earthly one that he was promoted above all others to the highest office in the palace. He was endowed with such eloquence that he presided over lawsuits as the most learned of the royal officers. Yet he performed his 3 The name ‘Clothario’ and the phrase filio Clodouei . . . baptizatus est’ are added by Orderic.

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negociis? ut nunquam

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animum

ab aspectu

internz

dilectionis. i452

Sed cum opportuna spes propagande sobolis haberetur in domo patris? crebra et honesta amicorum compulsus persuasione, condignam natalibus uxorem instituit ducere. Quam gratia posteritatis suscipiens non carnis uoluptate, diuina precepta! exequendo deuote, sollerti eadem crebro secum uoluebat meditatione. Frue-

lii. 53

batur itaque uir Deo plenus temporalibus, cauta cogitatione prouidens ne displiceret conditori in acceptis rebus. Cumque locupletatus nimis fieret? plus gaudebat bono opere, quam bona possessione. Priscorum patrum gesta quz per multos codices legerat, qualiter in sese transferret summo studio elaborabat. Insistens autem elemosinis, orationibus atque uigiliis" coniugem quam duxerat, ad idem sanctitatis opus euocabat, quatinus per uirum fidelem etsi fidelis, accresceret deuotio mulieris.? Sicque degens adhuc sub laicali habitu uitam instituerat, ut nichil ab his discrepare uideretur, quos imperium regulare cohercebat. Cum ergo beatissimus uir quadam propria lege laudabiliter uiueret, et dominicis preceptis ardenter inseruiret’ contigit ut Dominum in euangelio suis precipientem audiret, ‘Qui uult uenire post me? abneget semetipsum et tollat crucem suam et sequatur me.’3 Illud etiam ad cumulum perfectionis uir Dei alte memoriz condiderat? quod ipsa contemptoribus mundi pollicetur ueritas, ‘Amen dico uobis, quod uos qui propter me reliquistis omnia? centuplum accipietis, et uitam aeternam possidebitis.'4 Veridicis igitur accensus promissis quod antea cum discretione fecerat: facta distractione rerum, quicquid habere potuit pauperibus erogat. Coniugem quam ut patris nomen haberet acceperat, sacro uelamine consecrans celesti sponso condonauit. Ipse tanquam elapsus a naufragio ad monasterium festinauit. Et factus monachus: mansit ibi in omni humilitate seruiens Deo per aliquot tempus, excrescebatque in eo magis magis sancte conuersationis affectus. 5SRelator uita! monasterium ad quod prefatus uir confugit, proprio nomine nobis non distinguit. Vnde quod de hoc didici seniorum narratione? dignum duco futuris breuiter enodare. ! Vita B here quotes 1 Cor. vii. 29. 2G fri Gor vier. 3 Luke ix. 23. * Adapted from Matthew xix. 27—9. 5 The paragraph ‘Relator uitae . . . exemplo choruscauit’ is an interpolation by Orderic.

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secular duties in such a way that he never took his mind for a moment off the love that was in his heart. However as his father’s house naturally looked to him to continue the line, he gave way to the reasonable pressure of his friends and resolved to marry a wife of suitable lineage. Since, obedient to the divine commands,! he took her for the sake of posterity and not through lust of the flesh, he continually meditated on these precepts in his heart. So the man of God was richly blessed with temporal goods, but with prudent foresight avoided offending his creator by the way he used them; when he was abounding in riches he rejoiced more in good works than in goodly possessions. His greatest care was to imitate in his own life the acts of the Fathers of old, which he had read in many books. Devoting himself to almsgiving, prayers, and vigils, he invited the wife he had taken to share in the holy work with him, so that she, already believing, might be further sanctified by her believing husband.? In this way, though still wearing the outward habit of a layman, he began a way of life that seemed in no way different from the life of men

obedient to a rule. While this most holy man was steadfastly living according to a self-imposed rule, and striving with all his might to obey our Lord's commandments, it came to pass that he heard our Lord's summons to his disciples in the gospel: 'If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.’3 The man of God already treasured in his memory and revered what the word of truth promised to those who despise the world, ‘Verily I say unto you, that ye which have forsaken all for my sake shall receive an hundredfold and shall inherit eternal life.’ Now, encouraged by sure promises, he surpassed his former moderation and, dividing his goods, gave all that he could to the poor. He gave up to a heavenly spouse the wife that he had taken to perpetuate his father's name, sanctifying her with the veil of religion. He himself hastened to a monastery as one who had escaped from shipwreck. After becoming a monk he remained there for some time, serving God in all humility, whilst love of a holy way of life grew in him more and more. sThe writer of his life does not name the monastery in which Évroul took refuge, so I think it proper to leave a brief record for others of what I have learnt on this subject from the lips of older men. Martin, the holy abbot of Vertou, built an abbey in a place

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Venerabilis Martinus Vertauensis abbas abbatiam construxerat,!

lii. 54

in loco quem duos gemellos ab antiquitate uulgus uocitat? pro resuscitatione geminorum quam ibidem factam uetustas memorat. Nam geminam prolem potentis eri mors immatura sine baptismate rapuerat, unde nimius dolor utrosque parentes inuaserat. Martinus autem ab Anglia reuersus amicos lugentes inuenit, consolationem e celo quesiuit, meritis et precibus geminos uitze reddidit? eosque in patrimonio eorumdem monachos Deo dicauit. Antiquum ab euentu eidem uico nomen usque hodie perseuerat, et ingens congeries lapidum in fundamentis edificiorum et ruinis maceriarum euidens testimonium dat? quod magnz dignitatis hominum habitacio Baiocensem pagum illustrauerat.2 Ebrulfus adhuc diuitiis et honoribus potens laicus, prefati ut dicunt cenobii constructionis adstitit cooperator idoneus. Incipientes enim consilio adiuuit, hesitantes corroborauit, opibus et fundis multisque modis res nuper inceptas augmentauit. Ad postremum omnibus nudatus sibi se abdicauit, uerusque Dei pauper monachile scema ibidem suscepit, et armis obedientie Deo militauit, et intuentibus exemplo

choruscauit. Verum cum ob sanctitatis gratiam cepisset gloriosus confessor Ebrulfus

a fratribus

honorari,

casum

elationis metuens

incur-

rere? accitis secum tribus monachis quos sibi familiari collocutione coniunxerat, et ad id perfectionis certamen promptiores cognouerat? utpote solius Dei contemplationi uolens incumbere, summa lli. 55

cum uelocitate studuit heremum

expetere. Qui per Oxi-

mensem pagum in locum qui Monsfortis dicitur uenerunt, ibique quia locus amenus siluis et fontibus abundabat hospitati sunt et aliquandiu solitariam uitam ducentes sancte uixerunt. Sed quia duo castella Oximis Guaceiumque in uicinio erant, ubi plures acturi forenses causas ueniebant: serui Dei aduentantium multitudine molestias plerunque perferebant. Prefata nempe oppida temporibus Cesaris fuisse, eique leguntur fortiter restitisse, ibique per multa secula principum sedes permansisse. Inde frequentia * Orderic records a tradition independent of the Vita of St. Martin of Vertou (a late and unsatisfactory work), and his account seems to contain reliable

evidence. St. Martin died in the first quarter of the seventh century, and if St. Évroul was born c. 626 the monastery of Deux-Jumeaux would have been well established by the time he abandoned the world (L. Musset, *Recherches sur l'art pré-roman' in BSAN liii (1955-6), 54-5).

^ Deux-Jumeaux

was

restored

probably

between

1120

and

1 I35

(ibid.,

pp. 60, 66). Orderic or his informant must have seen it before its restoration.

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which from ancient times has in common speech been called ‘DeuxJumeaux',! on account of the resurrection of twins, which an old

tradition assigns to this place. For premature death had snatched away the unbaptized twin children of a powerful lord, and deep sorrow filled their parents' hearts. Martin, returning from England, found his friends mourning bitterly; he prayed to heaven for mercy, by his prayers and merits restored the twins to life, and offered them to God as monks on their own paternal estates. The old name commemorating this miracle still persists; and a great mass of stones forming the foundations and ruined walls gives clear proof that here the house of a great community brought lustre to the region of Bayeux.? Évroul is said to have been an active promoter of the growth of this monastery when he was a layman of great wealth and influence. He guided its founders with his counsel, encouraged the hesitant, and enriched the new foundation in many ways with his wealth and estates. Finally, stripping himself of everything, he made his way there; and being truly one of God's poor bowed to the monastic rule, fought for God with the weapons of obedience, and gave a shining example to all who saw

him. However, when the holy confessor Évroul began to be honoured by the brethren for the grace of holiness, fearing that he might become guilty of complacency, he took with him three monks who were closely bound to him in daily devotion, whom he knew to be ready to strive to greater perfection. Desiring only to give himself up to the contemplation of God, he hastened away to seek refuge in the wilderness. They travelled through the Hiémois ?to the place called Montfort and for a while remained there, piously leading a solitary life, because it was a pleasant spot, with dense woods and many springs. But because the two fortified places of Exmes and Gacé were in the vicinity, and were frequented by many men going about their secular business, the servants of God were continually disturbed by the throng of travellers. These two strongholds had existed in the time of Caesar, and are said to have put up a stout resistance to him and to have remained as the seats of local leaders for many centuries. Consequently a great concourse 3 From ‘in locum qui Monsfortis' to ‘condiderunt’ is interpolated by Orderic, following

a local tradition

from

Saint-Évroult-de-Montfort.

The

legendary

history of Exmes and Gacé is probably taken from a lost Gesta Romanorum (see above, p. xxv).

270

iii. 56

lii. 57

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procerum atque mediocrium quibus antea nobilis heros in seculi fastigio notus fuerat, iam speciali theorize feruenter inherentem uisitabat, et multiplici colloquio de causis utilibus prolato celestia meditantem inquietabat. Illum igitur uenerabiles uiri locum deseruerunt, ibique posteri basilicam que adhuc perdurat in honore sancti Ebrulfi condiderunt. Deinde siluam ingressi sunt amatores heremi, quam Vticum protestantur incole. Que silua densitate arborum horribilis, crebris latronum frequentata discursibus, habitationem praestabat immanibus feris. Cumque intrepidis gressibus uastissima loca solitudinis peragrarent, non inuenientes ubi conueniens sue deuotioni hospitium collocarent? beatus Ebrulfus purae conscientize spiritum? inardescens, orauit ad Dominum dicens, ‘Domine Ihesu Christe, qui populo tuo Israel gradienti per desertum te ductorem fidelissimum in columna nubis et ignis exhibuisti, dignare propicius nobis uolentibus zgyptiacz seruitutis damnationem effugere, locum libertatis et nostra fragilitati opportunum clementer ostendere. Mox uero completa oratione, apparuit fideli uiro angelus Domini, adueniens quod poposcerat indicare. Quem sequentes prauium: peruenerunt ad fontes habilissimos ad potandum, qui paululum diriuati colligebantur in magnum stagnum. Vbi genua flectentes, monstratori Deo immensas referunt laudes, qui nunquam seruos suos spernit sperantes in se.! Celebrata autem gratiarum actione, nomen Domini inuocantes, pro quantitate habitantium de uirgultis et frondibus construxere tugurium. Quod claustro paruulo eiusdem materie circumcingentes manserunt ibi, optate quietis defugium? consecuti. Quorum seruitus quantum libera, tantum Deo comprobatur extitisse grata. Omnem quippe mundi strepitum conculcantes pedibus, solis inherebant coelestibus? et qui cuncta contempserant,

praeter Deum nichil habebant. Vnde bene cum psalmographo cantare meruerunt, ‘Portio mea domine, dixi custodire legem tuam.’? Summi nanque Dei obsequentes legi? eum solum parteme conabantur adipisci. Dum ergo tota uigilantia interioris hominis profectum adquirerent, neque eos aut loci asperitas aut bestiarum feritas a proposito ? spiritu, Vita B > refugium, Vita B. Orderic’s version may be a slip of the pen € patrem, Vita B

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of men of high and middling rank, who had known the noblyborn saint when he held high office in the world, now visited him as he fervently devoted himself to inward contemplation, and with their discussions of all kinds of practical affairs interrupted his meditation on heavenly things. So the holy men abandoned the

place, where later generations built a church in honour of St.

Evroul which stands there to this day. Finally these lovers of the wilderness penetrated into the wood known to local inhabitants as the forest of Ouche. Dense thickets of trees made the wood a fearful place, the resort of robbers engaged upon frequent raids and the lair of wild and ferocious beasts. As, pressing on fearlessly, they penetrated into the waste, solitary wilderness, finding no place where they might establish a refuge fitting for their devotions, the blessed Evroul, inwardly aflame with

his pure conscience, prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘O Lord Jesus Christ, who didst show thyself a faithful guide to thy people Israel in their journey through the desert by a column of cloud and of fire, deign of thy mercy to show us, who desire to flee from the spiritual dangers of Egyptian slavery, a place of freedom fitting for our weakness.’ Scarcely had the true believer finished speaking when an angel of the Lord appeared to him, to show him what he sought. Following behind him, they came to springs of pure drinking water, which flowed from many sources to form a large pool. And there, falling on their knees, they rendered loud praises to God their guide, who never fails to help his servants when they put their trust in him.! Then when they had given thanks, calling on the name of the Lord, they built a hut large enough to live in out of leaves and branches. There they remained, making a small enclosure round it out of the same materials, for they had found a refuge and the peace they sought. Their service, because it was freely given, proved all the more acceptable to God.

For rising above all the tumult of the world, they gave themselves wholly to heavenly things, and despising all things had nothing but God alone. So they earned the right to sing with the psalmist,

‘Thou art my portion, O Lord: I have said that I would keep thy words.’? For by obeying the law of the most high God they endeavoured to gain him alone as their portion. So, while they were pursuing spiritual perfection with their whole mind, deterred neither by the inhospitality of the region nor ! Cf, Psalm Ixxxvi (Ixxxv). 2.

? Psalm cxix (cxviii). 57

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deterreret? factum est ut quidam latronum qui siluam incolebant ad eos diuerteret. Et admirans eorum

iii. 58

lii. 59

constantiam, et in Christi

seruitio perseuerantiam? ait, 'O monachi, que causa turbationis uos has partes coegit adire? Vel quomodo presumpsistis in tanta hospitari solitudine? Non optimum locum inuenistis. An nescitis quia hic est locus latronum! et non heremitarum? Huius nemoris incole rapina uiuunt, proprioque uiuentes labore consortes pati nolunt. Non diu tuti hic esse potestis. Preterea arua inculta et infructuosa, uestroque labori inuenistis ingrata." Ad hzc uenerabilis pater Ebrulfus ut erat uir eloquens? singula propositionum exsecutus respondit, ‘Vere frater non turbationis insolentia, sed cunctipotentis Dei huc nos appulit prescientia. Neque ex ulla usurpatione ad hzc deuenimus loca, sed potius ut liberius defleamus peccata nostra. Et quia nobiscum est Dominus, in eius tutela positi non timemus minas hominum, cum ipse dixerit, **Nolite timere eos qui occidunt corpus, animz non habent quid faciant."? Illud autem quod proposuisti ultimum de labore? noueris quia potens est Dominus seruis suis parare in deserto mensam refectionis. Cuius opulentiz particeps et ipse fieri potes, si prauitatem quam exerces deseris, et Deo qui uiuus et uerus est te famulaturum deuotissime spoponderis. Fili, noster namque Deus ut ait propheta, in quacumque die peccator conuersus fuerit, quzecumque operatus est mala obliuioni tradit. Ne ergo desperes frater de bonitate Dei propter immanitatem scelerum, sed admonitionem psalmographi sequens, “‘diuerte a malo et fac bonum",4 pro certo intelligens, quia "oculi Domini super iustos, et aures eius ad preces eorum".5 Sed et illud nolumus te ignorare, quod idem propheta personat continuo terribili relatione, "Vultus autem Domini super facientes mala, ut perdat de terra memoriam eorum." 6 Quod si diuinz pietatis intuitus presens adest iustis ut eorum preces exaudiat, patet proculdubio quia diuertitur ab iniustis, ut eorum quandoque impudentiam potenter puniat." * Vita A (1) describes the forest as ‘cursus Suauorum' (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, P- 433), and Vita A (2) as ‘saltus seuorum' (Alencon MS. 11, f. 143). ? Cf. Matt. x. 18, and Luke xii. 4.

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273

the ferocity of the wild animals, it chanced that one of the robbers who dwelt in the forest came upon them. Amazed by their resolution and perseverance in the service of Christ, he said, ‘Monks,

what disturbance has driven you to this region? How can you venture to make your home in such a wild place? You have chosen a spot that is the reverse of perfect. Do you not know that this is a place for brigands,! not for hermits? The dwellers in this forest live by plunder, and will not tolerate neighbours who live by their own labour. You cannot possibly be safe here for long. And besides this, the ground is barren and untilled and you get little return for all your toil.’ To this the holy father Evroul, who was a man of eloquence, replied, taking up each point in turn: “Truly my brother it was no sudden disturbance, but the providence of almighty God that brought us here. Nor did we come to this place to expropriate anyone, but only to be free to bewail our sins. And because the Lord is with us we are in his hands and do not fear the threats of men, for he himself has said, "Fear not them which kill the body,

and have no more that they can do against the soul."? As for what you say about toil, let me tell you that the Lord has power to prepare a table for the refreshment of his servants in the desert. You too can become a partaker in this plenty, if you renounce your present evil-doing, and give yourself up whole-heartedly to the service of God, who is life and truth. For, my son, as the prophet relates, in the self-same day that the sinner turns from his wickedness, our God will forget all his transgressions that he has committed. Therefore, my brother, do not fear that you are beyond the reach of God’s goodness because of the magnitude of your transgressions, but follow the precept of the psalmist and “depart from evil and do good’’,+ knowing for certain that “‘the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers".5 But I would not have you ignorant that the same prophet goes on to proclaim a terrible truth, ‘““The face of the Lord is against them that do evil, to cut off the remembrance of them from the earth." 6For if God in his mercy is present to hear the prayers of the righteous, then assuredly he turns away from the unrighteous, so that he may punish their wickedness at the proper

time.’ 3 Adapted from Ezekiel xviii. 21-2.

4 Psalm xxxiv. 14 (xxxill. 15).

5 Psalm xxxiv. 15 (xxxiii. 16).

6 Psalm xxxiv. 16 (xxxiii. 17).

274

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Tunc ille in his sermonibus superna compunctus gratia’ reuersus est ad propria. Mane autem facto renunciatis omnibus quae habebat, deportans secum tres tantum subcinericios panes et fauum mellis, citato calle repedauit ad seruos Dei. Et procidens ante pedes sancti Ebrulfi, protulit eulogias benedictionis. Moxque sancto afflatus spiritu, emendatiorem uitam pollicitus? ibidem adeptus est monachilem professionem primus. Quem imitantes multi eiusdem siluz latrones, per admonitionem beati uiri aut fiebant monachi,

aut deserentes latrocinia efficiebantur

cultores

agri. Ex uicinis etiam locis fama diuulgante beati uiri nomen et meritum, nonnulli ueniebant ad eum" desiderantes eius contem-

plari angelicam faciem, et iocundissimum audire sermonem. Cumque ei administrarent quae corpori erant necessaria? refecti spiritualibus cum

iii. 60

alacritate mentis

remeabant

ad sua.

Quidam

autem ex ipsis ut meruerunt perfrui eius colloquio? deprecabantur ascribi tam spirituali collegio. Iamque propter frequentiam uenientium, predicta silua solitudinis amiserat uocabulum. Accrescente itaque numero fratrum, accrescebat et in beato Ebrulfo gratia uirtutum. Patientize quippe singularis? abstinentize erat preedicabilis. Creber in oratione? hilaris in exhortatione. Prosperitate nesciebat extolli’ aduersitate non poterat frangi. Quod ei deferebatur a populo fideli? pauperibus qui ad eum confluebant mandabat distribui, dicens non oportere monachos aliqua de crastino sollicitudine angi. Quadam igitur die deficiente copia panis, pauper ad ianuam ueniens elemosinam postulare cepit. Qui cum denegantem se habere quod largiri posset ministrum inclamaret/ uenerabilis pater ait, ‘Frater, quare neglegis clamorem pauperis? Da, quaeso elemosinam inopi.’ At ille, ‘Non habeo’ inquit ‘pater nisi dimidium panis, quem reseruo paruulis nostris. Nam cetera secundum iussum tuum erogaui.' Cui ille, *Non debes hesitare fili. Num legisti prophetam dicentem, "Beatus qui intelligit super egenum et pauperem, in die mala liberabit eum Dominus" ?! Nunquam sane desinet fidelis conditor pascere, pro quibus dignatus est affixus cruci preciosum sanguinem impendere.' ?His a uenerando patre IsPsalm xin

clem)?

? From ‘His a uenerando' to ‘praedium illud possederunt on p. 276 is inter-

polated by Orderic.

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The robber, pierced to the heart by divine grace at these words, went back home. But when morning came, renouncing all that he had and taking with him only three loaves baked in the ashes and a honey-comb, he came hurrying back to the servants of God. Flinging himself at the feet of St. Evroul, he offered these as a postulant’s gift. Soon afterwards, inspired by the Holy Spirit, he promised to lead a better life, and was the first to be received there as a monk. Following his example many robbers dwelling in the forest, hearing the holy man’s counsel, either became monks or renounced their depredations and became tillers of the soil. And

as reports of the name and merits of the holy man were spread abroad in the region around, many came to him, desiring to gaze upon his angelic face and to hear his words of good cheer. When they had provided him with bodily necessities they returned home glad at heart and refreshed with spiritual food. Some of them indeed begged to be admitted to his spiritual community, so that they might earn the right to profit from his discourse. So because of the numbers who came flocking there the forest ceased to be regarded as a place of solitude. As the numbers of the brethren grew, the spiritual grace in St. Evroul grew with them. For he was remarkable in his patience, commendable in his abstinence, assiduous in prayer, joyful in exhortation. He was neither elated by prosperity nor cast down by adversity. Whatever was brought to him by the faithful was distributed at his command amongst the poor who flocked to his doors, for he said that it did not become monks to be concerned with any thought for the morrow. One day, when the supply of bread was almost exhausted, a poor man came to the door and began to beg for alms. When the monk in charge, to whom he applied, said there was nothing to give away, the holy father said, ‘My brother, why do you ignore the cries of this beggar? Give, I pray you, the alms due to the poor.’ But he answered, ‘I have nothing, father, except half a loaf which I am keeping for our own brethren. For I have given everything else away according to your bidding.’ To which he replied, “My son, you should not hesitate. Have you not read the words of the prophet, ‘Blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy: the Lord will deliver him in time of trouble”?! Assuredly our true Creator will never cease to feed those for whom,

nailed to the

cross, he deigned to shed his precious blood.’ *Hearing the holy

276

lii. 61

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auditis, minister dimidium panis quem reseruauerat paruulis’ uni famulorum tradidit dicens, ‘Cito uade et pauperi largire, sed noli eum reuocare.' Qui iussis optemperans tamdiu cucurrit donec egenum fere uno stadio a monasterio remotum reperit. Cui cum diceret, Accipe domine elemosinam quam tibi abbas mittit"? ille baculum quem manu gestabat in terra defixit, Deoque gratias agens ambabus manibus agapen suscepit. Cumque de humo baculum abstraxisset, nec adhuc elemosinz portitor de loco recessisset, subito fons magnus cuspidem baculi secutus erupit, qui usque in hodiernum diem ebulliens ibidem fluit. In quo loco multe infirmorum sanitates patrate sunt: et de longinquis regionibus febricitantes pro desiderio curationis illuc asciti sunt. Per uisum etiam pluribus iussum est? ut pro salute nanciscenda Vticensem saltum quzererent, et de sancti Ebrulfi fonte qui manat ilic biberent.! Plures igitur de Burgundia uel Aquitania seu de aliis Galliarum regionibus exierunt, Vticum cum summa difficul-

tate quesierunt, et uix quia tunc locus ille obscurus erat uti desertus indagantes inuenerunt. et inde cum

iii. 62

Tandem

sancti nominis

inuento fonte cum hausissent,

inuocatione

fideliter bibissent,

seu

caput uel alia membra lauissent, recepta sanitate gaudebant, Deoque gratias agentes ad propria leti redibant. Hzc ibidem per multa secula frequenter usque ad tempora Henrici regis Francorum agebantur? dum post deuastationem Danorum? raro cultore Vticensis pagus incolebatur. l'unc quidam pagensis nomine Berengarius ex paterna successione illud rus suscepit, et ne aduentantes infirmi sata sua deuastarent fontem sepe circumclusit. Dolens namque ruricola crebro irascebatur, quod prata et orti et alia quz in circuitu habebantur, ab extraneis qui causa salutis illuc confluebant conculcabantur. Ab eodem tempore miracula sanitatum ibidem fieri cessauerunt, quandiu prefatus Berengarius et haeredes eius Leterius et Guillelmus atque Geruasius praedium illud possederunt. _' The place, about a furlong from the abbey, is called the Fontaine-Saint-

Evroult. In the mid nineteenth century it was still frequented by pilgrims and Sick persons (Le Prévost, iii. 60 n. 3).

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father speak thus, the minister gave the half loaf he had kept back for the brethren to one of the servants, saying, ‘Go quickly and give this to the beggar, but do not call him back.’ Obeying his commands the servant ran until he caught up with the beggar almost a stade from the monastery. When he said to him, ‘Master, receive

these alms that the abbot sends you’, the poor man fixed the staff that he was carrying in his hand in the ground, giving thanks to God and taking the charitable gift with both his hands. As he withdrew the staff from the ground, before the bearer of the alms had left the place, a great spring of water suddenly gushed from the earth where the point of the stick was withdrawn; and it bubbles up and flows from there to this very day. There many cures of the sick have been worked and sufferers have come from far and wide in search of relief. Many have been commanded in visions to journey to the forest of Ouche and to drink from the fountain of St. Évroul which flows there in order to recover their health.! So many have set out from Burgundy and Aquitaine and other provinces of Gaul, seeking the forest of Ouche with great difficulty, and barely succeeding in finding it, for the place, being then a wilderness, was little known. But finally, when they had found the spring and drawn water from it, and believing and calling on the saint’s name had drunk from it or washed their head or other limbs, they were made whole and returned home full of gladness, rejoicing and giving thanks to God. Such miracles were frequently performed there for many centuries up to the time of Henry, king of France, when as a result of

the Danish? devastation only a scanty population remained to till the soil in the region of Ouche. At that time a certain countryman called Berengar inherited the land there, and he enclosed the spring with a hedge to prevent the sick from damaging his corn when they came there. For this peasant was often distressed and angered because his fields and orchards and other property round about were trampled under foot by strangers flocking thither in search of a cure. From that time miracles of healing ceased to be performed there, for as long as Berengar and his heirs Lether and William and Gervase held this property. 2 This is probably a slip of the pen: Orderic made it clear elsewhere (below, pp. 314ff.) that the monastery itself was destroyed and the region ravaged in the civil wars of the tenth century, not by the Danes. Danish raiders occasionally

penetrated to the region from the mid ninth century, but these devastations were intermittent. 822219X.

U

278

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Erogato itaque a sancto Ebrulfo pane pauperi, ecce ante solis occasum uisus est astitisse pro foribus cellulz quidam clitellarius, pane et uino sufficienter onustus. Qui uero eum adduxerat? dicens se feneratorem! esse, ministrum aduocauit. Cui tradens que detulerat ait, "Vade frater, et da tuo abbati. Quo dicto, uelut iter accelerans equum ascendit, et festinus abscessit. Cumque pater personam datoris requireret? responsum est ei quanta celeritate discessisset. Intellexit ergo hzc sibi a Deo delata fuisse. Et exhilaratus spiritu gratias egit pietati eius immense, qui multiplicat misericordiam suam seruis suis, et reddit plura pro paucis. Ab illo uero die nunquam defuit illis? quod poscit usus humanz fragilitatis. Sed cum paulatim pio domino prestante auxilium, temporalibus bonis augmentari cepissent? duo seui latrones ex alia prouincia audientes multiplicari eorum substantiam, direxerunt gressum ad beati uiri cellulam. Et assumpto grege porcorum, cum siluam egredi festinarent? reciprocato itinere ipsam heremum ceperunt circumire. Et non inuenientes liberam exeundi potestatem: obiii. 63 stupefacti cur hoc contingeret, et iam errando fatigati audierunt signum, quo fratres acciti conuenirent ad consuetz orationis studium. Ad cuius sonitum nimio terrore perculsi sunt? et relictis porcis ad hominem Dei uelociter accesserunt, et confessi crimen quod egerant, facti sunt ei monachi. Verum ad commendandam illustrem gloriam magistri? non illud tacendum esse duximus, quod per quendam discipulorum eiusdem honorificentissimi uiri, exhibuit precellens gratiam septiformis spiritus. ^Coruus namque qui prope monasterium nidificauerat? oua furtiue rapiebat. Et per insertam fenestram refectorium intrans omnia turbabat, nidoque suo quod tollere posset asportabat. Tunc unus ex fratribus cuius hoc erat officium, simpliciter orans inquit, ‘Domine uindica nos de aduersario, qui aufert quod nobis donat tua miseratio.' Nec mora reppererunt uolucrem sub arbore mortuam, qua sibi collocauerat nidum. Sic quicquid eis nocere uoluit, aut cito periit? aut poenitens melioris propositi habitum

recepit. ! A penitent usurer, making restitution. usurer.

Vita A (r) calls him a Christian

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After St. Evroul had given away the bread to the beggar, behold! before sunset a pack-horse was seen to stop before the doors of the cell, laden with a sufficient supply of bread and wine. The man who had brought it asked for the brother in charge, saying that he was a usurer.' And handing over what he had brought he said, ‘Go, brother: give this to your abbot.’ Then he mounted on his horse as if hastening on a journey, and departed in an instant. When the abbot asked to see the benefactor he was told how quickly he had gone on his way. Then he knew that these gifts were sent him from God. And rejoicing in spirit he gave thanks to the God of boundless compassion, who multiplies his mercy towards his servants and gives so much for so little. From that day they never lacked the necessities that human frailty requires. But as little by little through the good Lord's help their temporal goods increased, two fierce robbers from another province who had heard of the increase in their property made their way to the holy man's cell. Driving off a herd of pigs they tried to hurry out of the forest, but instead began to wander in a circle through the trackless waste. Unable to find a way out they were bewildered at what was happening; and at last, worn out with wandering, they heard the bell by which the brethren were regularly summoned to prayer. Panic-stricken at the sound, they abandoned the pigs and hastened to find the man of God. After confessing the crime they had committed, they became monks. Truly, in order to show the full glory of the master, we ought not to pass over in silence something which the grace of the sevenfold spirit brought to pass through a disciple of this illustrious man. 2For a jackdaw which had built its nest near to the monastery used to carry off eggs secretly. Entering the refectory through a windowopening it disturbed everything and took off to its nest whatever it could carry. Then one of the brethren who was in charge made a simple prayer, saying, 'O Lord, deliver us from our adversary, who carries away what thy mercy bestows on us.' Almost at once they found the bird dead under the tree where it had made its nest. So whatever or whoever sought to harm them either perished speedily or, becoming penitent, turned to a better way of life. 2 This miracle, of a type common

in saints’ lives, does not occur in Vita

A (1). The account of monastic life given there suggests that the monks lived

in separate cells, meeting only for common worship; it is by no means certain that they had a refectory in Évroul's lifetime.

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Igitur cum omnium inspector Deus gloriosum certamen Ebrulfi dilecti sui clementer aspiceret: cor illius fidei soliditate roborauit, iii. 64 quatinus perseuerans in bono opere, exemplum fieret caeteris regularis discipline. Qui licet uehementer arderet adire remotioris deserti loca, et hominum declinare consortia? prudentiori tamen consilio deliberauit praesens prodesse exercitui, cuius dux atque magister extiterat propositi. Metuens uidelicet si se fundamenti auctor subtraheret/ opus edificii propter nouitatem aliquatenus uacillaret, praecauebat? ne dum sibi locum quietis prouideret? aliis detrimentum foret. Perstitit ergo princeps agonizantis exercitus et in acie ut miles pugnans, et extra aciem ut fortis ductor per incrementa uirtutum sese proferendo sublimans. Cuius celeberrima sanctitatis opinio plurimas percurrens prouincias; ad eiusdem professionis luctamen? felices et strenuas Deumque metuentes personas illexerat. Tradebant autem beato uiro domos, praedia, possessiones et familias, rogantes ut eis monasteria zdificari preciperet, et ordinem quem uellet uitz sollers pastor imponeret. Quorum petitionibus uir sanctus adquieuit, et xv monasteria uirorum seu mulierum regulariter instituit,! et singulis probatissimz uite personas praefecit. Ipse autem proprio cenobio quod prius zedificauerat praefuit? in quo iugiter in Dei seruitio permansit, exhortans fratres ad altiora progredi? et pertimescere multiformes insidias diaboli. ?Fama sanctitatis tanti patris peruenit ad aures principum" qui temporibus illis frena regni rexerunt Francorum, qui nuper summissi fuerant leni iugo Christianorum.3 Clotharius enim senior annis quinquaginta et uno regnauit, iii. 65 moriensque iiii filiis suis regnum in tetrarchias diuisum reliquit. Karibertus itaque Parisius, Hilpericus Suessionis, Guntrannus Aurelianis, et Sigisbertus Mettis? regni sedem sibi collocauit. Sigisbertus autem qui iunior omnibus erat primus omnium duxit uxorem, filiam scilicet regis Galicie Brunichildem, que peperit ^ MS Praecauebat

> luctam, Vita B

! The fifteen ‘monasteries’ of men and women are mentioned in all versions

of the

Vita, but no

names

are

suggested.

Attempts

to identify

them

(e.g.

J.-B. N. Blin, Vies des saints du diocése de Séez (Laigle, 1873), pp. 529-30) rest on later traditions and are purely conjectural.

;

? There is a long interpolation in Orderic's account from ‘Fama sanctitatis’ to 'falsitatis utiliter compaginabo' on p. 292. The historical sketch helped to perpetuate the chronological errors of the Annals of Saint-Evroul (Le Prévost,

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zd

So as all-seeing God looked with favour on the glorious conflict of his beloved Évroul he fortified his heart with the strength of faith, enabling him by persevering in good work to become an example of regular discipline to others. Ardently as he desired to move to a more remote part of the wilderness and escape the society of men, nevertheless he resolved by wiser counsel to remain with his band of followers and help them, since he had become the leader and master of their way of life. As he feared that if he who had laid the foundations withdrew, the house itself, being barely established, might totter, he took care not to cause harm to others by seeking a retreat for himself. So he persevered as the commander of the army in its conflicts, both fighting himself as a soldier in the line of battle, and at times as a valiant leader raising himself to direct the battle line by force of his virtues. As the great fame of his holiness spread through many provinces it drew brave and fortunate and God-fearing persons to take part in the same struggle that is the monastic life. So they gave up to the blessed man

houses,

estates, possessions,

servants,

asking him to have

monasteries built for them, and as a wise founder to lay down for them whatever rule of life he wished. The holy man granted their requests and established fifteen monasteries of men and women following a monastic rule,! placing persons of exemplary life in charge of each one. He himself governed his own monastery which he had first built, and remained there faithfully serving God, exhorting the brethren to achieve greater perfection and to shun the manifold wiles of the devil. ?Reports of the holiness of this famous abbot came to the ears of the princes who in those times held the reins of government in the kingdom of the Franks, who had recently submitted to the easy yoke of Christianity.? Chlotar the elder reigned for fifty-one years, and at his death left his kingdom divided into tetrarchies to his four sons. Each set up the seat of his government, Charibert at Paris, Chilperic at Soissons, Guntram

at Orleans, and Sigebert at Metz.

Sigebert,

the youngest of all, was the first to marry, taking as his wife Brunechildis, daughter of the king of Galicia, who bore him v. I46—7); and contains many other errors whose sources are unknown, as well as some plausible traditions. Bertha was a daughter of Charibert, king of Paris; Orderic may have misunderstood the ‘de gente Francorum regia’ of Bede (HE i. 25). His inclusion of Bova (Sainte Beuve) may be due to a misunderstanding

of Flodoard, Historiae Ecclesiae Remensis Libri Quatuor, iv. 38. 3 Cf. Matthew xi. 30.

282

ili. 66

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ei Childebertum regem, et Ingundem Herminegeldi Guissigothorum regis et martiris coniugem, et Bertam Adelberti Cantuariorum regis uxorem, atque Bouam Deo sacratam uirginem. Deinde post octo annos fraude Hilperici fratris sui occisus est, et Childebertus adhuc puer cum Brunichilde matre sua regnum adeptus est, quo fere xxv annis fortiter ut in gestis eius legitur! potitus est. Qui postquam multos labores perpessus ueneno periit, Teodeberto et Teoderico filiis suis duas tetrarchias patris uidelicet sui et Guntranni patrui sui dimisit, cum quibus Lotharius magnus Chilperici filius fere xx annis inimicicias exercuit. ‘Tandem Teodebertum regem bello peremit, et uetulam Brunichildem ad caudas equorum indomitorum crudeliter ligari fecit, potentem reginam cui quondam Gregorius papa ut in gestis pontificalibus et registro declaratur? suppliciter fauerat frustatim discerpsit. Sic nimirum omnibus emulis de medio ablatis monarchiam Francie solus optinuit, moriensque Dagoberto filio suo cuius gesta Francis notissima sunt reliquit. In illo tempore dum isti Gallis principati sunt? Romanum imperium [lustinianus et lustinus minor tenuerunt, Tiberius quoque et Mauricius, Focas et Eraclius. Apostolicam uero sedem

iii. 67 tunc rexerunt Hormisda et Iohannes, Felix et Bonifacius, Iohannes

et Agapitus, Siluerius, Vigilius et Pelagius, Iohannes et Benedictus,

Pelagius et magnus doctor Gregorius, Sabinianus et Bonefacius, Deusdedit

et Bonefacius,

in solennitate

Omnium

Sanctorum

famosus. In diebus illis Rotomagensem metropolim tenuerunt Flauius et Przctextatus, Melantius et Hildulfus, celebrisque proles Benedicti Romanus. Hzec de cronicis rimatus hausi, lectorique meo satisfacere uolens breuiter annotaui, ut satis eluceat quibus temporibus octogenaria floruerit in mundo uita sancti patris Ebrulfi. Nunc ad quadam nitor enarranda regredi, quz non scripto sed seniorum relatione didici. In nimiis enim procellis quee tempore Danorum enormiter furuerunt, antiquorum scripta cum basilicis et zedibus incendio deperierunt, qua feruida iuniorum studia quamuis insatiabiliter sitiant recuperare nequeunt. Nonnulla uero quz per diligentiam priscorum manibus barbarorum sollerter surrepta sunt? damnabili * 'The authority is uncertain. Childebert reigned only from 575 to 596. ^ Gregory the Great addressed many letters to her as queen of the Franks, on miscellaneous church business. Cf. MGH Epp. ii. 496 for references; and for her life The Fourth Book of the Chronicle of Fredegar, ed. J. M. WallaceHadrill (Edinburgh, 1960), pp. 12-35.

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Childebert the king and Ingonde, wife of Hermingeld king of the Visigoths and martyr, and Bertha, wife of /Ethelbert king of Kent, and Bova who was dedicated to God as a nun. Finally after eight years he was killed by the treachery of his brother, Chilperic, and Childebert, who was a mere boy, ruled the kingdom with his mother Brunechildis, holding it valiantly for twenty-five years, as may be read in the records of his deeds. After many struggles he died by poison, leaving to his sons Theodebert and Theodoric two of his father's tetrarchies: namely his own and that of his uncle

Guntram.

Chlotar

the Great, son of Chilperic,

attacked

them repeatedly for about twenty years. Finally he slew King Theodebert in war, and cruelly caused the aged Brunechildis to be bound to the tails of wild horses, so that this mighty queen, from whom Pope Gregory had sought favour as the Acts of the Popes and his register bear witness,? was torn to pieces. So at last, having destroyed all his rivals, he ruled alone as king of the Franks; and at his death he left the kingdom to his son Dagobert, whose deeds are common knowledge among the Franks. In this period whilst these men ruled in Gaul, Justinian and Justin the Less, Tiberius and Maurice, Phocas and Heraclius

governed the Roman empire. At the same time Hormisdas and John, Felix and Boniface, John and Agapitus, Silverius, Vigilius

and Pelagius, John and Benedict, Pelagius and Gregory the Great the doctor, Sabinianus and Boniface, Deusdedit and Boniface, re-

nowned for establishing the Feast of All Saints, ruled the apostolic see. At the same time Flavius and Praetextatus, Melantius and Hildulf and Romanus, the famous son of Benedict, held the see

of Rouen. These facts I have sought out and taken from chronicles, briefly noting them for the information of my readers, so that they may know in what times the blessed father Évroul passed the eightyyear span of his glorious life on earth. Now I will turn back and try to relate some things that I have learned not from written sources, but from the oral traditions of old men. For during the terrible disturbances that accompanied the ravages of the Danes the records of former times perished in the flames, along with churches and other buildings; and all the ardent labour and desire of later men has been unavailing to restore them. Some things indeed, which were saved from the hands of the barbarians by the care of our forebears, have since perished (shameful to relate) by

284

iii. 68

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subsequentium neglegentia proh pudor interierunt, qui sagacem spiritualium profunditatem patrum libris insertam seruare neglexerunt. Codicibus autem perditis antiquorum res gestz obliuioni traditze sunt’ quz a modernis qualibet arte recuperari non possunt, quia ueterum monimenta cum mundo pratereunte a memoria presentium deficiunt, quasi grando uel nix in undis cum rapido flumine irremeabiliter fluente defluunt. Nomina locorum in quibus pater Ebrulfus xv monasteria construxit, et uocabula patrum, quos idem ccenobialibus turmis uicarios Christi praefecit uariis mutationibus rerum per cccc annos abolita sunt? quz sub multis principibus a Lothario magno et Childeberto contigerunt, qui usque ad Philippum et Ludouicum eius filium! in Galliis regnauerunt. Quzdam tamen annosi senes

iii. 69

uisa uel audita filiis ore facundo retulerunt, que nichilominus et ipsi tenacis glutino memoriz retinuerunt, et sequenti zeuo diuulgauerunt. Digna itaque relatu serentes fratribus suis insinuant, per qua dura mortalium corda creatoris ad amorem incitant, ne pro abscondito in terra talento cum torpenti seruo damnationem incurrant. Igitur quz priscis a patribus iamdudum puer didici auscultate, et mirabilem Deum in sanctis suis mecum magnificate. Dum longe lateque fama beati patris diffunderetur Ebrulfi? ad regis Francie peruenit aures Childeberti./ Qui nimio cupiens desiderio uidere illum, cum uxore sua? et aliquibus de familia sua perrexit Vticum. Cumque prope monasterium uiri Dei peruenisset, in locum scilicet ubi nunc basilica in honore beate Dei genitricis et uirginis Marie? constructa est? de equo reuerenter descendit, ac ut omnes ad obuiandum seruo Dei honeste se przpararent imperauit. Tunc clerici qui comitabantur ei uestimentis induti astiterunt, manus ad reliquias atque cruces quas super pallia posuerant miserunt, et easdem resumere uoluerunt, sed nullomodo mouere potuerunt. Vnde omnes nimio merore affecti in terram se prostrauerunt, et misericordiam domini suppliciter ^ Brunechilde erased and gap left in MS. ' This was written not later than August 1 137, the date of Louis VI's death. ? The name Childebert may have been provided by Orderic, in an attempt to date this legend. The tradition that he knew may have been a general one, relating simply to a Frankish king and queen; if the queen was named the most

BOOK VI

29.

the abominable neglect of their descendants, who took no pains to preserve the profound spiritual wisdom recorded in the writings

of the Fathers. With the loss of books the deeds of men of old pass into oblivion, and can in no wise be recovered by those of our generation, for the admonitions of the ancients pass away from the memory of modern men with the changing world, as hail or snow melt in the waters of a swift river, swept away by the current never to return. The names of the places where St. Évroul built his fifteen monasteries, and the names of the fathers whom he placed over the communities of monks as vicars of Christ, have all been lost

during the varied changes of four hundred years, under the many princes who have ruled over Gaul from Chlotar the Great and Childebert up to Philip and his son Louis.! But aged men passed on by word of mouth to their sons some of what they had seen and heard, and these in their turn preserved them tenaciously in their memory and transmitted them to the next age. They compose and relate to their brethren tales worthy of remembrance, and thus stir the stony hearts of mortal men to love of their Creator, lest by hiding their talent in the earth they should suffer condemnation along with the slothful servant. Hear now, then, what I as a boy

heard from the older monks, and magnify with me the wondrous works of God in his saints. Whilst the renown of the holy father Évroul was spreading far and wide it came to the ears of Childebert,? king of the Franks. He, desiring whole-heartedly to see him, came with his wife and some of his household to the forest of Ouche. When he had arrived almost at the man of God's monastery, he dismounted reverently from his horse in the place where the church built in honour of the blessed mother of God and virgin, Mary,? now stands, and com-

manded all to prepare to Then the clerks who were stood ready and took hold laid on altar-cloths, so as utterly to move them. At

meet the servant of God honourably. with him, putting on their vestments, of the relics and crosses which they had to lift them up again; but they failed this all, overwhelmed with grief, flung

likely name would have been Bathilde. There may be elements of historical truth in it: double monasteries or nunneries closely associated with abbeys (cf. Pavilly and Jumiéges) were common in the seventh century, and Queen Bathilde set an example of royal patronage of nunneries (W. Levison, England and the Continent in the Eighth Century (Oxford, 1946), pp. 22-3). 3 The church of Notre-Dame-du-Bois.

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deprecati sunt. Regina uero sese uoto constringens ait, 'Si iii. 70 omnipotens Deus dederit nobis potestatem, ut sacra que hic posuimus, sospites recipere possimus; in hoc loco uenerabilem zcclesiam in honore genitricis ipsius construi faciam.' His dictis clerici manus sacris apposuerunt:/ sed nichil profecerunt. T'unc regina nimis mesta cum lacrimis aiebat, ‘Scio peccata mea promereri? ut seruum Dei non possim contemplari. At tamen si per intercessionem ipsius sancti creator omnium Deus nos respexerit, et sanctas nobis auferre reliquias permiserit? altare marmoreum ex propriis sumptibus preparabo, et eidem faciam deferri beato.' Cumque ab ore hoc protulisset? omnes reliquiz per se ipsas motze sunt? quas accipientes obuiam uiro Dei cum gaudio processerunt. Iam enim beatus uir adunata fratrum turma ueniebat? et cum eo multitudo populi utriusque sexus in aduentu regis tripudians properabat. Susceptus itaque rex per triduum ibidem demoratus est. Tertio autem die sub cirographo xc et ix uillas beato Ebrulfo tradidit, ac ad suos inde letus lares remeauit.

Regina uero uoti sui memor in colle qui inter riuum Carentonz et siluam consistit? intemerate Dei genitrici Mariz honorabilem ecclesiam construi fecit, et altare marmoreum ut spoponderat uenerabili uiro transmisit, quod multis annis in eodem loco perdurauit. Deinde post multorum annorum curricula quidam homuncio partem eiusdem marmoris ad alium locum transferre uoluit, sed iii. 71 casu illud per medium fregit. Quod factum ut omnibus manifestaretur Deo displicuisse? non in longum passus est inultum manere. Nam antequam annus uolueretur? prefatus homo uita priuatur. In basilica quam retuli reginam condidisse, duz arz Deo sunt consecrate’ quarum una dicata est sanctz et indiuiduz Trinitati, altera uero intacte uirgini Christi genetrici. Fertur quod ibi cenobium fuerit sanctimonialium, necnon cimiterium monachorum

et sullimium uirorum, quorum illuc cadauera baiulabantur ad sepeliendum, quia in ualle palustris humus erat, et in hieme passim dum foderetur limpha mox scaturiebat, manansque foueam fons adimplebat. Vnde in predicta zede uirginis matris plurima insignis habitationis indicia panduntur, et usque in hodiernum diem honorabiles ibidem sarcofagi seruantur, qui spectabilium fuisse personarum sine scrupulo creduntur.! ! The church of Notre-Dame-du-Bois was built on a small hill, on the other side of the river Charentonne from the church of St. Peter. The ground between was marshy, and was later occupied by an extensive lake, as an eighteenthcentury plan of the forest shows (Orderic Vital et l'abbaye de Saint-Évroul (Société historique et archéologique de l'Orne, Alengon, 1912), pl. XXIII).

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themselves to the ground, humbly praying for God’s mercy. The queen further took a vow, saying, ‘If almighty God will give us the power to lift up unharmed these holy things which we have laid down, I will have a noble church in honour of his Mother built

in this place.’ When she had spoken these words the clerks laid their hands on the holy things, but to no purpose. Then the queen, greatly grieving, wept and said, ‘I know that my sins have made me unworthy to look upon the servant of God. Nevertheless if, through the intercession of this holy man, God the creator of all things will have mercy on us and permit us to take up these sacred relics, I will have a marble altar made at my own expense and brought to the holy man.’ No sooner were these words spoken than all the relics moved of their own accord, and taking them in their hands they went forward joyfully to see the man of God. But already the holy man himself was coming forth with a great company of the brethren, and a multitude of men and women also hastened with him to meet the king with gladness. So the king was welcomed and remained there for three days. On the third day he granted ninety-nine estates to St. Evroul in a charter, and returned home rejoicing. The queen, mindful of her vow, had a noble church built in

honour of Mary the virgin mother of God on the hill between the river Charentonne and the wood, and sent a marble altar to the

venerable man as she had promised. For many years it stood in that place. Finally, after many years had passed, some oaf wished to carry away a piece of marble to another place, but accidentally split it in half. God did not allow this deed to remain long unavenged, so that his condemnation might be revealed to all. For before a year had passed the man lost his life. In the church which, as I have related, the queen founded, two

altars were consecrated to God, one in the name of the holy and undivided ‘Trinity, the other of the undefiled Virgin Mother of Christ. Tradition relates that there was a cell of nuns there, and also a cemetery for monks and great lords. Their bodies were taken there for burial because the ground in the valley was marshy, and whenever it was dug in winter it soon became saturated with water, which oozed in to fill the trench. There are still vestiges of noble usage in the church of the Virgin Mary; and up to the present day fine tombs, which are believed without doubt to be those of eminent persons, are preserved there.!

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His ita se habentibus, ad ea narranda qua restant ueniamus. Vir Deo plenus ut frequentiam ad se aduentancium se ferre non posse uidit, suum digne monasterium ordinauit, latenter inde secessit, et in cripta quadam per tres annos ita delituit, quatinus a nullo monachorum penitus sciretur excepto uno nomine Malcho qui filiolus uiri Dei erat, caterisque familiarior archana eius nouerat. Cripta uero sub monte frondoso prope riuulum erat? et a monasterio fere dimidia leuga distabat. Diabolus autem omnium li. 72

lii. 73

bonorum

inimicus,

uidens

fratres in bonis

excrescere

operibus: nisus est eos ex felle malignitatis sue nequiter inebriare, et nefaria perturbatione omnes pariter contristare. Seditionem itaque inter eos quondam immisit, quz adeo conualuit? ut duo ex illis necarentur, et reliqui omnes inedicibili merore afficerentur. Filiolus ergo serui Dei ut insanabile sibi ulcus in corpore fratrum prospexit/ concito cursu ad archiatrum properauit. Quem cum uir sanctus uenientem conspiceret a longe: intellexit non sine causa illum tantopere festinare, ueniensque in occursum illius? sciscitatus est causam aduentus ipsius. Porro Malchus seriatim exposuit illi, quomodo fratres immissione daemonis in seditionem fuissent excitati. Quod cum audisset" zelo Dei succensus infremuit, et cum nuncio festinus accurrit. Cumque cenobio appropinquasset, et in locum ubi nunc ecclesia in honore ipsius condita stat aduenisset? omnia signa cenobii per se ipsa sonare ceperunt. Similiter de ecclesia beatee Mariz signa sonuerunt, et de basilica sancti Martini qui Elegans dicebatur, ubi parrochia conueniebat in loco qui Bercoteria uulgo nuncupatur.? Tunc diabolus animaduertens sanctum aduenire? adsumpta humana effigie cepit fugere. Quod cernens uir beatus ait ad filiolum suum, 'Videsne frater hominem illum currentem?' At ille, ‘Non uideo domine.' ‘Ecce’ inquit ‘diabolus in hominis formam transfiguratus aufugit, timens ibidem amplius remorari.’ Hzc dicens ' If there is any element of historical truth in the setting of this story, it underlines the eremitical leanings of St. Évroul. The account of his monastery in Vita A (1) states that the community lived in separate huts, the saint having

one that was ‘so wretched it was like a shepherd’s hut’ (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, Pp. 434-5). Also he may, like St. Columbanus, have taken refuge at times in

a more remote Merov. iv. 78).

retreat

(cf. Jonas,

Vita

Columbani

Abbatis,

MGH

SS

Rer.

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289

Having dealt with these matters, I will return to finish my narrative. St. Évroul realized that, fixed as his mind was on God,

he could not endure the constant society of those flocking to him; and after making suitable arrangements for his monastery he secretly withdrew from it. For three years he remained in a certain cave so securely hidden that scarcely any of the monks knew his refuge except one, Malchus by name, who was the holy man's godson and, being closer to him than the others, knew his secret thoughts.! The cave lay under the wooded hill near to the stream, and was about half a league from the monastery. Now the devil, the enemy of all good men, seeing how the brothers increased in good works, strove to fill them with the gall of his wickedness and bring suffering to all alike by causing a sinful disturbance. So on one occasion he stirred up faction amongst them, which became so violent that two were killed and all the rest plunged into unspeakable wretchedness. Since the holy man's godson saw that it was beyond his power to heal this running sore in the body of the brethren he ran with all speed to the physician. When the holy man saw him coming afar off he knew that he could not be making such haste without good reason, and, going to meet him, inquired the cause of his visit. Then Malchus told him the whole story of how the brothers had been stirred up into insubordination by the devil’s meddling. After hearing the account, burning with the zeal of God, he cried aloud and hurried back with his informant.

As he drew near to the monastery and had just reached the place where the church built in his honour now stands, all the bells of

the monastery began to ring of their own accord, and so did the bells of the church of St. Mary and the church of St. Martin called ‘the Elegant’, where the parish used to assemble, in the place commonly known as La Bercoterie.? When the devil perceived that the saint was coming, he put on human form and took flight. Seeing this the holy man said to his godson, ‘Do you see that man running?’ And he replied, ‘I see no one, master.’ ‘Behold,’ said the saint, ‘the devil, changed into the

shape of a man, flees away, fearing to remain here any longer.’ So 2 'T'he identity of this place is uncertain. One possibility is that it was Livetles-Bois, on the edge of the forest (Bibl. nat. MS. nouv. acq. fr. 21642, iii. 13). Bocquencé, where the church was dedicated to St. Martin, seems to be ruled

out by Orderic's statement that the place was called 'Bercoteria' (Le Prévost,

iii. 72 n. 1). 'The parochial boundaries in this forest region must have been very

ill defined in Évroul's own day.

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insequebatur Belial fugientem. Qui cum in illum locum qui nunc ab incolis Escalfou uocitatur peruenisset’ Sathan ulterius fugiendi licentiam non habens stetit. Beatus uero Ebrulfus audacter accessit,

in furnum ardentem qui coquendis panibus parabatur illum proiecit, et os clibani operculo ferreo quod ibi forte reperit, protinus obstruxit. Locus idem exinde ab euentu Escalfou uocitatus est. Hoc itaque mulieres quz panes suos ad coquendum detulerant ut uiderunt? obstupefacte uiro Dei domine de panibus nostris? Quibus

dixerunt, *Quid faciemus ille ait, 'Potens est Deus

absque corporeo igne panes uestros coquere. Plateam ante clibanum diligenter scopate, et seriatim panes uestros ibidem exponite, et cum ad plenum excocti fuerunt, ad proprias domos deferte.’ Quod ita factum est? cunctis Deum collaudantibus quibus hoc ostensum est. Deinde beatus Ebrulfus ad monasterium suum rediit, duosque fratres qui perempti fuerant coram se deferri preiii, 74 cepit. Prostratus autem in terram tamdiu precibus incubuit, donec ipsi a somno mortis excitarentur. Qui data confessione, et communicati dominico corpore: rursus spiritum exalauerunt, mirantibus cunctis et exultantibus qui hoc uiderunt.

Quos uenerabilis

pater honorifice tumulari iussit/ et de saluatione illorum certus Deo gratias deuotus reddidit. Heec et multa his similia seniores refertur exhibita per Ebrulfum, addentes quod grandzuum monachum uiderint nomine Natalem apud Vticum, qui grande uolumen habebat de miraculis et rebus gestis per sepefatum omnipotentis Dei famulum. Quondam dum missa finita est? ardens candela per incuriam super altare dimissa est. Incolis uero alia curantibus flamma lichinum usque ad mappulam altaris absumpsit, et ignis edax inde altaris linteamina casu corripuit, et librum cuius exemplar a nobis usquam reperiri nequit, et quzque ibidem comburi potuit, quz circa uel super aram erant concremauit. Omnes igitur irreparabile damnum de notitia przeteritorum planxerunt, et quia illiterati erant heremicolz non scripto reparauerunt, sed eloquio iunioribus de his quze uisu uel auditu perceperant intimauerunt. Ipsis quoque deficientibus ignorantiz caligo nepotes obtexit, et indaginem transactorum irretitabiliter abdidit, nisi ea tantum quze sollertia cuiusdam sophiste in uita sancti patris ad legendum in ecclesia strictim

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saying he pursued Belial in his flight. And when he had come to the place now called Echauffour by the country people Satan, being powerless to flee further, remained rooted to the spot. Then the blessed Evroul went boldly up to him, cast him into the red-hot oven which was being prepared to bake the bread, and immediately closed the mouth of the oven with the iron lid which lay to his hand. The place has since been called Echauffour to commemorate this event. When the women who were bringing their loaves to bake saw this they said in amazement to the man of God, ‘Master, what are we to do with our loaves?’ To which he replied, ‘God has the power to bake your bread without tangible fire. Brush the open space in front of the oven clean and there lay out your loaves; when they are well baked take them back home.’ This they did, and all who saw what happened rendered praise to God. Then the blessed Evroul returned to his monastery and commanded the two brethren who had been slain to be brought before him. Prostrating himself on the ground, he lay there in prayer until at long last they awoke from the sleep of death. Then after being confessed and receiving communion they once again rendered up the ghost, whilst all who were looking on marvelled and rejoiced. The holy father ordered them to be reverently buried and, assured of their salvation, devoutly offered thanks

to God. Old men tell these and many stories like them of the deeds of Evroul, adding that they had seen a very old monk called Noél in the abbey of Ouche, and that he had had a huge book of the miracles and deeds performed by this servant of almighty God. Once after mass was finished a burning candle was carelessly left on the altar. Whilst the members of the community were busy about other things the flame burned the wick down to the altar cover; the devouring flame by chance caught the altar cloth and burnt the book, of which no other copy has yet been found, and everything on the altar or near it that was inflammable. All lamented the irreparable loss of this record of the past; since the hermits were illiterate they could not replace it in writing, but they handed on to their juniors by word of mouth all that they had seen and heard. When they had passed away the darkness of ignorance covered their descendants, irretrievably hiding all knowledge of past events, apart from some things which, through the foresight of a certain learned man, had been collected into a short life of the

292 lii. 75

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congessit.! Nunc autem sicut principium eiusdem lectionis nostro inserui opusculo: sic etiam finem operum et uitze sine fuco falsitatis utiliter compaginabo. Elapso interea anno uicesimo secundo inchoationis eorum in ipsa heremo:? in eodem monasterio ab incursione insidiatoris

generis humani, pestifera clades subitaneze mortis ingressa adfuit. Beatus

uero

Ebrulfus

non

sicut

mercennarius,

qui in medio

luporum derelectis ouibus fugam arripuit? sed ut uerus pastor cum eis certamen iniit. Et implens apostoli monita? gaudebat cum gaudentibus,

flebat cum

flentibus.^

Quibus

uerba exhortationis

faciens ait, 'O fratres, roborate corda uestra? et estote parati. Viriliter agite et confortamini in Domino scientes quod tribulatio patientiam operatur. Renouamini spiritu mentis uestrz:7 et pugnate cum antiquo serpente. Sit uobis cor unum: et anima una? in Domino. Ecce appropinquat uocatio nostra, et manifestabuntur opera nostra, reddetque uerus arbiter prout exposcunt singulorum merita.9 Vigilate ergo et orate, quia nescitis diem neque horam.!° Beatus ille seruus, quem cum uenerit Dominus inuenerit uigilantem."! His et huiusmodi dominicis persuasionibus prudens

iii. 76 concionator conscientias fratrum conueniebat, adnectens etiam quz bonis gaudia, que male uiuentibus debeantur tormenta. Cum igitur uelociter interire cepissent, ut plenius beati uiri sanctitas claresceret? quidam ex fratribus Ansbertus nomine sine uiatico defunctus est. Custos autem eius ad abbatem ueniens ait, ‘Ora pater pro filio, rebus humanis miserabiliter iam egresso. Tua ei ducatum praestet oratio, cuius iter non muniuit salutaris hostiae communio.

Qua

de re beatus

Ebrulfus

semetipsum

multum

incusans quasi negligenter acciderit? ad thorum defuncti uenit. Et precedentibus lacrimis stratus in puluere? arma orationis que consueuerat arripuit. Postquam autem sibi sensit adesse diuini fauoris praesidium" surgens a terra inclamauit mortuum. Ad cuius * Orderic refers to Vita B, which in fact appears to be an expansion of the earlier Vita A (1) rather than an abbreviation of a longer history. Both the very old monk and the lost book were commonplaces of the foundation histories of the twelfth century (cf. L. G. D. Baker, "The genesis of the English Cistercian Chronicles’ in Analecta Cisterciensia, xxv (1 969), 26, for the histories of Byland

and Fountains Abbeys).

?^ Vita A (1) gives the date as the end of the twenty-first year, ‘completus esset annus uicesimus laboris eorum, et uicesimi secundi meta appropinquaret'

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saint for reading in church.! I have already inserted the beginning of this account of his life and works in my modest history, and will now add the end without dross of falsehood, for general use. Twenty-two years after the community had settled in this secluded spot,? a terrible pestilence broke out in the monastery through the machinations of the enemy of mankind. Then the blessed Evroul, not like a hireling who flees and abandons his sheep in the midst of wolves, but like a good shepherd, shared the strife with them. Fulfilling the behests of the apostle he rejoiced with them that did rejoice and wept with them that wept,^ and spoke to them with words of encouragement: ‘My brethren, strengthen your hearts and be prepared. Quit you like men’ and be strong in the Lord, knowing that tribulation worketh patience.ó Be renewed in the spirit of your mind,’ and fight with the old serpent. Be of one heart and one soul? in the Lord. Behold the hour is at hand, and our works shall be made known, and the just judge shall render to each according to his merits.? Watch ye therefore and pray, for ye know neither the day nor the hour.!? Blessed is that servant, whom the Lord shall find watching when he cometh."!: With these and similar precepts of the Lord the wise persuader appealed to the consciences of the brethren, describing what joys were in store for the good and what torments for evil livers. Then, as the mortality increased, so that the holiness of the blessed man might appear more clearly, one of the brethren named Ansbert died without the viaticum. The monk who was tending him came to the abbot and said, ‘Father, pray for your son who has just departed most wretchedly from this world. May your prayers guide him, since he has not been strengthened on his way

by the last sacraments.’ Whereupon the blessed Evroul, blaming himself bedside himself custom. him, he

as though it had happened through his fault, came to the of the dead man. First, weeping bitterly, he prostrated in the dust, and took up the weapon of prayer, as was his Then, when he felt the strength of divine favour within rose from the ground and called upon the dead man. At

(Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 435). It is unlikely that this pestilence can be dated, as Le Prévost thought (Le Prévost, iii. 75 n. 1); epidemics and the legends attached to them were common in early monasteries (cf. Vita Columbani in MGH SS Rer. Merov. iv. 78; J. Laporte, ‘Légendes de Jumiéges’ in Fumiéges, i. 44—5).

sa telohnixe 12: $ Romans v. 3. 9 Cf. Romans 822210X

ii. 6.

4 Romans xil. 13. 7 Ephesians iv. 23. 10 Cf, Mark xiii. 33. X

SETIGOT. |xVI. T3. 8 Acts iv. 32. 1 Cf. Luke xii. 37.

294

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qui lumen

VI

amiserat caput erexit et apertis oculis suze

libertatis intuens auctorem ait, ‘Bene uenisti liberator meus, bene

77)

uenisti. Me etenim quem inimicus sibi uendicauerat quia incommunicatum repperit, tua saluat oratio quz calliditatis eius argumenta soluit. Priuatus namque beatorum conuiuio sententiam exceperam, utpote non habens uiaticum miserz famis cruciandus supplicio. Qua propter benigne pater rogo ne differas, quin salutaris hostize me participem facias.' Quid multa? iubetur afferri sacrificium. Quod mox ut accepit, admirantibus cunctis quod reuixerat? prouida dispensatione Dei rursus spiritum exalat. Exultat gloriosus pater certior factus de salute fratris, exultant fratres collaudantes Deum, pro nouitate miraculi. Ille letatur quia fratrem ereptum morti per acceptam uitam uite remiserat’ illi gloriantur habere se patrem cuius ad preces infernus expauescat. Qui etsi imminentis pestis considerant periculum? minus tamen sub tali ac tanto duce iam formidant improuisz mortis interitum. Ac uero eodem mortalitatis urguente incommodo" mortui sunt ex monachis septuaginta octo. Sed et famulorum non minima multitudo. Ceterum quid de quodam eorum contigerit? non oportet preterire silentio. Ipso namque die dominice natiuitatis, ab uno . ualde necessario monastice rei ablata est anima. Qui diligenti studio funeris compositus? extra monasterium ubi locus erat sepeliendi asportatur, ibique eum deponentes expectabant, quatinus expleto missarum preconio sepulture traderetur. Flebat autem totius zcclesiz conuentus pro tanti famuli morte. Procurator quippe diligentissimus res fratrum amministrabat officiosissime.! Qua de causa nimio ab omnibus colebatur amore.

Cum

ergo pariter omnes flerent, beatus Ebrulfus spiritum sanctum tota mente concipiens infremuit" dolorique fratrum compatiens ad nota presidia recurrit, orationi incubuit, pectus uehementer cedit. Tamdiuque sese lacrimabiliter afflixit in prece donec pro quo precabatur famulus resurgeret, et gratias agens pro reddita uita, ante pedes resuscitatoris procumberet. Quo facto ad coelum clamor tollitur, nomen

sanctz trinitatis in commune

benedicitur, clarus

et apostolicus quia mortuos suscitauerit, apud cunctos Ebrulfus habetur. Qui autem uiuificatus fuerat, pristino restitutus officio, : Vita A (1) describes him simply as ‘unus ex famulis! and gives no details

of his office (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 436). In neither this nor the preceding miracle does the author of Vita A (1) explicitly say that Évroul tried to raise the dead;

the sound of his voice the man who had lost his life raised his head,

opened his eyes, and gazing on his deliverer said, ‘Welcome, my deliverer, welcome. For the enemy had claimed me as his own because he found me without communion, and your prayer, cutting through his cunning arguments, now saves me. Shut out from the feast of the blessed I was condemned, because I lacked the viaticum, to the torture of starvation. Wherefore, kind father,

I beseech you not to delay in allowing me to share in the saving host.' What more shall I say? Évroul had the host brought, and as soon as Ansbert had received it, whilst all marvelled that he

had been restored to life, by God's providence he once again gave up the ghost. Now the renowned father rejoices, being assured of the brother's salvation; the brethren rejoice, praising God for a new miracle. He is made glad because he has restored to life a brother saved from death by the life-giving Eucharist: they glory in having an abbot at whose prayers Hell itself trembles. Even though they know the dangers of the terrible pestilence, they are less afraid of destruction through sudden death under such a mighty leader. Indeed the mortality was so severe that seventyeight of the monks died, and no less a number of the servants. But I must not pass over in silence what befell one of these. For on Christmas day itself one very valued monastic servant breathed his last. When he had been carefully prepared for burial he was carried out of the monastery to the burial ground; and the bearers, laying him down, waited to bury him as soon as the celebration of mass was over. The whole community of monks wept at the death of such a loved servant. For as a most diligent steward he had taken charge of the business of the monastery with remarkable ability;! and for this reason he was greatly loved by all. So as all wept together the blessed Évroul, fixing his whole mind on the Holy Spirit, cried aloud and, pitying the brethren's grief, turned to his accustomed source of strength, prostrating himself in prayer and passionately beating his breast. He persisted in prayer and weeping until the servant for whom he prayed rose up and, rendering thanks for his restoration to life, fell at the feet of his saviour. At this a great shout was raised to heaven; all together blessed the name of the Holy Trinity, and Évroul was regarded by all as a true apostle because he had raised the dead. The servant who had been brought and the second at least reads like a case of premature diagnosis of death, which must have been common enough during early epidemies.

296

iii. 78

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VI

postea plures uixit annos. At demum annuente nutu superne pietatis? cessauit languor ille mortalis. Verum cessante infirmitate, non cessabat pius pastor pro defunctis exorare? intelligens quia uera karitas amplius laborat pro anima quam pro corpore. Qui licet canicie ueneranda canderet, nescius tamen cedere senectuti, aut orando aut legendo diem continuabat nocti, iuxta illud quod inter alia de beato uiro psalmista dicit, ‘Et in lege Domini meditabitur die ac nocte." Karitatis quidem igne repletus, in omni exercitio uirtutum persistebat adtentius. Peccantibus misericors, sui oris inuigilabat firmissimus custos. Cui neglecta suz cutis cura? tribus uicibus tantum in anno tondebatur coma.? Null unquam in ultione retribuit mala. Si quis aliquod dampnum de rebus transitoriis ei nunciasset? continuo respondebat, ‘Dominus dedit, Dominus abstulit, sit nomen

lii. 79

Domini benedictum.’3 Tanta ei uirtus reconciliandz pacis inerat, ut quicumque discordes ad eum uenirent, eius mellifluis mitigati sermonibus pacifici remearent. Omnes autem ad se uenientes tam nobiles quam ignobiles, pauperes atque peregrinos? hilari uultu recipiebat. Semper apud cunctos letissimus esse uolebat, raroque aut uix quem reciperet, absque quolibet munusculo a se recedere permittebat. Infirmi etiam per benedictionem eius sanitate recepta: benedicentes Deum redibant cum ingenti leticia. Cunctis denique beatum uirum petentibus optata proueniebat salus. Multi quoque quos adeo uexabat immanissima uis febrium, cum nequirent adire beatissimi uiri conspectum, missis legatis rogabant eius munificentiam, quatinus cinctorium quod sibi de funiculo parauerat, aut aliquid de sua ueste, karitatis gratia mererentur accipere. Qui ex fide hoc ipsum contingebant: et pristina donabantur sanitate. Quaedam materfamilias quam nullus medicorum sanare poterat, audita fama uirtutum beatissimi uiri, poscit eius fimbriam sibi per nuncium afferri. Quam cum acciperet: ipsa infirmitatem euasit,

et alii quamplures. Ecce medicus laudabilis, qui presens presentibus beneficia sanitatis impertit, et absens absentibus idem exhibere non desistit. Sentiunt uirtutem, qui eius non nouere faciem. Confluentibus itaque ad eum uniuersis certis ex necessitatibus aduenit etiam inter eos ex alia regione quidam pauperculus. Quem cum omni corpore attenuatum ex nimia infirmitate et curuatum ! Psalm i. 2.

*^ Vita A (1) says simply, "Tribus uicibus per annum tondebat comam capitis sui' (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 437). SMTobs2r

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back to life lived on for a number of years, taking up his former duties. At long last, by the will of God, the terrible epidemic

ended. But when the sickness ceased the pious abbot did not cease to pray for the dead, knowing that true charity strives rather for the soul than for the body. And although his hair was white with venerable age, he made no concessions to age, praying and reading far into the night in accordance with one of the sayings of the psalmist about the blessed man, ‘He will meditate on the Lord’s word night and day.’! Filled with the ardour of love, he persisted most diligently in the practice of every virtue. Merciful to sinners, he was a steadfast guardian of his own tongue. Neglectful of his own person, he cut his hair only three times a year. He never returned evil for evil to any man. If anyone brought him news of some loss of worldly things he invariably replied, “The Lord gave, the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.’3 He was such a wonderful peacemaker that if any disputants came to him they went away reconciled and appeased by his gentle words. He welcomed with a cheerful countenance all who came to him,

both high and low, pilgrims and poor. He always appeared radiant, no matter with whom he was, and very rarely did he allow anyone he had received to leave his presence without some small gift. The sick who regained their health through his blessing returned home rejoicing, rendering thanks to God. Some benefit came to all who visited the holy man. Many too who were vexed with serious fevers, who could not travel to the holy man's presence, sent messengers to appeal to his generosity, asking to receive a rope girdle that he had made for himself, or some part of his garment in the name of charity. And when they touched this in faith they were restored to their former health. A certain matron, whom no doctor was able to cure, hearing the report of the holy man's powers, sent a messenger to ask for the hem of his garment. When she received it she recovered from her sickness; likewise did several others. Here indeed was a marvellous

doctor, who gave the benefit of health to those he saw, and did not fail to provide the same for the absent. ‘Those who had never seen his face nevertheless felt his power. So, as men flocked to him for their various needs, amongst them came a certain poor little man from far off. When the holy old man saw him coming, bowed over his crutches with his whole body

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super crura piissimus senex cerneret incedere? dixit, ‘O frater, quomodo ualuisti explicare tantum laborem itineris, cum tanta debilitate afficiaris?’ Cui ille, 'Gemina' inquit ‘necessitate compulsus, tuam domine sanctitatem decreui adire, uidelicet ut et famelicum saties, et mediceris inualidum potestate qua preuales.' Quem

iii. 80

cum

ibi residere

iuberet?

continuo

sanum

reddidit,

et

faciens monachum ortolanum esse precepit.! Itaque qui duo petiturus aduenerat: trino munere se donari gauisus est. Famis itaque effugato periculo, incolumitatis inuenit remedium, et emendatioris uitz adeptus est propositum. Alius quoque pauper cum incolumis uenisset/ simulauit se zgrotum et quasi contractum, ut aliquid amplius inter alios acciperet. Sed mox ut ab homine Dei elemosinam suscepit, febre concussus est: quod finxerat certius ei contingente. Confessusque in ipso monasterio suze prauitatis consilium; infra paucos dies emisit spiritum.? Inter hzc igitur uirtutum insignia, cum iam Christi miles emeritus octoginta esset annorum" toto desiderio mentis cui deuote serulerat, faciem adoptabat contemplari. Seruum uidelicet arguens infidelitatis, qui presentiam uelit refugere domini. Qui febricitatus, nullum uisus est per xl et septem dies sumpsisse cibum, nisi aliquotiens Domini Ihesu corporis sacramentum, incessanter fratribus erogans quasi nichil inzequalitatis pateretur diuini uerbi misterium. Et dum ex uicinis locis religiosi uiri studio uisendi ad eum deuenirent, lacrimantesque precarentur, ut aliquid ex oblata karitate accipiens corpusculum dignaretur recreare? dicebat, ‘Silete silete fratres, nolite suadentes michi fastidium ingerere, quod nolo penitus. Neque enim terrenis epulis indigebat" quem Spiritus Sanctus intus alebat. Pascebatur quippe spe zternz suauitatis certus donari pro labore commercio beate immortalitatis. Denique instante die qua ei uoluntas erat dissolui et optato perfrui uultu creatoris, conuocauit fratres. Quos eius discessu merentes, et quid agerent mortuo pastore proclamantes" sic allocutus est, ‘Filioli unanimiter persistite, connexi uinculo karitatis.

Sit uobis in inuicem dilectio spiritualis. Non uos subripiat subdola fraus insidiatoris. Et quod promisistis Deo? implere studete. Sobrietatem

diligite,

castitatem

custodite,

humilitatem

tenete,

superbiam uitate, et alius alium in bono opere festinet preire. * In Vita A (1) the man, who appears to have been a starving peasant, slowly recovered his strength in the monastery, then began to work as a gardener, and

finally became a monk (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 437). 2 This story is not in Vita A (1).

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wasted from long sickness, he said, ‘My brother, how could you

endure the fatigue of a long journey, sick and afflicted as you are?” To which he replied, ‘Two needs drove me, my lord, to decide to approach your holy presence, one to have my hunger satisfied, the. other to be healed of my sickness by your power.' Évroul told him to remain there and soon healed him; receiving him as a monk he appointed him gardener.' In this way he who came to seek two gifts rejoiced at receiving three. For he was saved from starvation, recovered his health, and set out on the way to a better life. Another poor man who was in good health when he came pretended to be doubled up with sickness, in the hope of receiving more than the others. But as soon as he received alms from the man of God he was seized by a fever, and was afflicted in reality with what he had feigned. He confessed his greedy design in the monastery, and a few days later gave up the ghost.? Finally, when this veteran soldier of Christ had reached the age of eighty in the midst of so many proofs of his miraculous powers, he longed with his whole heart to see the face of the master he had served so loyally, considering that a servant must be guilty of treachery if he wished to fly from his lord's presence. Falling sick with fever, he was not seen to take any food for forty-seven days, except sometimes the sacrament of the body of Christ; but he ceaselessly expounded the mysteries of God's word to the brethren as though he suffered no affliction. And when men of religion from near by came to visit him, and begged him with tears to agree to take something from the alms that had been offered to restore his body, he said, ‘Peace, peace, my friends; do not weary me by asking what I utterly reject.' For he who was nourished by the Holy Spirit within had no need of earthly food. Indeed he was sustained by the hope of eternal happiness, certain of receiving after his labours the blessings of immortality. When at last the day he yearned for came, when he was to be freed and enjoy the long-desired sight of his creator, he summoned the brethren. 'To them, lamenting his departure and demanding what they could do when their abbot was dead, he spoke thus, *My children, stand firm together, united in the bond of love. May

spiritual affection bind you together. Never allow the hidden cunning of the enemy to deceive you. Strive to fulfil what you have vowed to God. Love moderation, preserve chastity, show humility, avoid pride, and seek to outdo each other in good works. Welcome

300

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Hospites et peregrinos benigno animo suscipite, propter illum qui dixit, Hospes fui et suscepistis me’’.’! Hzc et alia huiusmodi glorioso Ebrulfo perorante, data etiam pace? fratribus: sanctissima eius anima egressa est a corpore. Moxque tanta claritate enituit uultus, ut nulli dubium quin triumpharet spiritus liber in ccelestibus. Migrauit autem a seculo quarto kalendas lanuarii tempore Rodberti Sagensis urbis episcopi, anno uidelicet duodecimo regni regis Ildeberti. Quem fratres cum magna reuerentia in zecclesiam

deportantes, canentes,

tribus diebus

sanctum

ac noctibus

illius corpus

ymnos

et laudes

diligenter uisi sunt

Deo

custodisse,

expectantes conuentum seruorum Dei. Postquam uero compertum est, in predicta ciuitate excessisse rebus humanis consolatorem totius patrie? concurrunt omnes ad monasterium beato funeri

congaudentes interesse. Lamentabantur quoque pauperes uerum Dei pauperem, diuites diuitem, pueri patrem, senes senem. Commune nanque bonum omnibus merito communis habebatur luctus. Verum illud pietatis insigne, quod uir piissimus inter cetera egit lam fruens zeterna luce, non arbitror tacendum esse. Quidam

namque ex fratribus religionis et obeedientiz gratia perspicuus? in ipso monasterio iii. 82

seruiebat diaconii titulo sullimitatis./ Quem

pater ob sanctitatis prerogatiuam nimium dilexerat. Hic ergo cum uideret priuatum se tanto patre, nimio affectus dolore dicebat, 'Heu quid faciam miser? Cur destituis quem te fatebaris dilexisse pater? Qui tuis eram intimus consiliis, cur a te diuelli pateris? Quem tractabas ut filium, cur despicis ut exosum?

Sane

nunquam apud te promerui, ut ante me uelles sepulture tradi.’ Talia perstabat memorans, lacrimasque ciebat.5 Et ecce in ipsa nocte dominice circumcisionis, nutu diuino emisit spiritum, quod nimirum precibus beatissimi patris Ebrulfi constat fuisse gestum, uidelicet ne quem dilexerat huius mundi ludibrio subiaceret, et precantum uotis se promptissime affuturum demonstraret. Sicque monachus ille iuxta quod precatus fuerat? expositus est ad sepeliendum in crastino cum suo abbate. O mors ! Matthew xxv. 43.

2 Or possibly ‘gave the kiss of peace to the brethren’. 3 Vita A (1) (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 438): ‘quarto kalendas Ianuarii anno duodecimo Hildeberti regis . . . inter quintam et sextam horam . . .' There is no

mention of Robert bishop of Séez.

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strangers and pilgrims kindly, for the sake of him who said, “I was a stranger and you took me in’’.’! So as the holy Evroul spoke these things and others like them he blessed? the brethren and his pure soul left his body. Soon his face shone with such brightness that there could be no doubt that his spirit was free and triumphant in heaven. He departed this life on 29 December, in the time of Robert bishop of Séez, the twelfth year of the reign of King Childebert.3 ‘The brethren carried him to the church with great reverence, and for three days and nights chanted hymns and praises to God, and they appear to have guarded his holy body carefully as they waited for the assembling of the servants of God. When indeed it was learned in the city that the comforter of his people had departed from this world, all flocked to the monastery, eager to be present at the holy rites. The poor mourned one who was truly of God’s poor; the rich, one spiritually rich; the children, a father; old men, one who was old. For since all shared a common

good they were rightly united in a common grief. And now I am sure I must not hide one proof of holiness which the blessed man showed among others after he had passed to eternal joy. A certain brother, distinguished by his piety and obedience, served in the monastery with the title of chief deacon.* The abbot had loved him greatly for his remarkable holiness; and so, when the man realized he had lost such a father, he exclaimed, stricken with grief, ‘Alas, what can I do, wretch that I am? Why,

father, do you desert him whom you said you loved? Why do you suffer one who was in your inmost counsels to be separated from you? Why do you despise as a stranger one whom you treated as a son? Never, indeed, did I deserve this, that you should choose

to be buried before me.’ So as he stirred his memory tears gushed forth.5

And behold! on the night of the Lord’s circumcision, by God’s will, he yielded up the ghost. Truly this must have happened by the intercession of the blessed father Evroul, so that one whom he had

loved might not be submitted to the violence of this world, and also that he might show himself quick to answer the prayers of the faithful. In this way the monk received an answer to his prayer, and was taken the next day for burial with his abbot. O glorious 4 Vita A (1) calls him simply ‘quidam diaconus’.

5 Virgil, Aen. ii. 650 and vi. 468.

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gloriosa, quz preciosior consistit quam uita. Quod enim subripuit mundo: indubitanter ascripsit colo. Verum quantum possum conicere, melius fuit illi sic mori? quam de morte iterum ad mortem resuscitari. Nunc enim certus de salute, nullo timet contaminari

iii. 83

peccamine. Si resuscitaretur’ spe anxius laboraret dubio discrimine. Non ergo istud leuius accipiendum est, suprascripta mortuorum uiuificatione. Itaque uenerabilis pater Ebrulfus in basilica sancti Petri apostolorum principis quam ipse ex lapidibus zedificauerat/! in saxo marmoreo mirifice sepultus est. Vbi usque in hodiernum diem diuersi curantur languores, et prestante pio saluatore nostro merentibus proueniunt consolationes, cui est honor et potestas una cum Patre et Spiritu Sancto per omnia secula seculorum. Amen. IO

Ecce uitam sancti patris Ebrulfi ueraciter descripsi, eamque sicut a prioribus edita est, iccirco huic opusculo diligenter inserui, ut legentibus prosit tanti noticia patroni, Dominoque Deo placeat meus labor et affectus, qui satago propalare nutritoris mei gloriosos actus, ad laudem illius in quo uiuimus, mouemur et sumus.? Verum ex quo prefatus heros transiit e mundo, qui uel quot successores illi fuerint per cccc annos in Vticensi cenobio, seu quales euentus pertulerint prouinciales uel coenobitz penitus ignoro. Nam subsequenti tempore sicut iam in plerisque locis pleniter enodaui pirate de Dacia egressi sunt? et prius Hastingo ductore ac postmodum Rollone in Neustriam uenerunt, et Christiane fidei diuinique cultus ignari super fidelem populum immaniter debachati sunt. Nouiomum atque Rotomagum aliasque multas urbes et oppida uicosque concremauerunt, cenobia multa ingenti religione pollentia destruxerunt, pluresque innumeris cedibus regiones admodum deuastatz sunt’ et fugatis uel interfectis incolis ciuitates et uillae in solitudinem redacta sunt. In tanta desolatione inermes monachi quid facerent nescii sepe contremuerunt, in miseriis afflicti sedulo ploratu dolori suo satisfecerunt, finemque suum in latebris 1 Vita A (1) (Bodl. MS. Fell 2, p. 439) states that he had recently built the stone church. ? Acts xvil. 28. 3 Cf. above, ii. 6.

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death, more precious than life! Without doubt he whom the world lost was gained by heaven. Indeed I am wholly convinced that it was better for him to die thus than to be raised from death to death again. For now, sure of salvation, he does not fear the stain

of sin. If he had been restored to life he would have striven with anxious hope in a battle of doubtful outcome. So this miracle should not be thought less weighty than the raising of the dead men described above. And so the venerable abbot Evroul was buried to his glory in a marble tomb in the church of St. Peter, chief of the apostles, which he himself had built of stone.’ And there up to the present day various persons are healed of their infirmities, and those that mourn find consolation through the merits of our blessed Saviour to whom, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is all honour and power throughout all ages. Amen. IO

Now as you see I have given a true account of the life of the holy father Évroul, and have included it fully in this modest work as I have received it from earlier writers, so that readers may profit from their knowledge of this great patron and my labour and intention may be pleasing to God, since I strive to spread abroad the wonderful acts of my master to the glory of him in whom we live and move and have our being. But in truth I know nothing at all of the abbots who succeeded this holy man in the monastery of Ouche after his death, or how many there were in the next four hundred years, or what befell the monks and their neighbours. For in a later age, as I have fully described in several places,? pirates came out of Denmark and, led first by Hasting and then by Rollo, invaded Neustria and, being ignorant of the Christian faith and the worship of God, fell relentlessly upon the faithful people. They burned Noyon and Rouen and many other towns and fortresses and villages, and destroyed many monasteries where religion flourished. Many districts were wholly laid waste by repeated massacres, and cities and villages were left deserted as their inhabitants were slain or put to flight. Amid this terrible devastation the defenceless monks often trembled with fear, not knowing what to do, and in their afflictions they gave voice to their grief with continual lamentation, groaning as they prepared for death

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iii. 84 gementes prestolati sunt. Quidam uero intolerabilem barbarorum immanitatem metuentes ad extera regna fugerunt, ubi paganorum bellice uires nondum attigerant. Corpora quoque patrum suorum secum transtulerunt, quorum animz regnant cum rege sabaoth cui deuote in hoc seculo seruierunt. Scripta etiam de gestis eorundem patrum, et de possessionibus zecclesiarum, quae et quante fuerint uel a quibus date, fugitiui secum peregre asportauerunt, quorum magnam partem tot perturbationum procella rapuerunt, quz proh dolor in tantis motionibus tam periculosis irreparabiliter perdita sunt. i Hoc nimirum Gemmeticenses et Fontinellenses fecerunt, tristi-

que infortunio preuenti ablata nunquam reportauerunt. Gemmeticenses enim corpora sanctorum Hugonis archiepiscopi et Aichadri abbatis Haspas transtulerunt, quae in scriniis preciosis Camaracenses et Atrebatenses incole reuerenter usque hodie seruant et excolunt.! Fontinellenses nichilominus reliquias sanctorum confessorum iii, 85

Guandregisili abbatis, Ansberti et Wulfranni,?

archiepiscoporum Gandam portauerunt, que a Flandritis usque in hodiernum diem seruata magnae ibidem uenerationi sunt.? Similiter aliis pluribus contigere? quorum nomina singillatim proferre, aut pro inscitia quoniam omnia michi non comperta sunt omitto, aut pro nimia prolixitate fastidientia minusque necessaria protelare uerba deuito. De aduentu Normannorum et crudeli barbarie illorum Dudo Veromandensis decanus studiose scripsit, et Ricardo secundo Gunnoridis filio duci Normannorum destinauit. Guillelmus quoque cognomento Calculus Gemmeticensis monachus Dudonis materiam subtiliter replicauit, facete adbreuiauit, et successorum

iii. 86

actus usque ad subiectionem Anglorum adiecit, post certamen Senlacium narrationem suam consummauit, Guillelmoque regi sullimissimo suz gentis optulit. Ego autem sicut alii de sullimibus locis ad sullimes personas sullimia ediderunt, et res magnas ? Vulfranni erased, and rewritten in a slightly later hand

* The relics of St. Aicadre and St. Hugh were taken by the monks of Jumiéges to their priory at Haspres in the mid ninth century (see J. Thiron, ‘Les reliques de Jumiéges’ in J'umiéges, ii. 890; Annales de Fumieges, ed. J. Laporte, p. 82;

Gesta Episcoporum Cameracensium in

MGH SS vii. 461).

? The monks of St. Wandrille took refuge at Boulogne, Chartres, and elsewhere on at least three occasions during the Danish invasions of the later ninth century, taking their relics with them. The bodies of St. Wandrille and St.

Ansbert were taken from Boulogne to Ghent by Arnulf I, count of Flanders,

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in their hiding-places. Some, however, fearing the unspeakable

cruelty of the barbarians, fled to foreign lands, where the warbands of the pagans had not yet penetrated. They carried with them the bodies of their fathers, whose souls reign with the King of hosts whom they served faithfully in this world. As they fled they carried away with them the records of the lives of these fathers, and of the details of their monastic estates and the donors

who gave them; a great many of these were caught up in the storm of those evil times and, alas, were irrecoverably lost during all those terrible dangers. This in fact is what the monks of Jumiéges and Saint-Wandrille did, and through grievous misfortune they were never able to bring back what they had taken away. Thus the monks of Jumiéges transferred to Haspres the bodies of St. Hugh, archbishop, and Aicardre, abbot; and the men of Cambrai and Arras preserve them in precious reliquaries and venerate them to this day.! Likewise the monks of Saint-Wandrille carried the relics of the holy confessors, St. Wandrille, abbot, and St. Ansbert and St. Wulfram,

archbishops, to Ghent; and there they are treasured up to the present time by the Flemings, and are held in great veneration.” A similar fate befell many others, whose individual names I omit,

either through ignorance since I have not discovered them all, or to avoid the wearisome repetition of matters not relevant to my purpose. Dudo dean of Saint-Quentin wrote a careful account of the coming of the Normans and their cruel barbarism, and addressed it to Richard II, son of Gunnor, duke of Normandy. Furthermore

William called Calculus, a monk of Jumiéges, skilfully worked over Dudo’s material, aptly abbreviated it, added the acts of succeeding dukes up to the conquest of England, completed his narrative after the battle of Senlac, and dedicated it to William,

the supreme king of his people.? And I, following the example of others from high places who have published accounts of important in 944 for the re-founded abbey of Mont-Blandin. The name of St. Wulfram is interpolated in some later MSS., but it is doubtful if his body ever left the monastery (F. Lot, Etudes critiques sur l'abbaye de Saint-Wandrille (Paris, 1913), pp. xl-xlv, cxxxii-cxxxiii). Orderic may have had doubts about the evidence for the translation of St. Wulfram when he erased his name; a later hand

restored it. 3 For the work of Dudo of Saint-Quentin and William of Jumiéges see above, ii. 2-4, 78.

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magnifice gratis extulerunt? eorum exemplo prouocatus ad simile studium assurgo, et plurima iam dudum dictaui de monasterio, in Vticensi saltu tempore Guillelmi ducis postea regis honorifice restaurato. Nichil quippe de antiquis temporibus post transitum patris Ebrulfi scriptum repperire potui, ideoque precipue conabor litteris mandare que a senioribus audiui, qualiter corpus sancti confessoris de loco suo translatum est Ebrulfi. Lectiuncula siquidem reperitur apud Resbacum quam non satis approbo, edita nimirum ab auctore ignaro, cui non plene ut opinor patuit rerum et temporum certitudo.! Oportet ergo ut dum alterius relationi non adquiescam, illud quod a senioribus indigenis Vtici didicerim euidenti scripto detexam, qualiter et quando Francigenz preciosam uenerabilis Ebrulfi optinuerint glebam. Anno ab incarnatione Domini Dcccc°xLuI° postquam Arnulfus Flandrensis satrapa Guillelmum ducem Normannorum cognomento Longam spatam per proditionem occidit, et Ricardus Sprotaides? filius eius decennis ducatum Normanniz suscepit, hominiumque et fidelitatem cunctorum optimatum ante humationem patris Rotomagi accepit" Ludouicus rex Francorum cognomento Vltramarinus in Normanniam cum exercitu uenit, iii. 87 puerumque ducem secum fraudulenter Laudunum duxit, sub iureiurando Normannis promittens quod eum ueluti filium suum iii. 88 educaret, ac ad regendam rempublicam in aula regali erudiret.? Verum res alios exitus habuit. Ludouicus enim rex instinctu Arnulfi proditoris decreuit prefatum puerum occidere, uel amputatis membris ita debilitare? ut non posset ulterius arma gestare. Hoc itaque ut Osmundus pueri pedagogus per Iuonem de Credolio iii. 89 regis balistarium* agnouit, ex industria ei ut infirmum se simularet persuasit, simulataque infirmitate custodes minus sollicitos red-

didit. * This short treatise is the De translatione S. Ebrulfi abbatis Uticensis . . . in coenobium Resbacense (Mab. AA.SS. v. 226—7), probably written before the mid eleventh century by an anonymous monk of Rebais. It places the events some twenty years earlier than Orderic in the civil wars that began in the time of King Robert, 922-3. The evidence for the date is inconclusive, and Orderic’s dating has been questioned (cf. M. Philippe Lauer, Le Régne de Louis IVd'Outremer (Paris, 1900), p. 120 n. 4).

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matters for great people and chosen to sing the praises of famous deeds, undertake a similar task. I have already composed an account of the monastery worthily restored in the forest of Ouche in the time of Duke William, later king. But I have been unable to find any written records of the early days after the death of St. Evroul, and therefore I will make a special effort to record in writing the tradition I have received from my seniors about how the body of the holy confessor Evroul was translated from its resting-place. A short treatise can indeed be found at Rebais, which I do not

wholly approve, for it is written by an anonymous author who, it seems to me, was ill informed about matters and dates.! So, since

I do not accept the other man’s account, I ought to commit to writing what I have learnt from the older inhabitants of Ouche about how and when the French secured the precious relics of the

venerable Evroul.

In the year of our Lord 943, after Arnulf, count of Flanders, had treacherously slain William Longsword, duke of Normandy, and Richard, son of Sprota,? had succeeded to the duchy of Normandy and had received the homage and fealty of all the magnates at Rouen before his father's burial, Louis d'Outremer, king of the Franks, brought an army into Normandy and fraudulently carried off the young duke to Laon, promising the Normans under oath that he would bring him up as his own son and educate him for government in the royal palace.? But indeed the outcome was very different. King Louis, at the instigation of the traitor Arnulf, resolved either to kill the boy or by maiming him so weaken him that he could never again bear arms. When the boy's tutor, Osmund, learned this from Ivo of Creuil, the master of the royal

siege-train,^ he carefully instructed him to feign illness, so that by this stratagem he might make his guards less watchful. 2 Duke Richard’s mother was called Sprota by William of Jumiéges (Marx, [ E UAE gives here the Norman story of the minority of Richard I, based in substance on William of Jumiéges (Marx, pp. 45-55). It is full of legends. A critical account, using Flodoard and other Frankish sources, is given by Lauer, Le Régne de Louis IV, pp. 87-124. + This name is due to Orderic. In his interpolations in William of Jumiéges he called him Ivo of Belléme, adding ‘patre Willelmi’ between the lines (Marx, p. 152; Rouen MS. 1174, f. 124). Probably Ivo of Creuil was the grandfather of William of Belléme; cf. G. H. White, ‘The first house of Belléme’ in TRHS, 4th ser. xxii (1940), 68-70. White there suggests that though ‘balistarius’ could mean a crossbowman, ‘regis balistarius’ ‘may fairly be taken as equivalent to

*magister balistarum""'.

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Quadam die dum rex cenaret, et unusquisque sibi uel suis commoda procuraret? Osmundus fasciculum uiridis herbz sibi emit, in turrim sustulit, ducemque Ricardum inuoluit. Inde descendens ad hospitium suum festinauit? et coram equo suo herbam expandit, puerumque abscondit. Occumbente uero sole ipsum caute secum sustulit, et egressus urbem Codiciacum perrexit, ibique puerum ducem sub tutela Bernardi Siluanectensis comitis qui patruus eius iii. 9o erat dimisit. Bernardus uero Danus qui Normanniam tuebatur legatos in Daciam misit, et Haraldo Danorum regi mortem Guillelmi ducis et exheredationem prolis eiusdem mandauit. Mox ille cum magna classe properauit in Normanniam, iussu Bernardi a Constantinis susceptus biennio expectauit opportunitatem Gallis damnosam, et demum pro nece consanguinei sui etexulatione sobolis eiusdem exercuit ultionem truculentam. Nam Ludouicum regem orta in colloquio inter Danos et Francos seditione comprehendit, Herluinum et Lambertum aliosque xvi consules cum multitudine uulgi peremit. Interea dum Ricardus puer fere tribus annis exularet, iii. 91 et rex Francie sibi Normanniam penitus subiugatam esse putaret, timens ne Hugo magnus Aurelianorum dux Normannos adiuuaret, Oximos et Baiocas cum toto Constantiensi pago usque ad montem sancti Michahelis in periculo maris eidem donauit, et imperiose mandauit, ut ualida manu rebelles Normannos impeteret, et oppida eorum sibi strenue subigeret. Quod audiens cupidus marchio exultauit, foedera cum Normannis olim pacta libenter rupit, et regiones eorum magno cum exercitu hostiliter inuasit. Apud Guaceium propria cum familia ipse dux hospitatus est: et exercitus illius passim per prouinciam diffusus est. ''unc Herluinus cancellarius ducis et Radulfus de Dragiaco Vticum diuerterunt, et in cenobio sancti Ebrulfi confessoris hospitati sunt. Erant ambo religiosi? et in timore Dei studiosi. Tantorum itaque uirorum aduentu simplices monachi letati sunt, et omne illis officium karitatis pro posse suo benigniter exhibuerunt. Per capellas et oratoria sua atque priuatas edes eos familiariter deduxerunt, iii. 92 philacteriasque suas cum sanctorum reliquis ad sui damnum illis ostenderunt. Illi quidem tunc secreta monachorum reuerenter intuiti sunt? et oblatis muneribus atque orationibus recesserunt, * For the relationship of Bernard of Senlis to Duke Richard see Lauer, Le

Régne de Louis IV, p. 5 n. 2; G. H. White, in TRHS, xxii (1940), 89-90.

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One day, while the king was at dinner and everyone else was

making provision for himself or his men, Osmund purchased a bundle of green fodder, carried it up into the tower, and wrapped Duke Richard in it. Coming down the stairs he hurried to his lodging, spread the fodder in front of his horse, and hid the boy. At sunset he secretly took him with him and, leaving the town, hurried to Coucy, where he left the young duke in the care of Bernard, count of Senlis, who was his uncle.! Meanwhile Bernard the Dane, who was regent in Normandy, sent ambassadors to Denmark to take news of the death of Duke William, and the disinheriting of his son to Harold, king of Denmark. At once Harold sailed witha great fleet to Normandy; and, being welcomed by the men of the Cotentin at Bernard’s command, waited for two years to catch the French off their guard and finally took a grim revenge for the murder of his kinsman and banishment of his son. For when a quarrel arose during negotiations between the Danes and French he captured King Louis and slew Herluin and Lambert and sixteen other counts with a great multitude of lesser men. During this time, whilst the boy Richard was kept abroad for about three years, the king of France imagined that Normandy was wholly subject to his will, and gave Exmes and Bayeux and the whole Cotentin as far as Mont-Saint-Michel to Hugh the Great, duke of Orleans, for fear that he might otherwise help the Normans. He commanded him as his king to attack the rebellious Normans with a strong force and make a thorough conquest of their fortified places. This precept pleased the ambitious lord of the marches, and he readily broke the treaties he had made with the Normans and invaded their territory with a strong army. The duke himself with his household was quartered at Gacé, while his troops were scattered over the province. At that time Herluin, the duke’s chancellor, and Ralph of Drachy came to Ouche and lodged in the monastery of Saint-Evroul the confessor. Both were pious, God-fearing men. Consequently the simple monks welcomed their coming, and gladly offered them all the hospitality in their power. They escorted them as friends through their chapels and oratories and private buildings, showing to their cost their reliquaries containing the relics of their saints. At that time the guests reverently examined the treasures of the monks and after offering gifts and prayers took their departure: but a little later they returned like the Chaldeans to Jerusalem and 822219X

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sed paulo post uelut Chaldei in Ierusalem reuersi sunt? et uasa templi Dei et omnia preciosa eius crudeliter asportauerunt.! Hugo siquidem Magnus Oximos cum exercitu suo obsedit? sed bellica uis oppidanorum ei fortiter obstitit, et ne ultra procederet iter eius obstrusit. Rex autem Francorum Ebroicensem pagum nimia cum uirtute intrauit totamque Normanniam rapinis et incendiis depopulari cepit. Bernardus uero Danus ut hoc audiuit, certosque rumores de Neustrie desolatione comperiit anxius quod tam robustos, principes solus cum Normannicis uiribus bellando sustinere non posset callide perspexit, et perspicax ingenium qualiter anceps discrimen a se et a suis abigeret sollerter apponens exercuit. Protinus ergo regi occurrens supplex, ‘Quid est’ inquit ‘quod agis domine rex? Rem facis impiam, et dignitati tug prorsus incongruam. Num tota Normannia quam disperdis tua est? Ecce Rotomagus et aliz urbes cum uicis et oppidis iussui tuo patescunt, et omnes incolz diuites et mediocres tibi seruiunt, aliumque dominum non habentes te reuerentur et diligunt. Quis lii. 93

tibi dedit tam triste consilium, ut ferro malignantium pessundes tuum peculium, et diligentem te trucides populum? Maliuolus et infidus regiz maiestati comprobari potest, qui persuasionem ut proprias regiones ferro seu flamma deuastares tibi largitus est.' His aliisque lenibus uerbis cor regis emollitum est, et dimisso exercitu ipse rex cum Bernardo Rotomagum ingressus est. Ibi regem Bernardus cum ingenti ciuium tripudio suscepit, dapsile conuiuium preparauit, ipsumque per plurimos dies cum summo fauore detinuit. Cumque rex quadam die post prandium in aula principali resedisset, et cum assidentibus sibi letus negotia regni tractasset? sollers Bernardus ambiguam plurimis locutionem callide promouet. 'Ingens' inquit ‘gaudium O Normannici proceres nobis exortum est? unde Deo gratias agamus ut dignum est. Hactenus seruiuimus duci de progenie Rollonis, nunc uolente Deo paremus regi magno de prosapia Karoli Magni imperatoris. Huc usque fuimus ducales, nunc uero sumus regales, uel quod maius est imperiales Cumque omnes huiuscemodi sermonibus applaudissent, et Gallos blandis sophismatibus illusissent? iterum ! 2 Kings xxv. 10-17. ? Orderic has transferred to Exmes a siege which, according to Flodoard, Richer, and Dudo of Saint-Quentin, took place at Bayeux (Lauer, Le Régne de Louis IV, p. 123 n. 1).

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cruelly carried away the vessels of the Temple of God and all its treasures.!

During this time Hugh the Great was besieging Exmes with his army,? but the warlike garrison put up a brave resistance and barred his further advance. The king of the Franks also invaded the county of Evreux with a very strong force,3 and began to lay waste all Normandy with fire and plunder. When Bernard the Dane heard of this and received true reports of the devastation of Normandy, he feared that he alone, fighting with Norman forces, could not resist the attacks of such mighty princes and had recourse to cunning, turning his keen intelligence to the problem of how to deflect this battle on two fronts away from him and his men. So he approached the king as a petitioner and said, ‘My lord king, whatever are you doing? This is an impious deed, derogatory to your dignity. Is not all this land of Normandy, which you are ruining, your own? Why, Rouen and the other cities, the villages

and the strongholds, lie open at your command; all the inhabitants, rich and poor alike, obey you and, having no other lord, revere and love you. Who gave you this ill-conceived counsel, to destroy your own domain and slaughter your industrious people with the sword of the wicked? Only one who is demonstrably an ill-wisher, disloyal to your royal majesty, could have urged you to devastate your own provinces with fire and sword.’ The king was appeased by these and other smooth words, and disbanding his army he entered Rouen by Bernard’s side. There Bernard welcomed the king amid great popular rejoicing, prepared a magnificent feast and detained him for several days with every sign of favour. And when one day the king remained in the main hall after dinner, dealing tranquilly with the affairs of his kingdom with his companions, the tireless Bernard cunningly made dark hints to several of them. ‘We have great cause for rejoicing, nobles of Normandy,’ he said, ‘for which we may give thanks to God as we ought. Up to now we have served a duke of the stock of Rollo, now by God’s will we obey a great king of the stock of Charlemagne. Up to now we have been duke’s men, but now we are king’s men, or emperor’s, which is higher still.’ When all had applauded such words and deceived the French by smooth 3 No other authority suggests that King Louis entered Normandy

by this

route and not by way of Ponthieu: Orderic’s substitution of Exmes for Bayeux probably led him into error here.

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iil. 95

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Bernardus silentium petiit, cunctisque tacentibus ita dixit, 'In multis sagacitatem Francorum approbo, uerumptamen dominus meus rex unam fecit rem quam non laudo? in qua damnum eius et maximum dedecus uideo. Notum est omnibus quod Hugo magnus perfidus est et proditoris filius, cui rex noster nimias uires auxit ad suum ni fallor dedecus, dans illi Oximensem pagum et Constantinum cum multis armatorum milibus. Pestilens conciliarius simplicem erum dolose decepit, et cultrum in animam suam iusticia trutinante defixit, qui domino suo confortare inimicum suum contra se persuasit. Admodum miror domine mi rex? quod preteritorum nimis immemor es. Satis omnibus sub celo patuit, neque enim tantum facinus in abdito perpetrari potuit, quod Rodbertus pater Hugonis traditor fuit, et contra Karolum patrem tuum rebellauit, raptoque diademate periurus contra dominum suum pugnauit, et in bello percussus merito periit. His molitionibus Hugo interfuit? et te apud Edelstanum regem auunculum tuum in Anglia exulante vii! annis Galliam turbauit. Nunquid luce clarius omni sensato patescit, quod regize maiestati reus existit, qui regi maliciose suggerit, ut propriis rebus spoliatus dominium suum imminuat, et inimici sui uires sibimet perniciosas adaugeat? Absit ut in ducatu Normanniz quislibet participium capiat? sed solus rex Francorum omnibus Normannis sibi gratulanter fauentibus presideat.’ His auditis rex anxius factus est’ de dono quod Hugoni non roganti sponte sua largitus est. Cumque consilium quereret, quid inde agere deberet, uersipellis Danus repente persuadet, ut omnia promissa denegando penitus irrita faceret, imperioque minaci Hugonem ab obsidione Oximorum abire compelleret, et si precepto rebellis adhuc persisteret, communis omnium uirtus bello ibidem illum impeteret. Ad hanc legationem Bernardus duos milites ilico preparauit, et rex imperiosa dicta que Hugoni deferrent illis iniunxit. Nuncii uero Hugonem festinanter expetierunt, et uerba regis constanter ei nunciauerunt. ‘Abominabilem’ inquiunt 'temeritatem presumpsisti, qui dominium domini tui regis Francorum inuasisti, et oppidum Oximense ubi propria sedes eius ab antiquis temporibus est nunc obsedisti. Nunc super hac re preceptum eius audi? et per fidem quam ei debes sine mora * Louis was

in exile at the court of Athelstan from 923 to 936; Orderic’s

seven years is derived from the erroneous dating of the Annals of Saint-Évroul (Le Prévost, v. 152).

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sophistries, Bernard again asked for silence, and when all held their peace spoke thus, ‘I admire the wisdom of the Franks in many matters, but nevertheless my lord the king has done one thing which I do not praise, for I see danger and dishonour to him in it. It is common knowledge that Hugh the Great is a traitor and the son of a traitor, yet the king has increased his power to his own shame, if I am not mistaken, by giving him the Hiémois and the Cotentin with many thousand armed men. Some accursed counsellor has grievously deceived his guileless master, and stabbed him to the heart, as justice is my witness, by persuading his lord to build up his enemy’s strength against him. I am amazed, my lord king, that you can be so forgetful of past events. It is obvious to everyone under the sun, and indeed such a crime could not be committed in secret, that Robert, Hugh’s father, was a traitor and rebelled

against your father Charles; that, seizing the crown, he perjured himself by fighting against his lord, and falling in battle died as he deserved. Hugh was a party to these machinations, and when you were in exile in England with your uncle King Athelstan troubled Gaul for seven years.’ Is it not clearer than daylight to anyone with eyes to see that a man who maliciously persuades the king to diminish his lordship by alienating his possessions and using them to increase the menacing power of his enemy is guilty of high treason? Heaven forbid that anyone should have a share in the duchy of Normandy; let the king of France instead rule over all Normans, who will gladly obey him.’ Hearing these words the king became alarmed at the gift that he had made to Hugh of his own free will, not at Hugh’s request. And when he asked for advice on what course he should take, the

crafty Dane quickly persuaded him to revoke all his promises and declare them of no effect, and by his royal command force Hugh to raise the siege of Exmes; if Hugh rebelliously defied the order they should all join forces and attack him there. Bernard at once found two soldiers for the mission, and the king instructed them in the imperious commands they were to carry to Hugh. The envoys speedily sought out Hugh, and faithfully reported the king’s words to him. ‘You are guilty’, they said, ‘of rash presumption in invading the domains of your lord the king of the Franks and besieging the fortress of Exmes, which has been a royal seat since ancient times. Now hear his commands on this matter, and

obey without delay by the fealty you owe him. Raise the siege

314

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obeedi. Ante solis occasum ab obsidione recede, et pro reatu temeritatis in regem fac illi rectum apud Laudunum tempore, quo decreuerit ipse optimatum iudicio et persuasione. Alioquin paratus esto cum tuis ad prelium. Nam rex dominus tuus si te hic inuenerit? in hac septimana tecum uiribus Francorum et Normannorum dimicabit.’ Hec audiens Hugo uehementer iratus est? et pra ira furibundus sic suos affatus est, ‘Vnde stolidum regem tanta inuasit dementia,

iii. 96

lii. 97

ut michi totis uiribus illum adiuuanti mandaret talia? Normanniz principatum non concupiui, neque partem aliquam ab illo requisiui, sed ipse totam regionem citra Sequanam usque ad mare ultro michi optulit, auxiliumque meum ut indomitos piratas edomaret poposcit. Nonne manifesta cunctis insania patescit, quod inde mecum confligere decernit, unde famulor illi sicut ipse michi precepit? Miser est qui seruit iniquo, et imbecillis qui fraudulento subigitur et stulto. Festinanter modo recedite, totamque regionem istam deuastate. /Ecclesias destruite, domos concremate, furnos et molendinos deicite, greges pecorum et armentorum abducite, et omne genus spoliorum huc ulterius non redituri asportate, et predis onusti nefarios relinquite."! His ita dictis dissoluti predones per prouinciam diffusi sunt" improuisos pagenses qui iam sub tutela Hugonis tuti esse putabant circumdederunt, et absque misericordia ducis iussa peregerunt. Tunc Herluinus cancellarius et Radulfus de Dragiaco rusticorum pecudes siue suppellectilem non curauerunt, sed Vticensis hospitii memores illuc reuersi sunt? et ex insperato cum suis in coenobium irruerunt. Basilicam quoque stupentibus et nil mali suspicantibus cenobitis cum armatorum uiolentia ingressi sunt? archana templi et sacra busta mox adierunt, tria corpora sanctorum Ebrulfi et Ebremundi atque Ansberti de mausoleis sustulerunt, et coriis ossa ceruinis? inuoluta cum aliis sanctorum reliquiis asportauerunt. Satellites autem illorum ubique diffusi sunt? et quicquid humanz uitze commodum reppererunt, flentibus monachis et uociferantibus irreuerenter rapuerunt. Ibi nimirum rapacitatis habenis omnino relaxatis neminem reueriti sunt? sed libros et uestes uariamque * According to the De translatione S. Ebrulfi (Mab. AA.SS. v. 227), the king gave orders to destroy the churches because they were being used as refuges

BOOK VI

Pus

before sunset, and for the crime of presumption against the king prepare to undergo trial at Laon by judgement of his magnates at the time he shall appoint. Otherwise prepare yourself with your men for battle. For your lord the king will fight against you with the combined forces of French and Normans within the week, if he

finds you here.’ On hearing this Hugh flew into a rage and, beside himself with wrath, addressed his men

in these words,

"What

madness

has

taken possession of the foolish king, to make him send such a command when I am helping him with all my forces? I have never had any designs on the duchy of Normandy, and never asked him for any part of it; instead he himself offered me the whole province from the Seine to the sea and asked for my help in conquering these lawless pirates. Does not his madness appear to all, when he determines to fight against me for serving him as he himself commanded? He who serves an unjust master is unfortunate, but he who obeys a faithless and stupid one is a fool. Withdraw with all speed and sack the whole province. Wreck churches, burn houses, destroy ovens and mills, drive away flocks and herds,

carry off for ever booty of all kinds, and, laden with plunder, turn your backs on these faithless men.’! At these words the plunderers dispersed and spread over the province, falling without warning on the peasants who thought themselves safe under Hugh's protection, and carrying out the duke's orders without pity. At that time Herluin the chancellor and Ralph of Drachy took no interest in peasants' flocks or furnishings, but remembering their entertainment at Saint-Évroul returned there and fell without warning on the monastery with their men. By force of arms they broke into the church while the monks, who expected no evil, looked on in dismay, forced their way into the sanctuary and the holy tombs, took the three bodies of St. Évroul, St. Évremond, and St. Ansbert from their sepulchres and,

wrapping the bones in deerskins,? carried them away with other relics of saints. Their minions went all over the monastery, and as the monks wept and lamented impiously seized everything of use that they could find. Their greed was unrestrained, and they respected no one there, seizing books and vestments and all kinds of for brigands, and Ralph of Drachy took the relics to save them from destruction. Herluin the chancellor is not mentioned in this account.

2 Cf. ibid., ‘in coriis ceruinis reposuit".

316

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suppellectilem tam monachorum quam clientum eorum diripuerunt, et perscrutantes omnia qua pridem monachis ut dictum est ipsis pandentibus compererant sustulerunt. Denique iuncti relique multitudini de Neustriz finibus exierunt, et sic omnes conglobati ad natale solum cum prada repedare festinauerunt. Vticenses autem in tanta desolatione nimis lugubres effecti sunt, et quid agerent uel quo irent omissis omnibus nescierunt, consideratis tamen euentibus cum translato patre sancto peregrinari decreuerunt. Quidam senex uenerabilis nomine Ascelinus Vtici prepositus! erat, officiumque prioratus secundum opportunitatem temporis diligenter agebat. Hic dum uidisset monachos et eorum uernulas in nimio constitutos merore, et omnes uelle locum pariter desolatum derelinquere, patremque beatum peregre sequi cum hostili agmine? multa secum reuoluens subtili meditamine, decreuit ibidem cum timore Domini finem suum expectare. Denique cunctos fratres accersiit’ et in unum congregatis ait, “Pro peccatis nostris et patrum nostrorum diuina percussio super nos descendit, et terribiliter irruens nos et nostra penitus contriuit, irreparabiliterque deiecit. Ecce iudex omnipotens sicut per manus Nabuchodonosor et Chaldeorum Ierusalem et templum Salomonis iii. 98 destruxit, sanctuariumque suum iuste humiliauit? sic per manus Hugonis atque Francorum hunc locum pluribus modis affligendo puniit, precipue quod super omnia dolendum est ossibus sancti patris Ebrulfi aliisque sanctorum reliquiis nos priuauit. Vobis autem quos sequi pignora patris uestri uideo, hoc pro plurimis occasionibus prohibere non audeo, quia tota hzc iam deserta est regio, et inter bellantium arma principum inermes cucullati carent uictu necessario. Ite cum Dei benedictione, et benigno patri qui uos hactenus aluit in sua regione" fideliter seruite cum eo peregrinantes in aliena regione. Ego autem Vticensem locum non relinquam, sed hic ubi multis bonis potitus sum creatori meo seruiam,

nec inde quamdiu uitalis calor in me fuerit recedam. Scio quod multa hic sanctorum patri designauit uisio cationem in spirituali regi optulerunt grata

requiescunt corpora, et angelica, ubi se deberet exercere militia. Multi sancte uite libamina,

hunc locum sancto ad multorum zdififideles hic altissimo pro quibus iam in

x ‘Prepositus’ can be a synonym for prior, as in the RSB, cap. 65. It can also

be the title of the superior of a community of secular canons (cf. above, p. xvi).

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VI

317

furnishings both of the monks and of their servants, and ransacking and carrying away everything that the monks had previously shown them, as I have described. Then rejoining the rest of the force they left Normandy behind them and all together hastened back to their own lands with their booty. The monks of Saint-Evroul however were left in the utmost despair amidst the ruins, not knowing what to do or where to go since they had lost everything; but finally, after reflection on the disaster, they decided to go into exile with the holy father who had been taken away. A certain reverend old man named Ascelin was in charge! of the monastery of Saint-Evroul, and conscientiously discharged the office of prior as far as the difficult times allowed. When he saw that the monks and their faithful servants were sunk in despair and that all wished to leave the pillaged place to follow their blessed father abroad with the hostile army, he pondered deeply in his own mind and decided to remain there to the end of his life in the fear of the Lord. So he called the brethren to him and, when they were gathered together, said, ‘Divine chastisement has fallen upon us for our sins and the sins of our fathers; it has struck us cruelly, overthrown and utterly destroyed us. We see that the omnipotent judge, who destroyed Jerusalem and the temple of Solomon by the hands of Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, has in the same way justly brought this holy place to the ground by the hands of Hugh and the Franks, and has punished it with various afflictions, particularly and most lamentably by the loss of the bones of our holy father Evroul and the relics of other saints. As I watch you setting out after the precious remains of your father, I dare not forbid your departure for many reasons, because this whole region is laid waste and helpless monks lack the means to sustain life amidst the forces of warring princes. Go with God’s blessing and be faithful servants to the loving father who has hitherto cared for you in his own country as you go into exile in another region with him. I myself will not leave the soil of Ouche, but will serve my Maker here where I have enjoyed many benefits, and will not depart from this place as long as life is in me. I know that many bodies of saints repose here, and a heavenly vision revealed this spot to our holy father as the place where he should inspire many others by a life of spiritual discipline. Many faithful people have offered here to the almighty King the acceptable sacrifice of a holy life, for which, seated on high and

318

ili. 99

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VI

elisiis sedibus coronati perceperunt premia. Hic in bona spe uobis discedentibus remanebo, locumque siluestrem antecessorum sequax in nomine domini seruabo, donec prosperius nobis tempus arrideat donante ipso dominantium Domino.’ His dictis mesti fratres ab inuicem diuisi sunt. Vticenses itaque modo et clientes eorum natale rus deseruerunt, et associati hostibus plorantes ossa magistri secuti sunt. Omnes quippe tam monachi quam famuli eorum fere xxx erant, qui conglobati capellanis pedetemptim adherebant. Porro ipsi eosdem bene cognoscebant, sed nullam illis familiaritatem impendebant, quia suspectos formidabant, et ne precioso thesauro furtim priuarent Francos metuebant. Benignus autem Dominus qui erroneos uerberat, ut rectum ad callem reducat? conuersos paterno affectu demulcet, mirisque modis indigentibus suffragium exhibet. Prima nocte post exitum de Neustria exercitus in loco qui Campus dicitur castrametatus est’ et post comestionem cenz a quibusdam parasitis cauillatio et incongruus sermo exortus est. Vnde quidam mimus duci iocose dixit, ‘Notumne uobis est domine dux quod Herluinus cancellarius et Radulfus cubicularius fecerunt ? Cadauera quorundam rusticorum in Normannia effoderunt, et male delusi sanctas reliquias esse putantes in capella tua collocauerunt, et secum in Galliam reuerenter deferunt. Cunque dux nomina eorum inquisisset" ioculator ait, ‘Ebrulfus, Ebremundus,!

et Ansbertus. Porro Franci quia minus usitata illis essent hzc uocabula, et nescissent quanta prenominatis uiris ante Deum in ccelis esset gloria’ dissoluti sunt in multa uerba ociosa et derisoria. Deinde prima noctis uigilia ut quies somni mortales oppressit, Altitonans

de

coelo

terribiliter

intonuit,

fulmina

cum

nimiis

choruscationibus emisit, ioculatorem cum sociis nebulonibus qui sanctis reliquiis detraxerant percussit, quibus extinctis ducem et totum eius exercitum haud modice perterruit. In crastinum mane dux omnem

exercitum conuocauit, cancellario sancta reuerenter

! St. Évremond is not mentioned in the De translatione S. Ebrulfi. His Vita (BHL, no. 2371) is certainly a late composition of no historical value, made up of fragments from other saints' lives, including that of St. Évroul (B. Baedorf, Untersuchungen über Heiligenleben der westlichen Normandie (Bonn, 1913), pp. 133 ff.). Since he is not mentioned in the Vita A (1) the tradition associat-

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crowned, they now receive the rewards. Here I shall remain in good hope when you have gone, and I will guard this wooded place in the name of the Lord as our predecessors have done until by the grace of the Lord of lords more prosperous times again smile upon us.' When he had spoken these words the sorrowful brethren went their separate ways. And now the monks of Saint-Évroul and their servants left their native country and, lamenting, followed their master's bones in the company of their enemies. Altogether, between the monks and the servants, there were about thirty; and keeping close to the chaplains they marched along with them. These men in fact recognized them, but showed them no friendship, for they regarded them with suspicion and feared that they would secretly rob the Franks of the precious treasure. But the kind Lord, who chastises sinners to bring them back to the right path, rewards with fatherly love those who turn to him and shows mercy in wonderful ways to those in need. On the first night after leaving Normandy the army encamped in a place called Champs, and after supper an altercation and harsh words arose among some of the hangers-on. So one of the mummers said in jest to the duke, ‘My lord duke, do you know what Herluin the chancellor and Ralph the chamberlain have done? They have dug up the bodies of some peasants in Normandy and, deceived into thinking that they are holy relics, have placed them in your chapel and are reverently carrying them with them into Gaul.’ When the duke inquired their names the jester said, ‘Evroul, Evremond,! and Ansbert.’ Then the Franks, because the

names were unfamiliar to them and they little knew how great was the glory of these men in the sight of God in Heaven, burst out laughing and made coarse jests. Afterwards in the first vigil of the night, when men slumbered peacefully, the Almighty spoke from heaven with terrible thunder and sent a thunderbolt with flashing lightning. It struck the jester and the idle wretches with him who had mocked the holy relics, greatly alarming the duke and his whole army by their death. Next morning the duke summoned all his army, told the chancellor to bring the holy bodies before him, ing the two

saints cannot

be accepted without

suspicion.

His relics were

apparently brought to the monastery of Saint-Evroul after Fontenay-lesLouvets, of which he is reputed the founder, was destroyed by the Northmen

(DHGE xvi. 168).

320

ili, 100

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VI

deferri ante se corpora precepit, et omni exercitui iussit, ut antequam de loco illo migrarent, sanctis reliquiis deuote offerrent. Flebiles quoque monachos cum clientulis suis accersiit, quis et quales

uir fuerit Ebrulfus uel socii eius ab eis inquisiuit, respondentes et

ili, IOI

referentes uenerabilium gesta uirorum libenter audiuit, ac ad audiendum optimates Belgicz! alacriter asciuit. Interea maturitatem et simplicitatem Vticensium pie considerauit, instinctuque Dei qui suorum ubique miseretur condolens illis dixit, ‘Ossa patris uestri que sequimini ultro" omni auro et argento preciosiora habeo. Vobis etiam pro amore illorum faueo, et uestri curam gerens cancellario precipio, ut uos honorifice secum habeat, omnesque oblationes quz sanctis reliquiis offerentur uobis annuat, donec Aurelianis qua ducatus mei caput est? perueniatis, ibique prouidebo uobis, unde uictum sufficientem habeatis." Vticenses itaque inter exteros spe melius habiti sunt: et ingentem cotidie munerum copiam a fidelibus receperunt, affatimque donis quz necessitas infirmantium seu bona uoluntas deuotorum extorsit opitulante Deo refocilati sunt. Cumque Aurelianis uenissent, et preliatorum turmz armigeris et equis domos per totam urbem occupassent monachi cum sanctorum pignoribus in clibanum quendam diuerterunt, ibique necessario prima nocte hospitati sunt. Ciues ergo postmodum in honore Sancti Ebrulfi basilicam ibidem construxerunt:;? meritisque sanctorum infirmantibus sanitatum beneficia diuinitus plura collata sunt. Herluinus cancellarius abbas erat sancti Petri de Puncto,* ibique uenerabiles reliquias Hugonis magni collocauit imperio. Tunc Radulfus de Dragiaco huiuscemodi preda suam partem requisiuit, nec pro quolibet precio portionem suam indulgere cuipiam uoluit. Hic nimirum inclitus erat Suessionensium ciuis, precipuus ducis camerarius? pollens possessionibus amplis, honoribus et diuitiis, fideque clarus et uirtutibus aliis. Tanto igitur baroni nemo audebat iniustitiam ingerere, sed communi decreto in conspectu iudicum allate sunt et diuisa reliquize. Herluinus quidem quia sacerdos erat * However loosely this term might be used, it is certainly not applicable to the vassals of Hugh the Great. ^ Orleans was the chief city of Hugh's county of Orleans, but not of his

duchy of France.

3 Nothing is known of this church (Le Prévost, iii. ror n. 1).

* For the church of Saint-Pierre-en-Pont p. 2143; GC viii. 1516.

at Orleans

see

Cottineau,

ii,

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and commanded the whole army to give offerings with reverence to the holy relics before they moved from that place. Also he sent for the weeping monks with their humble dependants, inquired of them who and what manner of men were Evroul and his companions, listened attentively to the replies they gave and their accounts of the lives of the venerable men, and readily allowed the Belgic! nobles to listen to them. Meanwhile he piously recognized the goodness and simplicity of the monks of Saint-Evroul, and taking pity on them through the promptings of God, who shows mercy everywhere to his own, said, ‘I hold the bones of your father which you follow by your own choice more precious than any gold or silver. For love of them I show favour to you, and being concerned for your welfare I command my chancellor to take good care of you and grant you all the oblations offered to the holy relics until you come to Orleans, which is the capital of my duchy,? and there I will make provision for you so that you may have adequate sustenance.’ So the hopes of the monks of Saint-Evroul were raised in a strange land; they received every day a great store of gifts from the faithful and were sufficiently restored by the offerings which, by God’s providence, the sick gave them in their need and the devout through their goodwill. When they reached Orleans and the throngs of soldiers with their armour-bearers and horses occupied all the houses in the town, the monks with their holy relics found their way to a certain bakehouse and there in their need found shelter for the first night. Afterwards however the citizens built a church in honour of St. Evroul,3 and by the merits of the saints and the divine will many sick persons received the gift of health. Herluin the chancellor was abbot of Saint-Pierreen-Pont,^ and at the command of Hugh the Great he gathered together the venerable relics there. Then Ralph of Drachy demanded his share of the plunder, and refused to hear of parting with his portion to another at any price. This man was a prominent citizen of Soissons5 and the duke's principal chamberlain, enjoying great possessions, honours, and wealth, and outstanding for his loyalty and other virtues. Consequently no one dared commit an injustice to so great a baron; and by common consent the relics were brought before judges and divided. Herluin for his 5 Cf. Mab. AA.SS.

v. 227 (De translatione S. Ebrulfi), Rodulfus quidam

ditissimus pariter et nobilissimus omnium

Suessionis urbis-ciuium’.

322

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vi

et abbas! canonicorum sancti Petri, et capellae ducis capellanorum maximus, caput et maiorem partem ossium sancti Ebrulfi, librum

quoque ili, 102

iii. 103

ili, 104

et arulam

argento

cooperatam,

et cambucam

atque

cinctorium eiusdem, cartasque donationum? sibi retinuit, reliquam uero corporis partem Radulfo tradidit. In partitione aliorum ossium nulla difficultas fuit. Aurelianenses enim ossa sancti Ebremundi abbatis sibi elegerunt, ossa uero sancti Ansberti monachi Radulfo dederunt. Ipse uero cum tanto thesauro Resbacum festinauit? et eidem cenobio quia frater et amicus erat deuote optulit. Resbacenses autem candidis olosericisque uestibus induti processerunt,3 cum cereis ardentibus et thuribulis fumantibus reliquias tripudantes susceperunt, et usque hodie reuerenter custodierunt. Tunc Radulfus ut de beneficiis suis zecclesiastica res augmentaretur Portum Alnonis et Bonolium donauit, et ne quid deesset ad condendas eorum thecas magnam auri argentique quantitatem donauit, pro quibus exeniis idem heros in ecclesia ut defunctus est sepeliri meruit. In huiusmodi permutationibus exteri cultores falluntur? sed beniuolentia pleni facilem ueniam non maliciosi erroris consequuntur. Nactas quippe fortuitu reliquias pro posse suo sullimant, sed de peregrino in sua indagatione Ansberto errant? quem plus iusto promouentes archiepiscopum Rotomagensem autumant. Verum audacter asseuero, quod plurima inuestigatione edidici sine dubio. Vticensis nimirum Ansbertus ille iuuenis est? qui sine uiatico repente defunctus est, sed mox a sancto patre Ebrulfo resuscitatus est. Denique percepta communione migrauit ad Dominum, et sanctorum feliciter adeptus est conuiuium. Rotomagensis autem Ansbertus cum Guandregisilo abbate et Guulfranno archipresule Senonensi Fontinelle seruatur? debitaque a suis ' This probably means that he was titular abbot of St. Peter's, holding the

church as a benefice. Such men, clerk or lay, might be called abbots even when they held churches of canons, not monks (cf. Ducange, i. 12-1 3):

? The only charter to survive from this period was found at Orleans by Robert of Grandmesnil. This does not prove the truth of this account of the

distribution of the relics, since such stories might be invented to explain how

relics and records reached their later resting-places. The document is a charter of Charles III, dated 900, addressed to the canons of Saint-Evroul (Recueil des actes de Charles III le Simple, roi de France, ed. Philippe Lauer (Paris, 1949),

pp. 74-6). The oldest copy, made at Saint-Évroul, is in Orderic's own hand (Alengon MS. 14, ff. 38-38"), with the note, ‘Formam subscriptae Karoli regis

kartae Rodbertus Vticensis monasterii abbas Aurelianis inuenit, et ipsius iussu

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323

part, because he was a priest and abbot! of the canons of St. Peter as well as chief chaplain of the duke's chapel, kept for himself the head and most of the bones of St. Évroul, also a book and a small

altar covered with silver, a pastoral staff and the girdle that went with it, and charters of gift.? The remainder of the body, however,

he gave to Ralph. There was no difficulty over the division of the other bones. For the men of Orleans chose the bones of St. Évremond, the abbot, for themselves and gave the bones of St. Ansbert, the monk, to Ralph. He then hastened to Rebais with this great treasure, and devoutly offered it to the abbey there because he was a friend and one of their fraternity. The monks of Rebais therefore came forth in a procession in vestments of white silk, with lighted candles and burning censers; they received the relics with jubilation and have revered and treasured them to this day. Then Ralph, wishing to increase the property of the church from his fiefs, gave the hamlet of Aunois and Bonneil, and so that they

might lack nothing to provide shrines for the relics gave a great quantity of gold and silver.* By these gifts the same lord earned the right of burial in the church after his death. When relics are moved in this way strangers who preserve them make mistakes, but since their intention is good they deserve forgiveness for well-meaning errors. For they give all the honour they can to relics they have acquired by chance, but in their investigation into the stranger Ansbert they are in error, for they raise him above his station, taking him to be archbishop of Rouen. I will boldly state the truth, which I have established for certain by persistent inquiry. In fact Ansbert is that young monk of Ouche

who,

having

died suddenly

without

the viaticum, was

brought back to life by St. Évroul. Then, having received communion, he departed to the Lord and was joyfully admitted into the community of the saints. The relics of Ansbert of Rouen are preserved at Saint-Wandrille, with those of the abbot Wandrille and Wulfram archbishop of Sens, and are daily venerated by their Goscelinus

monachus

intimandam

quantae

Vticensibus monachis pp. xvi-xvii.

scriptor egregius

famae

beatus

tempore

celeriter transcripsit,

Ebrulfus

Philippi

apud

Gallos

regis Francorum

et ad noticiam

antiquitus misit.'

fuerit

Cf. above,

3 Cf. De translatione S. Ebrulfi, ‘Fratres indicibili gaudio exhilarati occurrunt, rorantes lacrymis flammis cereos accendunt . . . et candidis stolis holosericisque vestibus ornati a Deo sibi destinatos patronos excipiunt." 4 The details of these gifts are taken from the De translatione S. Ebrulfi.

324

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reuerentia cotidie honoratur. Haec de partitione corporis sancti Ebrulfi ueraciter notaui? sicut a religiosis et ueracibus silicerniis iamdudum audiui. Defuncto Hugone magno filius eius Hugo magnus in ducatu successit, et ortis quibusdam simultatibus inter Karolum et regni iii. 105 optimates Hugo regnum optinuit, et heredibus suis usque in hodiernum diem reliquit. Goisfredus Andegauorum comitis filius prefati Hugonis filiolus fuit,? ab eo educatus ad uirile robur creuit, adultus arma militiz ab eo accepit. Qui mortem patris ut in curia regis audiuit, mestus a rege ius hereditarium requisiuit, et de ossibus sancti patris Ebrulfi cuius miracula sepe uiderat Aurelianis positus sibi aliquid dari obnixe poposcit. Hugo autem quia prefatum iuuenem multum dilexit? paternum honorem illi concessit, et partem reliquiarum sancti Ebrulfi erogauit. Ille itaque Andegauensibus reliquias sancti Ebrulfi primus exhibuit, quas in zcclesia sancti Maimbodi usque nunc ueneratio deuotorum excolit.3 Vticenses autem monachi qui cum corpore sancto peregrinati sunt? opitulante Deo benignum apud externos hospites affectum inuenerunt, abundantiamque panis et uini pisciumque habuerunt, multimodasque iii. 106 quos Ligeris fluuius suppeditabat mobilis fortune uarietates experti finem suum in Gallia sortiti

sunt. Ascelinus uero senex Vticensem heremum cum paucis pauperibus incolis incoluit, et Ascelinum nepotem suum atque Guitbertum de Guacio et Haimonem de Telleia+ aliosque pueros enutriuit, et communes litteras ut in illo loco cotidianum Deo seruitium exsoluerent docuit. Quodam die circumpositos heremicolas undique conuocauit, festiuitatis diem illis denunciauit, die-

que constituto solennitatem pro modulo suo celebrauit, et inter t Previously Orderic said correctly (above, p. 304 n. 2) that the bodies of St. Ansbert and St. Wandrille had never been brought back after their translation. He seems to have been more doubtful about St. Wulfram. 2 Geoffrey ‘Greymantle’, count of Anjou from c. 960 to 987, was a figure who attracted epic stories (F. Lot,'Geoffroi Grisegonelle dans l'épopée' ,Romania, xix (1890), 377-93), and he was frequently credited with the deeds of other men. He cannot have been the godson of Hugh Capet, a younger man, but his loyalty to his overlords, the Capetians, is certainly a historical fact. Whilst his son Fulk Nerra was a more active benefactor to churches, Geoffrey restored the family abbey of Saint-Aubin, Angers, in 966 (Halphen, Anjou, pp. 8, 81).

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own people.! I have given this true account of the division of the body of St. Evroul, as I have heard it from the lips of pious and truthful old men. After the death of Hugh the Great his son Hugh the Great succeeded him in the duchy, and when strife arose between Charles and the magnates of the kingdom Hugh obtained the crown and left it to his heirs, who have reigned up to this day. Geoffrey, son of the count of Anjou, was Hugh’s godson;? brought up by him he grew to man’s estate and, when of age, received the arms of

knighthood from him. He learned in the king’s court of his father’s death, and, mourning, asked the king for his inheritance,

making a special request for some part of the bones of St. Evroul, whose miracles he had often witnessed when he was living at Orleans. Hugh therefore, since he had a great affection for the young man, gave him his father’s honor and handed over a portion of the relics of St. Evroul. So Geoffrey first showed the relics to the Angevins, and they are preserved in the church of St. Mainbeeuf and venerated by the faithful to this day.? In this way the monks of Saint-Évroul, who left their own country with the holy body, found by God's will kindness and compassion among the strangers who took them in, had an abundance of bread and wine and fish,

which the river Loire provided, and after experiencing the ups and downs of changeable fortune, were destined to end their days in France. But the aged Ascelin lived on in the wilderness at Ouche with a few poor men of the locality. He brought up his nephew Ascelin and Guibert of Gacé and Haymo of Tillaie^ and other boys, teaching them the rudiments of grammar so that they could carry on the daily service of God in that place. One day he called together the hermits who lived all around, gave them notice of a feast-day, and on the appointed day celebrated the rites as he 3 In the tenth century St. Évroul was dedicated in his name (Halphen, Anjou, beeuf, Angers, was at this date occupied Évroul took refuge with them this would

revered in Angers, where a church was pp. 95-6). The church of Saint Mainby canons; if the religious from Saintbe further evidence that they too were

then secular canons (cf. above, p. xvi, and Bibl. nat. MS. nouv. acq. fr. 21642, f r5)

4 These may be the boys from whom Orderic claimed (below, p. 328) to have heard this story. If Orderic's dating is accepted it requires both Ascelin and the boys to have been almost centenarians, since he did not reach Normandy

until 1085. But the old men who talked to him may have heard the stories of lost relics from others; or passed on a local legend as their own experience. 822210X

Z

326

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missarum solennia sermonem astanti populo fecit. ‘Diuinas’ inquit ‘comminationes formidare debuimus, sed obdurato corde quae dicebantur audientes paruipendimus, donec uirgam ferientis ut nequam serui persensimus, acriterque percussi medullitus dolentes ploramus et lugemus. Olim dum Daci qui adhuc pagani erant cum Hastingo Neustriam deuastauerunt, et rursus Rollone cum suis seuiente plures zecclesize cum urbibus et oppidis desolatze sunt: nos suffragante Deo in siluestri sterilique rure latuimus, et debachantium gladios licet in timore nimio et egestate sospites iii. 107 euasimus.! Nunc autem super nos tempus ire proh dolor irruit, et ex insperato creatoris ultio nos circumuallauit, et per manus eorum in quibus hospitalitatis tenore confidebamus sacris ossibus quae omnibus diuitiis kariora sunt spoliauit. In sanctis scripturis legimus, quod reppulit tabernaculum Silo Dominus, et tradidit in captiuitatem incircumcisis Phylistiim id est calumniantibus tabernaculum suum ubi habitauit in hominibus.? Nobis autem simile iudicium nunc contigit. Corpora sanctorum perdidimus, in quibus spem nostram maxime posuimus, socisque peregre poliandra patrum sequentibus, nos pauci et debiles in inculta solitudine remansimus. Ceterum quamuis Franci ossa sancta transtulerint, et libros atque uestes aliaque preciosa nobisque necessaria diripuerint’ sepulchra tamen et puluerem sanctissimze carnis reliquerunt, et alia sacra quz secum deferre nequiuerunt, nobis fauente Deo ad magnam consolationem inuiti dimiserunt. Nos autem non negligenter ea tractare debemus, immo derelicta nobis ab hostibus diligenter recondamus, et ueneranter seruemus. Miserante Deo pilum de barba sancti Petri apostoli adhuc habemus: quem beato Ebrulfo ad dedicationem huius zcclesiz destiili, 108 nauit papa romanus. Alias quoque preciosas reliquias nouimus"? qua in hac basilica recondite sunt a priscis patribus. Laudo si placet uobis omnibus, ut nunc uniuersa reuoluentes uideamus, et tuto in loco propter sacrilegos recondamus, donec reuelante Deo manifestentur futuris cultoribus." Annuentibus cunctis et laudantibus senex missam compleuit, finitaque missa populum cum benedictione dimisit, puerosque * In his earlier interpolations in William of Jumiéges Orderic put the destruction of Saint-Évroul in the reign of Charles the Simple and attributed it to

Hasting (Marx, p. 176). His later, more careful study of the early history of his

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327

was able, and preached a sermon to the assembled people during the celebration of the mass. ‘We ought’, he said, ‘to fear divine threats, but we harden our hearts and pay no heed when we hear God’s words until like slaves we feel the harsh rod of chastisement and, severely punished, lament and complain with inward groaning. Once when the Danes, who were pagans at that time, laid Normandy waste under Hasting, and again when Rollo wreaked havoc with his men and many churches as well as cities and fortresses were destroyed, we by God’s suffrance remained hidden in a barren, wooded country and, though in great fear and want, escaped from the swords of the destroyers unharmed.! But now, alas, the day of wrath has dawned for us, and the vengeance of our creator has fallen upon us and deprived us of the holy relics, more precious than all riches, by the hands of those in whom we trusted as our guests. We read in holy Scripture how the Lord forsook the tabernacle of Shiloh and delivered into captivity to the uncircumcised Philistines, that is the accusers,

his tabernacle where

he

dwelt among men.? Now indeed a like judgement has fallen on us. We have lost the bodies of the saints, in whom we placed our greatest hope, and whilst our companions follow the coffins of the fathers abroad we remain, a small, weak band, in a barren wilder-

ness. For though the Franks carried away the holy bones and robbed us of our books and vestments and other precious things necessary to us, by God’s grace they unwillingly left to us the tombs and the dust of the holy bodies and other things that they could not carry with them, to our great comfort. So we ought not to treat these things with negligence, but rather to restore with care and preserve with reverence the things left us by the enemy. By God’s mercy I still have a hair from the beard of St. Peter the apostle, which the Roman pontiff sent to St. Evroul at the dedication of this church. Also we know of other precious relics, which were buried in this church by the early fathers. I propose, if it pleases all of you, to uncover and inspect all these things, and then hide them in a safe place for fear of sacrilegious men, until by God’s revelation they are uncovered for future worshippers.’ As all consented and approved the old man completed the mass, and when it was over sent away the people with a blessing, keeping abbey convinced him that it had escaped destruction by the pagans, and this is probably true (cf. above, pp. 302-16). 2 Cf. Psalm Ixxviii. 60-1 (Ixxvii. 60-1).

328

ili, 109

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scolasticos ad ministerium thuribuli et candelabrorum retinuit. Deinde cum cementario quodam ad tumulum sancti Ebrulfi accessit, laminam reuerenter amouit: sancteeque carnis puluerem instar tortellorum congessit. Pixidas uero plures protulit ac philacteria, in quibus erant sacra cum inscriptionibus suis pignora. Denique pueris ut irent manducare precepit, et ipse cum macione et maturis necessariisque ministris reliquias in maceria recondidit, ideoque pueros ut archanum eos lateret abesse compulit. Ab ipsis nimirum post multos annos hzc audiuimus, sed certum locum ubi reliquiz posite fuerint ediscere nequiuimus, quia ipsi relatores a collocatione pignorum exclusi fuerant ut iam diximus. Haec itaque contigerunt Ricardi primi ducis tempore: qui duobus et quinquaginta annis prefuit Normanniz, et sicut supradictum est in primis exilium et magnas tribulationes pertulit, sed postmodum opitulante Deo compressis inimicis strenue preualuit. Inter seuas tempestates bonus senex Ascelinus monachatum usque ad decrepitam aetatem seruauit? moriensque Ascelino clerico nepoti suo tutelam Vtici commisit.

Qui iuuenili leuitate feruens

siluestrem uitam et urbanis a facetiis separatam odio habere cepit, discendique causa Galliam expetiit, inuentaque deliciarum copia fere quinquaginta annis ibi habitauit, et per diuersos gradus usque ad sacerdotium ascendit. Carnalibus itaque oblectamentis irretitus in Francia, instanti prosperitate turgens per omne tempus uite suz usque ad senectam oblitus est omnia, que sibi antecessores sui dimiserant in Normannia. Interea obeuntibus uel abeuntibus incolis Vticus in solitudinem

rediit, et remotis hominibus in oratoriis et domibus ingens silua creuit, et habitatio ferarum multo tempore ibidem extitit. In prouincia Beluacensi Restoldo cuidam presbitero per uisionem tunc dictum est, 'In Normanniam ad sanctum Ebrulfum uade, ibique perfrueris dierum longitudine, et felicis uitze iocunditate.’! Hic ergo natale solum egressus est, et Neustriam peruagatus est? et habitationem sancti Ebrulfi quesiuit, sed per multos dies querens neminem qui sibi demonstraret inuenit. Denique apud Montfortem sancti Ebrulfi ueterem basilicam reperit, ibique multo * J. Laporte has suggested that the priest may have been sent by the religious who had fled to Rebais to look after the property at Saint-Évroul (Revue Mabil-

lon, xxxi (1941), 59-60).

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the boys to attend to the censers and candles. Then, with a certain mason, he approached the tomb of St. Evroul, reverently removed the cover, and gathered together the dust of the holy flesh in little mounds. He also assembled several caskets and reliquaries containing holy relics with their inscriptions. Then he told the boys to go away for their meal, and he and the mason and other necessary helpers of mature age again concealed the relics in the masonry, having sent the boys away so that they should have no knowledge of the secret place. It is from them, indeed, that the story was told me many years later; but they had not been able to discover exactly where the relics were hidden, because those who reported the events were debarred from seeing the assembling of holy treasures, as I have described. Now these things happened in the time of Duke Richard I, who ruled Normandy for fifty-two years, and, as I have described, at first endured exile and great tribulations, but afterwards triumphed by God’s aid when his enemies had been overthrown. During the times of trial the good old man Ascelin preserved his monastic vows until he was crippled with age; and on his death he committed the charge of Saint-Evroul to his nephew, the clerk Ascelin. This man was full of youthful frivolity and, conceiving a loathing for a life in the forest where he was deprived of the trivialities of town life, he set out for France in pursuit of learning; and finding a great store of pleasures remained there for about fifty years, rising through the lower orders to the priesthood. So, snared in France by the delights of the flesh, and sleek with present comfort, he remained all his life up to old age, forgetting everything which his predecessor had bequeathed to his charge in Normandy. During this time, as the inhabitants died or departed, Saint-

Evroul reverted to the waste, and when the men were gone a great wood grew over the oratories and living quarters, to be for many years the abode of wild beasts. Finally a certain priest, Restold, living in the Beauvaisis, was told in a vision, “Go to Normandy to Saint-Evroul, and there you will live long and enjoy a life of blessings.’! As a result he left his native land, and travelling through Normandy inquired for the dwelling of St. Evroul; but though he sought for many days he found no one who could point it out to him. At length he found the old church of Saint-Evroul at Montfort, and lived there for a long time, believing it to be the

330

iii.

I10

lii. III

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tempore habitauit, credens quod illum locum sibi celeste oraculum seminique suo insinuauerit. 1In territorio Balgenzaii cuidam pagensi taurus nomine Fala erat, qui sepe gregem armentorum relinquens in saltum currebat, et a possessore cum familia et canibus diu quesitus inueniri nequibat, sed post quinque uel septem dies dum irrecuperabiliter perditus putaretur repente sospes redibat. Hoc itaque frequenter factum est" et huiusmodi res in consuetudinem uersa est. Ludus inde uicinis intuentibus agebatur? et libera tuuenco facultas eundi uel redeundi permittebatur. Post aliquot tempus curiositas pastorum indignata est, et discursus tauri pertinaciter explorare conata est, ipsumque per spissitudinem luci secuta est. Sagacem etiam indagatorem nomine Duiletum sibi adiunxit, qui more canum uestigia tauri sagaciter inuestigauit, donec illum coram altare sancti Petri apostoli iacentem quasi oraret ibidem inuenit. Maceriz siquidem discooperte erant nisi retibus zederze? et ruinze antiquorum zdificiorum spectantibus patuere. Condensa silua creuit intus et extra" ubi nemo habitauerat per annos quinquaginta. Tunc albescentes silicernii heec audientes rememorati sunt? quod sicut patres eorum illis narrauerunt, sanctus Ebrulfus aliique plures mundi contemptores illic habitauerunt. Rediuiua quoque uisio Restoldum repetens redarguit? quod prime iussioni non plene adhuc obaudierit. Cumque presbiter solicite inquireret, quomodo iussioni gratiosius obtemperare deberet? dictum est illi quod deberet Vticum ire, ibique sancti sequax Ebrulfi Deo militare. Restoldus ergo pristina Montfortis habitatione relicta Vticum perrexit, ibique cum coniuge et Ilberto filio suo primus habitauit. Tunc Guazso de Montforti nobilis miles fuit/ qui timore Dei plenus in corde suo pie proposuit, ut omnes in uicinio suo zecclesias quae uetustate et incuria in multis desolationibus quas supra notaui dirutz erant restauraret, et ad tam laudabile studium omne

ingenium suum cum tota possibilitate et substantia medullitus applicaret. Hic nimirum basilicam ueterem sancti Petri apostoli propriis sumptibus reparauit, talique studio cunctipotentem Deum sibi placare desiderauit. Quodam mane dum bubulcus eius boues * The story of the bull of Bocquencé is of a type very common in religious legends, where an animal is alleged to guide men to an abandoned sanctuary.

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gh

place that the heavenly oracle had made known to him and his

seed.

‘In the territory of Bocquencé a certain peasant had a bull called Fala, who would often leave the herd of cattle and run off into the

wood. He could never be found by his owner, who sought him with his servants and dogs, but would suddenly return safely from five to seven days later when he had been given up for lost. This had happened frequently, and had become a habit. It was regarded as a joke by the neighbours who noticed it, and the young bull was allowed to come and go freely. After a time the curiosity of the herdsmen grew too much for them, and determined attempts were made to follow the bull's wanderings through the thickets of the wood. The owner secured the help of a skilful tracker named Duilet, who followed the bull's tracks as dogs do until he found him lying, as if in prayer, before the altar of St. Peter. Roofless walls were hung with trails of ivy and the ruins of ancient buildings were visible to the eye. There was a thick growth of wood within and without, for no one had lived there for the past fifty years. When hoary old men heard of this they called to mind what their fathers had told them, that St. Évroul and many others who had abandoned the world had made their habitation there. A second vision came to Restold, to tell him that up to that time he had not fully obeyed the first command. And when the priest inquired solicitously how he could obey it better, he was told to go to Ouche and there devote himself to God as a follower of St. Évroul. Restold therefore, leaving his first dwelling-place at Montfort, went to Ouche and was the first to live there with his wife and his son, Ilbert.

At that time there was a noble knight named Wazo of Montfort who, filled with the fear of God, piously resolved to restore all the churches in the region which had fallen into ruin through age and neglect during the troubled times I have described, and conscientiously devoted all his care with whatever skill and wealth he could command to this praiseworthy object. He it was who repaired the old church of St. Peter the apostle at his own expense, hoping by such care to temper the wrath of omnipotent God towards him. One morning, while his herdsman was guarding his Cf. Marthe

Moricet,

«Récits et contes

des veillées normandes’,

Annales de Normandie, no. 2 (Caen, 1963), p. 145.

in Cahier des

332

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in colle super Carentonz riuulum custodiret, et inter parietinas ubi fecundior herba esset excubaret’ ecce peregrinus ei quidam astitit, ibique quasi labore itineris fessus resedit, et cum eodem aliquandiu confabulari cepit. ‘Celeriter’ inquit ‘ad Guatsonem uade? et dic ei ut confestim ueniat ad me.' Cumque bubulcus ad erum suum cucurrisset, et peregrini uerba intimasset" ille pigricia detentus iussis non obsecundauit, sed peregrinum mox per famulum ad se uenire przcepit. Ille uero iterum et tertio clientem direxit, sed obstinatus heros nescio quibus occupatus non iuit. Cumque bubulcus tertio redisset, dominumque suum nolle uenire nunciasset: ‘Veni’ inquit senior, ‘et diligenter intende quz loquor. Hic locus a prisco tempore diuina benedictione sanctificatus est et sanctissimis reliquiis ditissimus est.’ Hzc dicens candidus relator surrexit, in medio arez sedem altaris sancte Dei genitricis Marize ostendit, itemque aram sanctz et indiuiduz Trinitatis ad orientem monstrauit. Deinde obstupenti bubulco adiunxit, ‘Si dominus tuus ad me uenisset dummodo ipsum per te accersiui, secretum thesaurum ostendissem illi, unde posset hic antiquam reparare basilicam, et rursus aliud archanum prodidissem, quod toti Normanniz letitiam peperisset ingentem.' Cumque famulus hzc ad ultimum audisset, et reciprocato calle audita Guatsoni retulisset? ille tunc festinus equum ascendit, et perueniens ad locum desiderabilem nuncium non inuenit. Mestus ergo pro tarditate sua nimis factus est’ et a seruo quz de sanctificatione loci et de duobus altaribus audierat auide perscrutatus est. Deinde cum Radulfo Fraxinellot Turulfi filio qui tunc temporis eiusdem loci capitalis dominus erat collocutus est? Deoque iuuante basilicam in honore perpetuz uirginis Mariae restaurare conatus est. Operantes antiquam ruinam effoderunt, et ingentem lapidum copiam inuenerunt, unde inceptum opus instanter perfecerunt. Ibi multa mausolea nobilium personarum repererunt, in quibus regum et pontificum corpora ob insignia quedam que ibidem repererunt? condita fuisse seniores asserunt. Nonnulla etiam signa diuinitus ibidem acta sunt. Harduinus enim quidam eques ingens saxum inter lapides zcclesiz uidit, quod ad opus suum concupiscens in domum suam deuexit, ibique t After

1050

his sons

Évroul (above, ii. 36).

sold the church

of Notre-Dame-du-Bois

to Saint-

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333

oxen on the hill above the little river Charentonne, and was sitting on guard between the walls where the grass grew thickest, suddenly a pilgrim appeared to him, sat down as if weary after a long journey, and began to talk to him for a while. ‘Go quickly’, he said, ‘to Wazo, and tell him to come to me at once.’ When the herdsman had run to his master and told him the pilgrim’s words Wazo, detained by some idle occupation, did not obey the command, and instead sent word to the stranger through his servant to come straight to him. The stranger sent the servant back a second and a third time, but the obstinate lord, occupied with this and that,

did not go. When the herdsman returned for the third time with the news that his lord did not wish to come, the old man said,

‘Come here, and attend carefully to what I have to say. This place has been sanctified by God from long ago, and it is rich in the most holy relics.’ So saying the shining messenger rose, pointed out the site of the altar of Mary, the mother of God, in the midst of the building, and also the altar of the holy and undivided Trinity to the east. Then he added to the astonished herdsman, ‘If your lord had come to me just now when I sent for him through you, I would have shown

him a hidden treasure, with which he could have

repaired the ancient church, and I would have opened to him once again a secret repository that would have brought great rejoicing to Normandy.’ When the servant had heard him to the end and returned to Wazo to repeat the message, Wazo hastened to mount his horse, but when he reached the chosen place the messenger was no longer there. So, deeply regretting his tardiness, he eagerly inquired from his servant what he had heard about the hallowing of the place and the two altars. Afterwards he consulted with Ralph Fraisnel,! son of Thorulf, at that time the chief lord of

the place, and with God’s aid attempted to restore the church in honour of the holy Virgin Mary. Workmen dug among the ruins and found a great number of stones, with which they quickly brought the work to completion. There they found many tombs of persons of rank, in which, as the older men assert, the bodies of

kings and bishops, recognizable by certain tokens found there, had

been buried. Moreover various miracles have been performed there by God’s will. A certain knight named Harduin tound a great block of stone among the ruins of the church and, wishing to make use of it, carried it home, where he intended to make a water-trough for

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aquarium sibi suisque iumentis facere uoluit, sed post inceptam cauationem in languorem cecidit. Eo languente Gumfoldus de Tolcheta pagensis eques uisionem uidit? qua edoctus Harduinum zgrotantem uisitauit, et sacrum ad pristinam sedem reuehi saxum commonuit, alioquin illum ineuitabiliter moriturum predixit. Quod audiens zger familiam actutum conuocauit, quadrigam cum bobus coaptari precepit, saxumque ad sanctam uirginis matris zedem reduci obnixe rogauit. Saxo itaque in curru leuato ipse superpositus est: et lapide de sacra domo quem rapuerat reddito reatum confessus est, et omnipotentis Adonai clementiam obsecrauit et

mox sanatus est. Multa quidem et alia signa ibidem perpetrata sunt? quae deficientibus terrigenis illius temporis obliuioni tradita sunt, quia pro penuria scriptorum quibus tunc Neustria maxime carebat scripta

non sunt.

iii. 114

Denique constructa in monte siluoso basilica totius prouinciae populus letatus est? et cura eius cum regimine parrochie Beluacensi Restoldo commissa est, tam a Guazsone et Radulfo quam ab episcopo Ebroicensi in cuius diocesi sita est. Ea tempestate Guillelmus Geroii filius dominatum Escalfou possedit, et in silua fontem sancti Ebrulfi et super riuulum Carentonz ueterem ecclesiam sancti Petri apostoli esse audiuit. Qui curiositate ductus omnia perlustrauit, locum Dei cultoribus idoneum uidit, reuerenter laudauit, ibique Restoldum et Ingerrannum eidem loco presbiteros delegauit, eisque uictum sufficientem de redditibus Escalfou ordinauit. Processu uero temporis ut in tertio huius operis libro pleniter notatum est?! a prefato Guillelmo et fratribus ac nepotibus eius Vticense cenobium restauratum est, et labore studioque Gemmeticensium regulariter institutum est. Anno siquidem dominice incarnationis millesimo quinqua-

gesimo primo? Theodericus Gemmeticensis monachus abbatiz curam suscepit, et neophitum gregem per octo annos pie et prudenter educauit, atque secundum normam sancti Benedicti ambulare in lege Domini digniter docuit. Deinde ut in precedentibus dictum est onus regiminis fastidiuit mestis presulibus Maurilio Rotomagensi et Hugone Luxouiensi ultro deposuit, terrena spernens exilium petiit, coelestemque Ierusalem desiderans ! Above, ii. 14-16. ? In Book III (ibid.) and in his interpolations in William of Jumiéges (Marx, p. 178) Orderic gave the date as 1050. Thierry resigned his cure and left for Jerusalem in 1057; he died on 1 August 1058 (above, ii. 68—72).

BOOK VI

335

himself and his stock; but he had scarcely begun to hollow it out when he fell ill. As he lay sick a country knight, Gumfold of Touquettes, saw a vision, as a result of which he visited the ailing

Harduin and advised him to return the holy stone to its former place, since otherwise he would certainly die. On hearing this the sick man at once summoned his servants and ordered them to harness oxen to a cart and take back the stone to the hallowed church of the Virgin mother. The stone was placed in the wagon and he himself lifted on top; when the stone had been restored to the sacred building from which he had stolen it he confessed his guilt, begged mercy from omnipotent God, and soon became well

again.

There is no doubt that many other miracles have been worked there, which have passed into oblivion after the death of the earlier inhabitants because for lack of scribes, who could then scarcely be found in Normandy, they were never written down. When at last the church had been built on the wooded hill there was great rejoicing throughout the region, and the cure of the church with the whole parish was committed to Restold of Beauvais both by Wazo and Ralph and by the bishop of Evreux, in whose diocese it was. At that time William, son of Giroie, had the lordship of Echauffour, and learned that St. Evroul’s spring was in the wood and the old church of St. Peter on the bank of the Charentonne. Eager to find out more, he came and explored the place, recognized that it was suitable for a religious establishment, reverently expressed his pleasure, and established Restold and Ingran as priests in the same place, providing them with sufficient food from the revenues of Echauffour. In the course of time, as has been fully described in the third book of this work,! the monastery of St. Évroul was restored by William and his brothers and nephews, and regular life was established there under the guidance of monks of Jumiéges. So in the year of our Lord 1051? Thierry, a monk of Jumiéges, became the first abbot, and instructed his new flock piously and wisely for eight years, teaching them to observe the Lord's precepts diligently according to the rule of St. Benedict. Finally, as was described on earlier pages, he wearied of the burden of government, voluntarily resigned his office to the sorrowing prelates, Maurilius of Rouen and Hugh of Lisieux, and, turning his back on earthly things, went into exile and endeavoured in his longing for the

336

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VI

terrestrem uidere laborauit. Tandem in Cipro insula in ecclesia sancti Nicholai ante altare kal’ Augusti obiit, ibique a conuentu monachorum uenerabiliter sepeliri meruit, et frequentibus miraculis in egrotorum curationibus choruscauit. Heroicum quoque super illo epitaphium sic edidi,

lil. 115

iii. 116

ZEcclesiam primus Vticensem Theodericus Rexit et edocuit bona quz prius ipse peregit, Annis tricenis monachatus ipse rigorem Gessit, et in Sathanam tolerauit ouanter agonem. Officium patris octonis exercuit annis? Inter siluestres ubi pauper mansit homones Ipse manu propria scribendo uolumina plura: ZEcclesiz natis dedit exemplum bonitatis. Denique Ierusalem peregrinus pergere cepit. In Cipro uitz finem tumulumque recepit. Vltima uidit cum quintilis lux morientem? Quem foueat Christus patris in thalamo renitentem.

Vticenses monachi corpus patroni sui non se habere doluerunt, et quomodo sibi redderetur multis modis quaesierunt, nec adhuc impetrare preualuerunt. Et quoniam totum desiderium suum super hac re nondum impleuerunt? iam plures reliquias diuersis modis procurauerunt, uariisque temporibus fauente Deo reduxerunt. Fulco prepositus Vticensis zcclesize qui postea Diuensis abbas factus est? a Guillelmo notho rege Anglorum ad Bertam comitissam! pro priuatis causis in Brigiam missus est. Tunc per quendam capellanum comitissz quem natione Normannum cognouit, quia familiaris ecclesia Resbacensis erat dentem sancti Ebrulfi optinuit ac ad Vticensem zecclesiam remeans gaudentibus cunctis attulit. Regnante Ludouico rege quidam canonicus nomine Fulbertus? Parisius erat, qui os integrum de spina sancti Ebrulfi habebat, quod capellanus de capella Henrici regis Francorum subtraxerat, eique iamdudum pro amoris pignore dederat. Timens autem pro diuersis causis illud habere, Fulcone presbitero Manlize mediante, accersiit Guillelmum de Mosterolo priorem Manliz,3 eique reliquias tradidit deferendas Vticensi zecclesiz. At ille gaudens munus excepit, et iussa quantotius compleuit. In itinere dum festinaret, * Probably Bertha of Blois, who married first Alan III of Brittany and then

Hugh IV of Maine (above, ii. 117 n. 4, 304 n. 2). ? Possibly he was Heloise's uncle.

3 Cf. below, Appendix II.

BOOK

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337

heavenly Jerusalem to see the earthly one. Finally he died in the island of Cyprus, before the altar in the church of St. Nicholas, on 1 August; there he was reverently buried by the convent of monks and showed his virtues by frequent miracles of healing the sick. I composed this epitaph on him, in the heroic metre: Thierry, first abbot of the church of Ouche, Taught the good things that he himself had learnt; Thirty years long, with a true monk’s devotion, He joyfully withstood the slings of Satan. Eight years he ruled his church as father abbot, Living in poverty with woodland dwellers, Copying many books with his own hand, Showing to Christian men a life of virtue. At last a pilgrim, journeying to Jerusalem, He met his end and found a tomb in Cyprus. Death took him when July’s last light had faded; May Christ restore him in his Father’s mansion.

The monks of Saint-Evroul lamented because they were without their patron’s body, and sought by all means to recover it, but up to now their pleas have been in vain. Since they have so far failed to satisfy their longing in this matter, they have procured several relics in various ways, and have brought them back at different times by God’s aid. Fulk, prior of Saint-Evroul, who later became abbot of SaintPierre-sur-Dive, was sent by William the Bastard, king of England, to the Countess Bertha! at Brie on private business. On that occasion he obtained a tooth of St. Evroul through a certain Norman chaplain of the countess whom he knew, and who happened to be attached to the community of the church of Rebais. On his return to Saint-Evroul he brought it with him, amid general rejoicing. During the reign of King Louis there was a certain canon of Paris called Fulbert,2 who had a whole bone from the spine of St. Evroul, which one of the chaplains had stealthily removed from the chapel of Henry, king of France, and given to him as a token of affection. But fearing, for various reasons, to keep it in his possession, he approached William of Montreuil, prior of Maule,? through the mediation of Fulk, priest of Maule, and gave him the relics to take to the church a Saint-Evroul. He gladly received the gift, and carried out the injunctions as quickly as

338

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VI

sancti patris sensit suffragium. Praefatus enim prior in cibo uenenum nescius manducauit, quod protinus equitantis per membra et uiscera

II LI

sese

diffudit.

At ille ut mortem

cordi uicinam

sensit,

formidolosus ad Deum exclamauit, et ut sibi per merita sancti Ebrulfi misereretur orauit. Factis itaque precibus et uotis uenenum euomuit, citoque sanatus saluatori suo gratias egit, et reliquias Vticensi cenobio letus exhibuit, atque easdem argento decenter inclusit. Anno ab incarnatione Domini Mc?xxx? Guarinus septimus abbas Resbacum adiit, ubi medietatem corporis sancti Ebrulfi esse audierat. Cum prefato patre duo monachi profecti sunt, Odo namque de Mosterolo et Guarinus Sagiensis ut sancta patris sui pignora quaererent comitati sunt? quibus plurimz difficultates contigerunt. Natalis enim Resbacensis abbas! aberat, uoluntas conuentus non ut hospites sed ut hostes eos cauere erat. Par etiam incolarum alienatio uerbis desolatoriis ut fugerent deterrebat. Bonum tamen desiderium quod habebant crescebat, eosque magis ad effectum pertrahebat. Abbas ergo dimissis duobus sociis apud Resbacum, prelati scemate deposito iter arripuit laboriosum, et quasi pauper monachus equitans occursum non erubuit obuiantium, sed Natalem abbatem obnixe quesiuit ad curiam Tedbaldi comitis? apud Ruginiacum municipium. Secunda uero die ad abbatem uenit, nec quis esset sed quid quereret indicauit. Ille autem

Clarasualles se ire uelle intimauit, et si secum

ire uellet

annuit. Ambo itaque cum suis famulis Clarasualles abierunt, benigne a fratribus illius cenobii suscepti sunt? qui regulam sancti Benedicti omnino ad litteram obseruare satagunt. Domnum uero Bernardum? illius monasterii patrem quesierunt, cum eo locuti sunt; et plurima sciscitantes magnam in eodem sapientiam inuenerunt. De sanctis enim scripturis luculenter tractauit? et uotis eorum et interrogationibus satisfecit. Causam quoque Vticensium * Natalis (Noél) abbot of Rebais was a man of considerable experience in secular affairs, and later served as chancellor to King Louis VII. He retired to Cluny to end his days (Giles Constable, The Letters of Peter the Venerable (Cambridge, Mass., 1967), ii. 160-1). 2 Theobald IV, count of Champagne. 3 The abbots of Saint-Evroul and Rebais most probably made the journey to Clairvaux to consult St. Bernard about the papal schism. After the divided election of February 1130 both Innocent II and Anacletus II appealed to the

Church in western Europe for support. Until the council of Etampes, in August or September 1130, when Bernard intervened decisively on behalf of Innocent,

the French church gave no clear guidance to individual religious houses (E.

BOOK VI

330

possible. As he was hurrying on his way he experienced the help of the holy father. For he unsuspectingly ate poison in his food, which rapidly spread through all parts of his body as he rode along. In the grip of fear as he felt death clutch at his heart, he cried out to God, praying for his mercy by the merits of St. Evroul. And when he had finished his prayers and vows he vomited up the poison and, recovering speedily, gave thanks to his saviour. Rejoicing, he exhibited the relics in the monastery of SaintÉvroul, and had them fittingly enclosed in a silver reliquary. In the year of our Lord 1130 Warin, the seventh abbot, went to

Rebais, where he had heard that half the body of St. Évroul was preserved. ‘Two monks, Odo of Montreuil and Warin of Séez, also set out and accompanied their father abbot to seek the holy relics of their patron. They met with many difficulties. For Noél, abbot of Rebais,! was away from home, and the convent chose to regard them as enemies rather than guests. There was equal coldness among the people around, who tried to frighten them away with hostile words. But this only increased the good purpose they had, and made them more determined to succeed. So the abbot, leaving his two companions at Rebais, put aside the trappings of an abbot and set out on a weary journey. He was not ashamed to meet passers-by riding like a poor monk, but resolutely sought Abbot Noél at the court of Count Theobald? at the castle of Rugny. On the second day he reached the abbot, and gave no hint of who he was but only of what he sought. The abbot indicated that he wished to go to Clairvaux, and agreed to take Warin along if he so desired. So both set out for Clairvaux with their servants, and were kindly received by the brethren of that abbey, who endeavoured to carry out a literal observance of the rule of St. Benedict. They sought an interview with Bernard,? lord abbot of the monastery, and as they talked with him and plied him with many questions they found him full of wisdom. He discussed the holy Scriptures with marvellous understanding and satisfied all their desires and questionings. When he heard the case of the monks of Saint-Evroul he kindly helped Abbot Warin, and sent exhortatory letters to the convent of Vacandard, Vie de Saint- Bernard, 4th edition, i. 293-307). Even afterwards sup-

port was not unanimous, and there were divided elections in bishoprics and abbeys (cf. Le Prévost, v. 24-5). Abbot Warin's further submission of his claim for relics to Bernard is only one of many examples of the respect in which he was held by non-Cistercian no less than Cistercian monks (cf. Jean de la Croix Bouton, in Commission d'histoire de l'Ordre de Citeaux, iii (Paris, 1953), 228).

:340

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ut audiuit? Guarinum abbatem benigniter adiuuit, litterasque exhortatorias Resbacensi conuentui destinauit. Denique Guarinus

abbas cum Natali abbate reuersus Odonem et Guarinum inuenit

iii, 118

alacres? atque Resbacensibus karos et amabiles. Erant quippe ambo maturi, affabiles et modesti? geminaque litterarum eruditione imbuti. Et quamuis ambo facundia pollerent et eruditione, Odo tamen karitatiuo feruore summopere studebat sibi Guarinum preferre. Guarinus enim gratiam et sapientiam in diuinis sermonibus habuit, et per octo dies hospitalitatis instinctu Amalrici prioris exhortationem omnibus in claustro exhibuit, beniuolentiamque totius conuentus non iam ut hostis sed ut fidelis amicus optinuit. Guarinus ergo abbas epistolam uenerabilis Bernardi abbatis protulit, quam

Resbacensis

conuentus

libenter

suscepit,

et audita

libentius complere decreuit. Stephanus Parisiensis episcopus et Burchardus Meldensis episcopus nutu Dei aderant et Resbacenses ut karitatis nectare Vticenses exhilararent obnixe admonebant. Igitur annuentibus cunctis dies ab episcopis indicitur, quo multorum pignora sanctorum ibi detenta parte extraherentur, populus terra haec uisurus congregaretur, et multiplici benedictione confirmatus letificaretur, ac postmodum Vticenses optata susciperent

et sic propria reuiserent. Porro Natalis abbas consilium mutat, Vticenses mobilitate uersuta turbat, dicens quod nisi T'edbaldus comes concederet, nunquam

lii. 119

ea que conuentus annuerat traderet. Igitur communi consilio in Normanniam Odo Vticensis ad comitem mittitur? qui tunc ad auunculum suum Henricum regem! ierat ut cum eo loqueretur. Obcediens monachus difficilem uiam arripuit, comitemque sequens Vernonum uenit, suumque secretum prius regi ut iuuaret detexit. Rex uero auxiliaturum se illi pollicetur, comitemque nepotem pro monachorum negotio precatur. Comes autem precanti auunculo concedit, et per Andream? dapiferum suum Resbacensibus concessionem suam mandauit/ qui ad diem quo reliquie monstrabantur non uenit, sed apud Colummers comitis castrum remansit. Illuc Vticensis abbas et Guarinus Sagiensis ac Andreas Columbensisad Andream perrexerunt. Quos ut uidit, benigne suscepit; eorum orationibus

se

commendauit,

concessionem

comitis

intimavit,

* Theobald was the son of Henry's sister, Adela. As Henry I did not go to

France in 1130 before late August or early September these events must have

taken place in the autumn of that year (W. Farrer, An Outline I tinerary of King Henry the First (Oxford, 1919), p. 133).

BOOK VI

b

Rebais. Finally, when Abbot Warin returned with Abbot Noél, he

found Odo and Warin in good spirits, well established in the affections of the monks of Rebais. For both of them were mature men, affable and modest and well versed in sacred and profane learning. And although both were gifted and learned, Odo in loving admiration always tried to set up Warin above himself. For Warin understood the Scriptures through learning and divine grace, and during the eight days of their stay, at the invitation of Amaury, the prior, he had expounded them to all in the cloister and won the goodwill of the whole convent, seeming no longer an enemy, buta faithful friend. Abbot Warin delivered the letter of the holy abbot Bernard, which the convent of Rebais willingly received and, on hearing the contents, readily agreed to accept. Stephen, bishop of Paris, and Burchard, bishop of Meaux, were present by God's will, and pressed the monks of Rebais to delight those of Saint-Évroul with the sweetness of charity. So by general consent a day was fixed by the bishops when some of the many holy relics preserved there might be brought out, and the populace summoned to see them and, strengthened by this manifold blessing, given cause for rejoicing. Afterwards the monks of Saint-Évroul were to receive what they sought and return home. However Abbot Noél changed his mind and troubled the monks of Saint-Évroul by his prevarications, alleging that unless Count Theobald approved he would never give up what the convent had agreed to surrender. So by common consent Odo of SaintÉvroul was sent into Normandy to the count, who had gone at the time to his uncle King Henry! to confer with him. The monk, obeying, set out on the difficult mission, and following the count came to Vernon, where he first revealed his secret charge to the king to secure his help. The king then promised to help him and spoke in favour of the monks' business to his nephew the count. 'The count then gave way to his uncle's request and signified his approval to the monks of Rebais through his steward Andrew, who did not come on the day when the relics were shown, but remained at the count's castle of Coulommiers. There the abbot of Saint-Évroul and Warin of Séez and Andrew of Coulombs waited on Andrew. When he saw them he received them graciously, commended himself to their prayers, told them of the count's 2 Andrew de Baudement. Cf. H. d'Arbois et des comtes de Champagne, ii. 196 n. 2, 315. 822219X.

Aa

de Jubainville, Histoive des ducs

342

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VI

seque legatum inde et fideiussorem nunciauit. lunc abbas

letus

cum

sociis

suis

Resbacum

remeauit,

Guarinus et Natalis

abbas ut concessionem consulis audiuit, poenitentia motus quod Vticenses ualde uexauerat uotis eorum annuit. Amalricus itaque prior mane conuentum excitauit, cum Vticensibus ad basilicam duxit, omnisque conuentus ordinata processione ad sacrarium uadit. Vas argenteum in quo beati Ebrulfi pignora clausa erant frangitur, reliquie reuerenter extrahuntur, brachium

iii. 120

dextrum cum pixide plena fracturis ossium erogatur.! Vticenses itaque in Neustriam redierunt, atque Vticum vii? kal Iuni? peruenerunt. Magna multitudo utriusque sexus fere ad quatuor millia conuenit, ac ad suscipienda tanti patroni beneficia occurrit, et eius ante Deum suffragia promereri fusis precibus sategit. Egri diuersarum infirmitatum molestia pregrauati accurrunt, et remedia suis doloribus ab altissimo per almi patris merita deposcunt, et plurimi petita consecuti Deo gratias et laudes deuote concinunt. Multa ilic habitantes beneficia Dei sentiunt, meritoque gratulantes in beati patris Ebrulfi meritis tripudiant et confidunt. Quidam uir genere Brito nomine Goisfredus in pago Corboniensi

habitauit,

qui multis

ut ipse referebat

in iuuentute

rapinis et latrociniis studuit, sed post aliquot tempus inspirante Deo uitam salubriter mutauit. Legitimam enim coniugem nomine Hildeburgem duxit, eiusque utilibus monitis adquieuit, et crudelibus letiferisque satelliciis renunciauit, et labore manuum que sibi necessaria erant procurauit. Porro de rebus cum sudore adquisitis elemosinas faciebat, egenis et clericis ac heremitis monachisque distribuebat, et huiusmodi uiris totius sui porismatis questus superflua tribuebat, suoque suorumque uictui sola necessaria reseruabat. Hic societatem Vticensium expetiit? et frater in Christo factus fraternitatem optime seruauit. In precipuis sanctorum festis ad Vticense cenobium ueniebat, sed precepti legis memor uacuus uisitare fratres nolebat. * The Liber vitae of Saint-Évroul, where the agreement with Rebais is recorded, notes that the monks of Rebais at first resisted parting with their

relics, but finally gave way unanimously (Bibl. nat. MS. lat. 10062, f. 8o).

BOOK

VI

343

consent, and informed them that he was the envoy and surety for it. Then Abbot Warin, reassured, returned to Rebais with his companions; and when Abbot Noél heard of the count’s approval, filled with penitence for his persecution of the monks of SaintEvroul, he gave in to their wishes. So Amaury the prior aroused the convent in the morning and led them to the church with the monks of Saint-Evroul; the whole convent went in orderly procession to the sacristy. The silver vessel in which the relics of St. Evroul were preserved was broken open, the relics were reverently lifted out, and the right arm, with a casket full of broken pieces of bone, was handed over.! Then the monks of Saint-Evroul returned

to Normandy, reaching their abbey on 26 May.? A great crowd of about four thousand men and women assembled there, coming to share the benefits of this great patron, and pouring out their prayers they strove to win his intercession with God. The sick

of different

diseases

came,

bowed

with

suffering,

and

sought relief from their agony from the Almighty by the merits of the holy father; many of those whose prayers were heard devoutly offered thanks and praises to God. The inhabitants here experience many of God’s mercies, and, rendering thanks where they are due, rejoice and trust in the merits of the blessed father Evroul. A certain man of Breton stock, called Geoffrey, lived in the Corbonnais. He was guilty of much brigandage and theft in his youth, as he himself used to tell, but in the course of time, by

God’s grace, he turned to a better way of life. He took a wife named Hildeburg in lawful marriage and, obeying her wise counsels, ceased to associate with his cruel and murderous followers and

earned his living by the labour of his own hands. Then, with the goods he had acquired by the sweat of his brow, he gave alms to the poor and to clerks and hermits and monks, giving all his superfluous possessions to men of this kind, reserving only the necessities of life for himself and his family. This man sought to be associated with the monks of Saint-Evroul, and, after being admitted to their spiritual fraternity, served them faithfully. He used to come to Saint-Evroul for all the chief saints’ days; but mindful of the precepts of the law he never visited the brethren empty-handed. 2 26 May, presumably 1131, not 1130 (cf. above, p. 340 n. 1). The transactions appear to have been more protracted than the narrative implies.

344

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Quondam biennio ante mortem Henrici regis res admirabilis contigit, nocte scilicet natalis Innocentium! subitanea nix ex improuiso tanta cecidit, quantam nullus mortalium illius zevi uiderat, uel a pedagogis suis uisam aliquando audierat. Nam aditus domorum lil, I2I

obstruxit,

bus onustum

iil. 122

uiarum

superficies

obtexit,

montes

et

ualles

coequauit, aues et animalia suffocauit/ homines etiam submersit, innumerisque fidelibus zcclesiarum introitus ipso die penitus denegauit. Sub tanta aeris intemperie prefatus Goisfredus surrexit, niuiumque nimietatem postposuit, iumentum panibus similagineis onerauit, et filium suum? secum ducens ad solennitatem sancti patris Ebrulfi festinauit. Qui cum ad quandam aquam nomine Riselam peruenisset, nec eam quia pons ibi nullus erat et aqua intumuerant transuadare potuisset? timore et tremore anxius ad clementem Dominum suspirauit, ac ut sibi suffragaretur exorauit. Pio itaque flagrans desiderio diuinam opem protinus persensit, et ultra ripam absque uisibili ductore se solum inuenit, filium uero suum cum iumento et sarcina remansisse in altera ripa cognouit. Deinde filius qui forsitan inzqualis fidei et meriti erat pauidus usque ad umbilicum aquam intrauit, iumentum panisecum traxit, et licet difficulter saluus exiit. Panis

siquidem qui seruis Dei deferebatur in aquis fuit, sed aquis intactus et inhumectatus mansit. Idoneus itaque panis ad usum famulorum Christi celitus seruatus est’ miroque modo siccus de mediis undis extractus est. Denique pater cum prole ad destinatum locum peruenit, uiarum et aquarum pericula qualiter euaserit gaudens enarrauit, meritisque sancti patris Ebrulfi cuius festum expetebat deputauit. Multi qui tunc ad solennia conuenerant ut hzc audierunt? Dominum Deum sabaoth qui suos semper consolatur glorificauerunt. Tunc Guarinus abbas Vticense cenobium regebat, et prefatum uirum pro magna deuocione qua erga Deum feruebat:; uehementer diligebat, et ueneranter honorabat. Idem nanque pater erga Dei cultum feruidus erat, atque huiusmodi sediminis specimen in assiduis exercitationibus agitabat. Religiosos homines honorabat? sibique reuerenter preferebat, studiisque bonis sollerter inherebat. Ipse nimirum quamuis peritia litterarum admodum imbutus esset sese humiliabat, et postposita magisterii dignitate ad diuersa officia quz iunioribus competunt uelut unus ex illis auide currebat, alacriterque peragens laudabile subiectis exemplum exhibebat. ^ A blank space left for his son's name

BOOK VI A marvellous thing happened two Henry. On the night of the Holy there was a sudden very heavy fall living man had ever experienced or

345

years before the death of King Innocents! at Christmas time of snow, the heaviest that any heard described by his elders.

It blocked up the doors of houses, covered up the roads, levelled hills and valleys, smothered birds and animals and even men, and

prevented countless of the faithful from attending church on that day. This man Geoffrey rose in the terrible storm, thought nothing of the deep snow, loaded a mare with fine white bread, and, taking his son with him, hastened to attend the feast of St. Evroul. When he reached the banks of the river Risle and could not cross it,

because there was no bridge there and the waters were rising, he called on the merciful Lord in fear and trembling and begged for aid. And so, fired with his holy purpose, he suddenly felt strength from on high and found his way to the further bank without visible guide, leaving his son with the mare and its load on the other bank. Then the boy, who happened to be of weaker faith and merit, trembling, entered the water up to his middle, leading the mare with its load of bread and, not without difficulty, came safely across. Now the bread which the servant of God was carrying was in the water, but it remained dry and untouched by the water. In this way bread fit for the use of the servants of Christ was provided by heaven and was taken out of the water miraculously dry. Finally father and son reached their journey’s end and joyfully recounted their escape from the perils of the road and the floods, attributing it to the merits of the holy father Evroul, whose feast they were coming to celebrate. Many who had come for these solemnities, hearing these things, glorified the lord God of hosts, who always comforts his own people. At that time Abbot Warin governed the monastery of SaintEvroul and had a very real love and deep respect for this man because of his boundless devotion to God. For he was an abbot who set great store by the divine offices and in his own punctilious devotions gave an example of learned understanding of such things. He respected holy men, humbly giving them precedence over himself, and, setting aside the dignity of his office, he eagerly busied himself, with various duties appropriate to the younger monks, as if he had been one of them, and by carrying these out with a good grace he set an admirable example to those in his ! 28 December 1133.

346

iii. 123

VI

Staturz quidem mediocris et gracilis ac macilentus erat, agilisque ad omnia commoda utpote qui corpulentia nulla grauabatur properabat. Ab aliis doctrine et instructionis uerbum humilitatis causa cupide audiebat, et multoties ea etiam qua ipse melius nouerat, a paribus uel a subditis diligenter inquirebat, atque uelut discipulus humiliter auscultabat. Eloquentia in disserendis lectionibus diuinz legis ubertim affluebat, et profunda sintagmata lucide discutiens reserabat. Adolescens fere xxiii annorum ad monachatum uenit, in quo xlii annis summo regi militauit ingeniique sagacis et seduli sediminis emolumenta metricis carminibus et dicacibus epistolis aliisque dictatibus propalauit.! Ex quibus unum miraculum huic nostro nitor libello indere, quod ipse didicit in Anglia positus apud Torneiam cum Rodberto abbate, et scripto tradidit Eliensi episcopo cum monachili conuentu deprecante. Textus autem epistolae huiusmodi est. '"Vniuersis sancte zecclesiz filiis, precipue mandatis regule eximii patris Benedicti obedientibus? utinam minimus seruus seruorum

iii. 124

BOOK

Dei, Herueus

Heliensis

zcclesiz

minister

indignus,

propositum bene inceptum meliore fine concludere. Ad laudem et honorem patroni monachorum sancti Benedicti rem nouiter apud nos relatione dignam, non immerito audientibus suauem, retinentibus utilem, adhuc nescientibus et fortasse profuturam notificare uoluimus. “Tempore Henrici regis Anglorum ducis Normannorum, anno regni eius in Anglia xvi? comitatus in Normannia decimo, in possessione zcclesiz nostre erat quidam homo nomine Bricstan in uilla quae uocatur Catriz. Hic testantibus uicinis eius iniuste nulli nocebat? aliena non rapiens, pacifice suis contentus erat. Ipse etiam nec multum diues nec nimium pauper, secundum laicorum ordinem in possessione mediocri seipsum et familiolam honeste regebat. Vicinis suis indigentibus nummos non tamen ad usuram accommodabat, sed propter infidelitatem multorum a debitoribus uadimonia retinebat. Ita se inter utrunque habebat" quod nec optimis uiris melior neque malis deterior estimaretur. * Cf. Hist. litt. de France, xi. 637-9. Orderic implies that Warin composed

the letter that follows for Bishop Hervey of Ely, in whose name it runs. ? Between 28 September 1115 and 5 August 1116. A slightly different version

of this miracle occurs in the Liber Eliensis (ed. E. O. Blake, Camden Society,

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347

charge. He was of short stature, slender and lean, and sprang nimbly to all duties, being unburdened with any trace of corpulence. A humble man, he listened eagerly to words of learning and instruction from others, often seeking advice from his equals or inferiors even about matters which he knew better than they did and humbly, like a pupil, listening to their answers. His eloquence overflowed when he expounded passages from Holy Writ, and by his lucid discussions he made difficult passages clear. He made his monastic profession as a young man of twenty-three and served the King of kings in it for forty-four years, and published the fruits of his keen intellect and patient learning in metrical songs, penetrating letters, and other literary works.! From these I will now select one miracle to include in this modest work of mine;

he heard it in England, when he was staying at Thorney with Abbot Robert, and wrote it down at the request of the bishop and the convent of Ely. The text of the letter is as follows: "T'o all faithful sons of Holy Church, especially those obeying the precepts of the rule of the venerable father Benedict, I, Hervey, unworthy bishop of Ely (would that I were the least servant of the servants of God!) send wishes that you may bring your worthy undertaking to an even better end. We wish to make known a new wonder performed among us, to the praise and glory of St. Benedict, patron of monks; it is worth the telling, most delightful to hear, salutary to remember, and likely to be profitable to those who have not yet heard it. ‘In the time of Henry, king of England and duke of Normandy, in the sixteenth year of his reign in England and the tenth in the duchy of Normandy,? a certain man named Bricstan lived in an estate of our church, in a village called Chatteris. This man, as his neighbours bear witness, did wrong to no man but was content with his own goods, sparing those of others. For he was neither very rich nor very poor, but managed his affairs and those of his family after the fashion of a layman with a modest competence. He lent money to his needy neighbours, but not at usury; only, because so many men are untrustworthy, he retained pledges from his debtors. So he kept between the two extremes, being considered neither better than other good men nor worse than bad ones. 4rd ser. 1962), pp. 266-9, where it is shorter and omits both the detailed attack

on Robert Malarteis and the account of judicial proceedings before Ralph Basset.

'The Ely version gives more prominence to St. Etheldreda.

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Qui cum se quietum ab omni parte putaret, nec alicui se esse inuidiosum estimaret? diuina gratia uelut rei exitus probauit inspiratus, uinculis regule sancti Benedicti sese ligari, et habitu insigniri desiderauit. Quid plura? Venit ad monasterium nostrum

in honore sancti Petri apostoli et sancte Etheldridz constructum, a monachis misericordiam petiuit, se suaque dicioni eorum tradere promisit. Sed proh dolor ille iniquus per cuius inuidiam de paradiso Adam cecidit" illius posteritati usque ad nouissimum qui uenturus est inuidere minime cessabit. Verum Deus qui misericorditer omnia suauiterque disponit? semper uelut omnipotens de malis bona de bonis meliora facit. Hoc cum a multis audiretur,

iii, 125

nam licet maioris non esset, aliquantule tamen famz homo ille erat, quidam Henrici regis minister, specialiter autem diaboli seruus armatus lupinis dentibus accurrit. "Verum ut sciatis quis uel qualis iste esset, paululum a proposito digrediamur. Hic Rodbertus nominatur, et Malarteis cognominatur,’ quod nos latina lingua ‘‘malum artificem" exponimus. Nec immerito. Ipse nanque nullum penitus aliud officium habebat, nisi tantum omnibus insidiari. Omnibus dico, monachis scilicet uel clericis, militibus et rusticis et tocius ordinis hominibus tam

religione famosis quam aliter uiuentibus, sed ne mendacium incurrere uidear: frequenter hoc agebat quocumque suam maliciam dilatare ualebat. Omnes itaque zequaliter pro posse accusabat, ut omnes in damnum mitteret totis uiribus elaborabat. Cum alicui uel pluribus nocebat, inter illos numerabatur,

de quibus dicitur,

"Letantur cum male fecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis"? Si autem ex uero dampnare nequibat? per eum qui in illo loquebatur diabolum inuentor falsitatis mendax et pater eius efficiebatur. Sed cum nullus eciam cum eo ab infantia inseparabiliter permanens huius uiri mala non dico scribere, sed etiam referre ualeat" nam

iure mille artifex uocaretur, redeamus ad incepta. "Audito ut diximus rumore predicti uiri religionis habitum arripere cupientis, magistri sui doctrinam qui semper mentitur aut decipit sequutus? aduenit ille Rodbertus. Qui dicturus men-

dacium a mendacio incipiens ait nobis, Hunc hominem Bricstan * Robert Malarteis, a minor royal official with property in Huntingdonshire and Bedfordshire, occurs in the Pipe Roll of 1130, and there are later references

to the family (Doris M. Stenton, English Justice between the Norman Conquest and the Great Charter, 1066—1215 (London, 1965), p. 61). The name ‘Mille-

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349

Believing he was at peace with all men and without a single enemy, he was inspired by divine grace—as the outcome proved—to seek to be bound by the rule of St. Benedict and clothed in the habit. What next? He came to our monastery, which was built in honour of St. Peter the apostle and St. Etheldreda, sought admission from the monks, promised to put himself and all that he had under their government. But, sad to relate, the evil one through whose envy Adam fell from Paradise will never cease to vex with envy his descendants up to the very last generation. Nevertheless God the omnipotent, who in his mercy disposes all things well, always brings good out of evil and better out of good. When his action was generally known, for although he was not a man of the first rank he was nevertheless of some repute, a certain minister of King Henry, who was more particularly a servant of the devil with wolf-like fangs, appeared on the scene. "Now indeed, so that you may know who and what manner of man he was, I will digress a little. His name was Robert and he was nicknamed Malarteis,! from the Latin meaning ‘ill-doer’. The name was deserved. For he seemed to have no function except to catch men out. All men, I repeat: monks and clerks, knights and peasants, men of every order, whether living under a religious vow or otherwise; but, lest I be accused of lying, this was his constant practice wherever he could exercise his malice. He accused all equally whenever he could, striving with all his might to harm everyone. When he injured one or more men he was numbered among those of whom it is said, "They rejoice to do evil, and delight in evil and subversive acts."? If he could find no valid reason for condemning them, he became an inventor of falsehood and father of lies through the devil who spoke in him. But since no one, not even one who had been his constant companion since childhood, could relate, let alone write down, all the evil deeds of this man who is rightly called ‘““Thousand wiles” I will return to my subject. ‘When, as I have said, it was rumoured

abroad that Bricstan

wished to put on the habit of religion, Robert, following the teaching of his master who always lies and deceives, appeared on the scene. He, beginning to heap falsehood on falsehood, said to us, artifex! was given to a demon who occurs in medieval legends (Le Prévost,

i371):

;

? Proverbs ii. 14.

350

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iii. 126

uidelicet furem esse, pecuniam regis propriam in latrocinio habere, celare, et ut criminis huius iudicium et poenam euadere ualeat, non causa alterius salutis monachatum querere sciatis. Ipse nanque thesaurum occultum inuenit? ex quo furtim sublato foenerator effectus est. Tantorum itaque reus criminum, latrocinii uidelicet et usurz, presentiz regis uel iudicum metuit assistere. Quapropter huc ad uos ex regis imperio missus" interdico ne illum in uestro collegio audeatis recipere." Nos autem audita regis defensione, timentes iram eius incurrere? noluimus hunc hominem ceetui nostro coniungere. Quid plura? Sub fideiussoribus missus’ ducitur ad iudicium. Radulfo autem Basso! sedente pro tribunali, congregatis etiam prouincialibus uniuersis apud Huntedoniam ut mos est in Anglia? ego ipse Herueus cum abbatibus Rainaldo Ramesiensi, et Rodberto Tornensi necnon clericis pluribus et monachis interfui. Et ne uos longius protraham" accusatus ille cum uxore presentatur, crimina sibi falso imposita renouantur. Ille non acta negabat? quod non fecerat confiteri nequibat. E contra de mendacio arguitur, deridetur, erat enim aliquantulum corpulentus’ mediocris per-

lii. 127

sonz, et honestam ut ita dicam cheriem habebat. Post multas uero

illatas sibi sine merito contumelias, uelut Susannam preiudicauerunt ipsum cum omni omnino possessione ditioni regis tradendum. Post tale iudicium cum sua reddere cogeretur? quz in promptu erant reddidit, absentia ubi essent et qui essent debitores indicauit. Sed cum plura reddere et maiora indicare compelleretur Anglica? lingua '"That wat min lauert Godel mihtin that ic sege soth" respondebat. Quod nos Latini dicimus, ‘‘Mi domine,

scit Deus omnipotens, quia ueritatem dico". Hoc uerbo sepius repetito? nichil aliud dicebat. Propalatis omnibus que habebat" afferuntur reliquie. Qui cum iurare deberet? dixit uxori sue, "Soror mea per illud quod nos astringit uinculum karitatis te adiuro? ne me periurium incurrere patiaris. Plus enim anime periculum quam corporis cruciatus expauesco. Si igitur aliquid residui tua tibi conscientia demonstrat/ in medium proferre non differas. Plus enim inimicus noster spiritualis animarum dampnationem? quam carnis lacerationem desiderat." Ad quem illa, "Domine" inquit, “preter indicata nil omnino nisi xvi solidos, t Ralph Basset was described by contemporaries as ‘capitalis iusticiarius’ and acted as itinerant justice in ten counties; but he was not, as he has sometimes

BOOK VI "Know

that this man,

Bricstan, is a thief, who

bor has seized the

king's money by larceny and hidden it, and is trying to take the habit to escape judgement and punishment for his crime, not for any other kind of salvation. For he found hidden treasure, and by secretly stealing from it has become a usurer. Since he is guilty of the crimes of larceny and usury, he fears to come before the king or his justices. Therefore I have been sent here to you at the king's command, and I forbid you to receive him into your community." We therefore, hearing the king's prohibition and fearing to incur his wrath, refused to receive the man among us. What next? He was sent under surety to trial. With Ralph Basset! presiding, all the men of the county were assembled at Huntingdon, according to English custom, and I, Hervey, was present with Reginald abbot of Ramsey, Robert abbot of Thorney, and a number of clerks and monks. To cut a long story short, the accused was charged together with his wife, and the crimes falsely attributed to him were repeated. He denied the charge; he could not confess what he had not done. The opposing party charged him with lying and made fun of him, for he was short in stature, somewhat corpulent, and had what one might call a homely face. After many undeserved contumelies had been heaped upon him, he was unjustly condemned like Susannah, and sentenced to be handed over with all his goods to the king’s custody. When, after the sentence, he was forced to hand over his goods he gave up his ready money, stating where his debts lay and who were his debtors. But when he was pressed to give more and admit to more he replied in English, ‘““That wat min lauert Godel mihtin that ic sege soth’’, or as we Latins say, “My lord, God almighty knows that I speak the truth". After repeating this again and again he fell silent. When he had publicly produced all his possessions, the relics were brought in. At the moment of swearing, he said to his wife, ““Dear companion, I entreat you by the bond of love that binds us, not to allow me to perjure myself, for I fear spiritual danger more than bodily anguish. If therefore your conscience tells you that anything has been omitted, do not hesitate to bring it out. For our spiritual foe is more eager to bring our souls to damnation than to tear our flesh." But she replied, “‘My lord, I have nothing over and above what you have revealed except sixteen shillings and two been called, justiciar (F. J. West, (Cambridge, 1966), pp. 21-3).

The Justiciarship in England, 1066-1232

352

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et duos tantum anulos quattuor denarios appendentes habeo." Quibus in presentia prolatis? uirago subiunxit, “Karissime coniunx modo iura securus, ego postea confirmans mea teste conscientia te uerum

iii. 128

dictum

iii. 129

iurasse, nuda manu

ferrum calidum si iusseris coram

omnibus qui uidere uoluerint portabo." Quid multa? Iurauit. Ac deinde sub custodia ligatus, ac Lundoniam ductus: ibi in carcerem obscurum retruditur.! Ibique uinculis ferreis, plus quam satis ponderosis fortiter et contumeliose constrictus; famis et frigoris cruciatibus diuturnis non modico tempore coartatur. Positus autem in tali miseria? diuinum auxilium pro posse suo et scientia tam graui necessitate cogente, adesse sibi postulabat. Sed quia meritis suis que per modica uel ut uerius dicam nulla esse credebat, hoc se impetrare diffidebat? sanctum Benedictum cuius se preceptis ut est subditurum

non

ficte deuouerat,

necnon

sanctam

uirginem Egeldridam in cuius monasterio hoc idem se facturum preuiderat: corde lacrimabili et uoce qua poterat, incessanter aduocabat. Hinc itaque oneratus ac constrictus ferro, hinc frigore cruciatus, illinc fatigatus ieiunio, miserabilem uitam qui pro certo mori mallet quam infeliciter uiuere iuxta estimationem meam integris quinque mensibus lugens in tenebris sustinuit. Et uidens nullum sibi humanum penitus adesse subsidium? sanctum Benedictum et sanctam Egeldridam continuis gemitibus, suspiriis, singultibus, quandoque lacrimis corde uel ore ruminando prouocare non cessabat. Quid plura? Nocte quadam cum signa per urbem ad nocturnas laudes pulsarentur, et ille in carcere cum ceteris angustiis ab omni cibo triduum continuasset ieiuniis? iam pene deficiens, et a corporis reparatione penitus desperans, nomina sanctorum flebili uoce repetebat. Sed Deus clemens et misericors qui fons totius bonitatis indeficiens permanet, qui nullum in necessitate positum spernit, neminem pro potentia uel diuitiis eligit, satis optatam et propter desiderii augmentationem et ut adepta magis diligeretur dilatam, tandem poscenti misericordiam suam exhibuit. Adsunt enim clamanti sanctus Benedictus et sancta Egeldrida» cum sorore sua sancta Sexburga. Ille uero preuium lumen quod sanctos antecedebat insolitum adesse expauescens? manu sua oculos suos operuit. Venientibus autem sanctis cum ipso lumine" sancta Egeldrida prius locuta est, "Quid nos” inquit “Bricstan ' This is evidence for the absence of local prisons in some counties (REB: Pugh, Imprisonment in Medieval England (Cambridge, 1968), p- 58).

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353

rings worth fourpence.’’ When these had been produced the brave woman

added, “Now, dearest husband, swear with safety; I will

confirm afterwards with my conscience as witness that what you have sworn is true; and if you so command I will publicly, in the sight of all who wish to see, carry the hot iron in my bare hand." What next? He took oath. Then he was bound and given into custody, and taken to London where he was thrown into a dark prison.’ There, unjustly laden with iron fetters of excessive weight, he suffered the torment of daily hunger and cold for a considerable time. But, finding himself in such a plight, he cried out as well as he knew how for divine aid to come to him in his great need. But because he hesitated to seek this through his own merits, which he considered slight or, to tell the truth, wholly lacking, he called

incessantly with a sorrowful heart and all the voice he could raise on St. Benedict, under whose rule he had vowed in all sincerity to live, as I have told, and on the holy virgin Etheldreda, in whose

monastery he had proposed to do so. In this way, both weighed down and bound with iron, tormented by cold and weakened by hunger, for five whole months he woefully endured a wretched life in darkness. He must certainly have felt, it seems to me, that death was preferable to such a miserable life. And seeing that no human aid was at hand, he never ceased to call on St. Benedict and St. Etheldreda with constant groans, sighs, sobs, and tears, both with

his lips and in his heart. ‘One night when the bells were ringing for the night offices throughout the city, and he in his prison had been without food of any kind for three days, in addition to his other sufferings, and was almost at his last gasp and without hope of bodily recovery, he was repeating the names of the saints in a feeble voice. But God, who is kind and merciful and remains the inexhaustible source of all goodness, who refuses no man in great need and favours no man for his power or wealth, at length showed the suppliant the mercy which he had long sought, but which had been withheld so that his desire might be increased and he might cherish it the more when he received it. St. Benedict and St. Etheldreda, with her sister

St. Sexburga, appeared to the suppliant. He indeed, terrified by the unaccustomed brightness of the light which heralded the coming of the saints, covered his eyes with his hand. But as the saints drew near in the blaze of light, St. Etheldreda spoke first. “Why, Bricstan," said she, "are you continually shaken with

354

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totiens lacrimis pulsas? Quid nos tantis clamoribus commoues?" Ille quidem iam debilitatus ieiunio, nunc quasi in excessu mentis redditus, et gaudio repletus pro tanto miraculo, nichil omnino respondere poterat. Tunc sancta subiungens ait, “Ego sum Egeldrida quam tu toties inuocasti. Hic adest sanctus Benedictus sub cuius habitu te Deo seruiturum deuouisti, et a quo auxilium multoties poposcisti. Vis liberari?" Audita hac uoce reuixit spiritus eius, et quasi de somno euigilans ait, ‘Domina mea, si aliquo modo uiuere possem: ab isto execrabili carcere exire uellem. Sed iam me diuersis angustiis sic afflictum uideo? quod amissis uiribus corporis omnibus euadendi spem nullam ulterius habeo." Tunc sancta uirgo ad sanctum Benedictum conuersa dixit, Sancte Benedicte quare non facis quod tibi a Domino preceptum est?" Ad hzc uerba uir uenerabilis Benedictus manum suam ad boias misit, et ex

iii. 130

utraque parte fregit, atque de pedibus uinculati sic extraxit, quod ille nichil omnino sensit, et plus iussu quam actu illas fregisse uisus est. Qui cum ab eo illas remouisset, de manu quasi indignans proiecit, trabem quz solarium illius ergastuli sustinebat tam fortiter percussit, quod fissuram in ea non modicam fecit, ac de sonitu tant percussionis exterriti custodes qui super solarium iacebant, omnes euigilati sunt. Qui timentes fugisse uinctos accensis luminibus festinanter ad carcerem cucurrerunt. Inuenientes autem hostia penitus integra ac firmata: adhibitis clauibus intrauerunt. Videntes uero illum quem ligatum miserant solutum magis mirati sunt. Et interrogantibus de tanto sonitu quem audierant, uel quis eum fecisset, qui etiam compeditum soluisset? alius quidam in carcere cum eo ligatus illo tacente respondit, "Nescio qua persone cum maximo lumine carcerem intrarunt, et cum isto socio meo plura locuti sunt. Sed quid ei dicerent uel facerent? ipsum qui melius scit interrogate." Conuersi ad illum dixerunt, "Dic nobis quid audisti uel uidisti." Et ille, “Sanctus” inquit "Benedictus cum sancta Egeldrida et sorore sua Sexburga hic affuerunt, et conpedes de pedibus meis abstulerunt. Si uero non creditis michi? uel oculis uestris credite." Illi autem uiso miraculo nec inde dubitantes? mane facto Mathildi reginze! quz tunc forte in eadem erat urbe nunciauerunt. At illa Radulfum Bassum qui eundem Bricstan preiudicari iusserat, et hoc factum arte magica

peractum

adhuc

dicebat?

ad carcerem

misit.

Qui

ueniens illuc? quasi irrisorie sicut dudum fecerat cum eo cepit ' Queen Matilda acted as regent during her husband Henry I’s absences abroad, which included the period 1116-18 (West, The Justiciarship in England,

P. 14).

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VI

355

sobs? Why do you disturb us with your constant wailing?” But he, weakened by fasting and almost out of his mind, though filled with joy at this great miracle, was incapable of speech. Then the saint added, "I am Etheldreda, whom you have called so often. Here stands St. Benedict, under whose habit you vowed to serve God, from whom you have implored help so many times. Do you wish to be freed?" Hearing these words his spirits revived, and he said like a man waking from sleep, “My lady, if it is possible for me to go on living, I long to leave this vile prison. But I am already afflicted with so many torments that all my bodily strength has vanished and I no longer have any hope of escape." Then the holy virgin, turning to St. Benedict, said, “St. Benedict, why do you not carry out your Lord's commands?" At these words the venerable Benedict placed his hand on the ring-fetters and broke them on both sides, drawing them from the feet of the prisoner in such a way that he felt nothing at all and the saint seemed to have broken them more by his command than by force. When he had pulled them off he tossed them aside almost contemptuously and struck the beam which supported the room above the dungeon with such violence that he made a great crack in it. At the sound of the impact the guards, who were sleeping in the room above, were all awakened in terror. Fearing that the prisoners had fled they lit torches and rushed to the prison. Finding the doors undamaged and locked, they turned the keys and entered. When they saw that the man whom they had thrown into fetters was freed, they marvelled greatly. When they inquired about the great noise they had heard, who had made it, and who had freed the fettered man,

another prisoner replied (for Bricstan kept silence), "Some persons, I know not who, entered the prison in a blaze of light and spoke for a time with my companion here. But as for what they said to him or did, ask him, who is better able to answer." Turning to

him they said, “Tell us what you heard and saw." And he replied, “St. Benedict, St. Etheldreda, and her sister, St. Sexburga, were

here and took the fetters off my feet. If you do not believe me, at least believe your own eyes." But they, having witnessed the miracle, believed it, and when morning came they told it to Queen Matilda,! who happened to be in the city at the time. Then she sent Ralph Basset, who had had Bricstan unjustly condemned and declared that the deed had been done by magical arts, to the prison. Going in, he began to speak in a mocking way with Bricstan,

356 iii, 131

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loqui, “‘Quid agis Bricstan? Nunquid per angelos suos tibi locutus est Deus? nunquid ad te in carcerem descendit? Enarra michi quz sunt hzc maleficia tua." Ipse uero uelut mortuus nullum omnino dedit responsum. "Tunc Radulfus uidens quomodo conpedes ille fractee fuerant, audiens etiam per socium illius de personis tribus quae cum lumine carcerem intrauerant, de uerbis quz locutz fuerant, de sonitu quem fecerant, et animaduertens hzc indubitanter diuinitus contigisse, abundanter cepit flere.! Et conuersus ad Bricstan ait, "Frater, seruus sum ego sancti Benedicti et sancte uirginis Egeldridz, in eorum amore mecum loquere." At ille respondit, “Si seruus es sanctorum predictorum? bonus est aduentus tuus. Ista uero quz uides uel audis circa me patrata? uera scias esse non magica." Radulfus autem apprehendens ilum, ad presentiam reginz et multorum qui aderant baronum gaudens et plorans duxit. Interim rumor ille ocior qualibet uolucre totam urbem Lundoniz peruolans, aures omnium pene ciuium attigit. Tunc ciues undique in coelum clamorem attollunt? omnis sexus et aetas in commune nomen Domini

benedicunt,

et ad curiam

ubi ductum

esse

audierant

currunt. Lacrimas leticie quamplurimi fundunt, ceteri mirantur qua uident uel audiunt. Regina uero gaudio repleta, erat enim bona Christiana? pro tanti nouitate miraculi, iubet per omnia ciuitatis monasteria signa pulsari, et ab omni zcclesiastici ordinis conuentu laudes Deo cantari. Cumque ille quamplures zecclesias ciuitatis deuotas Deo gratias referens ex abundanti gaudio suze liberationis uisitaret? turba multa per uicos eum sequebatur et precedebat, et quasi nouum hominem unusquisque uidere cupiebat. iii. 132 Cum autem beati Petri basilicam que Westmonasterium Anglice nuncupatur deuenisset’ abbas eiusdem loci Gislebertus? uir litteris liberalibus et diuinis eruditissimus, cum omni grege monachorum et apparatu ecclesia obuiam illi processionem extra monasterium

duxit. Dicebat enim, *Si hominis

alicuius mortui

reliquiz in zcclesia festiue recipi debent? multo magis uiuas reliquias hunc uidelicet hominem honorifice suscipiamus. De mortuo nanque ubi sit spiritus eius nos adhuc in fragili uita positi dubitamus, de isto uero quod a Deo qui nichil iniuste facit in nostra presentia uisitatus ac liberatus sit non ignoramus." * There is some

evidence from the seal of Ralph Basset that he had a high

conception of his duty as a judge (cf. D. M. Stenton, English Justice . . . 1066— I215, p. 61).

? Gilbert Crispin. For his life see J. Armitage Robinson, Abbot of Westminster (Cambridge, 1911).

Gilbert Crispin,

BOOK

VI

357

as he had done before, *Now what are you up to, Bricstan? Did

God really talk to you through his angels? Did he really come down into your prison? Now tell me what trickery you are up to." But he remained as one dead, making no reply. "Then Ralph, seeing how the fetters for his feet were broken, and hearing from his companion about the three persons who had entered the prison in a blaze of light, of the words that had been spoken, of the sound they had made, and perceiving that this was without question an act of God, began to weep copiously.! And turning to Bricstan he said, ‘‘Brother, I am a servant of St. Bene-

dict and the holy virgin Etheldreda; for their sakes speak to me.” Then he replied, “If you are a servant of these saints you are welcome. Be assured that the things you see and hear about me are true happenings and not witchcraft.” So Ralph took charge of him and, rejoicing and weeping, brought him into the presence of the queen and all the barons who were with her. Meanwhile the story sped swifter than a bird all through the city of London and

came to the ears of almost all the citizens. At the news the citizens everywhere raised a great clamour to heaven, young and old of both sexes together blessed the name of the Lord and rushed to the court, where they heard he had been taken. Many shed tears of joy; others were full of wonder at what they saw and heard. The queen herself was filled with joy at the news of such a miracle, for she was a good Christian. She commanded the bells of all the churches in the city to be rung and the praises of God to be sung by every convent of religious. And whilst Bricstan visited several churches in the city, pouring out humble thanks to God in overwhelming joy at his delivery, a great crowd thronged round him in the streets, for everyone wished to see him as if he were a man reborn. When he reached the church of the blessed Peter which is called in English Westminster, Gilbert, the abbot of the place, a man of great learning in both secular and divine letters, came out of the monastery to meet him with the whole flock of monks, bearing the treasures of the church in procession. For he said, “Tf the relics of a dead man should be received in the church with all solemnities, we ought far more to receive with honour this man who is a living relic. For we who are still in this transitory life do not know where the spirit of a dead man may be: but we are in no doubt that this man has been visited and freed in our sight by God who does nothing in vain." 822219X Bb

358

BOOK VI

‘Cumque Deo pro posse suo iuxta estimationem suam uenerationem debitam pro illius liberatione reddidissent? regina illum ad zcclesiam sanctz uirginis Egeldridz in Eliensi insula cum grandi honore et gaudio remisit. Ego autem et omnis monachorum conuentus cum cereis et crucibus processionaliter obuiam ei Te Deum laudamus cantantes exiuimus. Cumque illum festiue ut decebat in zecclesiam introduceremus: diuinis laudibus celebratis, monachilem habitum quem diu desiderauerat in honore sanctissimi Benedicti liberatoris sui ei tradidimus. Boias autem quibus compeditus fuerat, ob honorem sancti Benedicti qui eas confregerat, uenerationem uirginis Egeldridz que collega illius astinecnon jii. 133 terat? in eadem ecclesia suspensas quasi memoriale tanti miraculi ad populi spectaculum posuimus, ibique non modico tempore ut per eas resciretur dependere uisze sunt.! ‘Hzc uenerabilis patris Benedicti opera sanctze matris zecclesize filiis notificare uoluimus, non quia satis non fecisset maiora, sed

quia ista sunt nouiora, et nostris temporibus in finibus Angliz

ili. 134

inusitata uidentur. Nec de beato patre nostro Benedicto ullus miretur, si magna et etiam inestimabilia faciat, quippe qui papa Gregorio? teste in latice producto de rupe Moysi cozequatur, in corui obedientia Heliz assimilatur, in ferro de profundo abissi reuocato Heliseus dicitur, in discipulo iussu suo super aquas ambulante Petro coniungitur. Ipse etiam ut notum est propheta preuidendo futura fuit, apostolus patrando miracula extitit, uel ut breuius dicam omnium iustorum spiritu plenus fuit. Quia ergo sine scrupulo nouimus de ipso, quod quaecumque uoluerit consequitur a Domino" letabundi maneamus in illius seruitio, scientes nos eius prece non priuari denario. Si autem sanctus Benedictus huic auxilium non negauit, qui se suum fore monachum deuouit, quale subsidium his qui ultro uinculis regule illius iam constringuntur suppeditabit? Multis euidentibus documentis manifeste patescit, quod benignus magister iam a Deo in coelis glorificatus pro supplicibus discipulis indesinenter intercedit, eisque cotidie in necessitatibus suis efficaciter subuenit. Nos itaque qui iam lene iugum Christi? suscepimus, et pondus diei et estus* in eius uinea ' Donations

were

regularly

received

at Ely ‘de Boiis'

(E. O. Blake, Liber

Eliensis, p. 269 n. 2). The version in the Liber Eliensis ends at this point. 2 Cf. Gregory the Great, Dialogues, 1I. v-viii (Migne, PL Ixvi. 142-50).

BOOK

VI

359

“When they had rendered the thanks due to God for his liberation, as they judged fit, to the best of their ability, the queen sent

him to the church of the holy virgin Etheldreda in the Isle of Ely, with great honour and rejoicing. Then I and the whole convent of monks went out to meet him in procession, with candles and crosses, singing the Te Deum. And when we had brought him into the church with all fit ceremonial and given thanks to God, we clothed him in the monastic habit which he had long desired, in honour of the blessed Benedict, his liberator. Further, we hung in the church the chains with which his feet had been fettered, in

honour of St. Benedict who had broken them, and through reverence for the virgin Etheldreda who had accompanied him, to be a witness to the miracle in the sight of the people; and they have been seen hanging there for a considerable time as proof of it.! “We wish to make known these deeds of St. Benedict to Christian people, not because he has not done greater things, but because these are more recent and seem to be very rare in our times in England. Nor should anyone wonder that our father Benedict should perform great and even prodigious works, for he has been declared by Pope Gregory? to be equal to Moses in causing a spring to gush from the rock, and compared to Elijah for the obedience of a raven, to Elisha for raising iron from the depths of a pit, and to Peter when his disciple walked on the water at his command. He, as is well known, was a prophet in his ability to foretell the future, and an apostle through his performance of miracles, or, to put it briefly, was filled with the spirit of all the righteous. As we know for sure that whatever he grants will be granted by the Lord, let us abide joyfully in his service, knowing that by his intercession we shall not be cheated of our reward. For if St. Benedict did not withhold his help from this man who had only promised to become a monk, how much more will he succour those who are already fettered by their own free will with the precepts of his rule? It is made manifest by many visible proofs that this good master, already glorified by God in heaven, continually intercedes for his followers as they pray, and daily brings them strength in their needs. We therefore, who have taken up the light yoke of Christ? and, toiling in his vineyard, have borne the burden and heat of the day,^ persevering and trusting in the goodness of 3 Cf. Matthew xi. 30.

* Matthew xx. 12.

360

iii. 135

BOOK

VI

laborantes ferimus? in bonitate Dei constantes et perseuerantes certi esse debemus, quod meritis et precibus signipotentis didascali nos proteget atque saluabit omnipotens Dominus. Obnixe ergo ipsum exoremus conditorem uniuersorum, ut nos egredi faciat de Babilonia et de finibus Chaldeorum, et in Ierusalem currere per suorum obseruantiam mandatorum ibique ad laudandum se nos in zeternum collocet in consortio ciuium supernorum, omnipotens et misericors Deus qui uiuit et regnat per omnia secula seculorum. Amen.’ Huc usque per diuersas discurrens materias scribendo fatigatus sum: et huic sexto zecclesiasticze hystoriz libello nunc impono terminum. In alio quippe uolumine! septem libellos auxiliante Deo iam peregi in quibus de morte Guillelmi regis et de tribus fils eius plura edidi? et iter Ierosolimitanum euentusque uarios nostris temporibus contingentes referendo addidi. Cunctipotens creator ut ab inicio cepit sic mire disponit cursus szculorum" et dociles instruens animos terrigenarum, a noxio reuocat appetitu infimorum, ac prouocat ad meliora mirabilium exhibitione gestorum. Nam deiectione sullimium, et exaltatione humilium? damnatione

reproborum, et saluatione iustorum" incessanter eruditur genus humanum, ne per execrabilem theomachiam fiat prophanum: sed ut diuinum semper metuat iudicium et diligat imperium" inoboedientize deuitet reatum, et fidelem iugiter offerat famulatum? Patri et Filio Spirituique Sancto uni Deo regi sanctorum, Dominoque uniuersorum, qui uiuit et regnat per infinita secula seculorum. Amen. Explicit liber sextus ecclesiastice hystorice?

BOOK VI

361

God ought to be certain that the omnipotent Lord will protect and save us through the merits and prayers of his miracle-working disciple. So we earnestly beseech the Creator of all things, almighty God who lives and reigns throughout all ages, that he may bring us forth from Babylon and from the land of the Chaldeans and lead us to Jerusalem through obedience to his commandments, placing us there with the company of the citizens of heaven to praise him eternally. Amen.’ And now, after assembling materials of various kinds, I am weary with writing, and bring an end to this sixth book of the Ecclesiastical History. 1 have already, by God's aid, completed seven books in another volume,!

in which I have described at

length the death of King William and the deeds of his three sons, and have added an account of the Crusade to Jerusalem and various

events of our own times. For the omnipotent Creator, who first made the world, likewise wonderfully guides its course, and by teaching those men who are willing to hear restrains them from the deadly lust for evil things and encourages them to a better life by revealing marvellous deeds. For the human race is continually instructed by the putting down of the proud and the exaltation of the lowly, the damnation of sinners and the salvation of the just, so that it may not be made blasphemous by the terrible enemy of God, but may always fear the judgement and love the rule of God, avoiding the sin of disobedience and constantly offering faithful service to Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, one God, King of the saints, Lord of all things, who lives and reigns throughout all ages. Amen. Here ends the sixth book of the Ecclesiastical History? I See above, pp. xiv-xv.

2 A different hand has added the couplet: Virgo parens duc Euurigenas, O ianua coeli,

'l'olle tua pressis tantos pietate labores. At the bottom of the page ‘Explicit quarta pars Vitalis’ is written in a thirteenthcentury hand.

APPENDIX

I

The Vitae of St. Evroul THE manuscripts of the Vitae of St. Evroul were divided by Baedorf, whose critical study has been of fundamental importance, into two groups." Vita B is the best-known, though in fact an inferior, version. It exists in four MSS. now in Rouen, Alencon, and Paris, of which the earliest is an eleventh-century MS. from the abbey of Jumiéges. It was published by Mabillon? and was the version used by Orderic. It was certainly not written before the ninth century and may be later. Vita A exists in three early MSS., and there is also a partial copy among the records of the Bollandists from a lost fifteenth-century MS. Delisle first drew attention to a copy from the abbey of Saint-Evroul, now in the Bibliothéque d'Alencon (MS. 11), and this version was printed uncritically by L. Hommey.? It was copied in a thirteenthcentury hand at the end of a twelfth-century volume, and is later than

the time of Orderic. Baedorf appears to have based his criticism exclusively on this version, which I will call Vita A (2). The two English MSS. give a shorter, clearer version, in every way superior, and with many substantial differences of content. Bodleian MS. Fell 2, pp. 432-9 was written at St. Augustine's, Canterbury between 1100 and 1i130;* Hereford Cathedral Library MS. P vii 6, fols. 2237-225" was written slightly later in the twelfth century, and may

have been copied from the Canterbury MS. This version I will call Vita A (1). There can be no doubt that Vita A (1) is the earliest version.5 It could have been written in the eighth century, since all the anachron-

isms criticized by Baedorf are in the interpolations; but it may be a little later. It gives no date except that Évroul died in the twelfth year t B. Baedorf, Untersuchungen über Heiligenleben (Bonn, 1913), pp. 111-24. 2 Mab. AA.SS i. 354-60; BHL, no. 2377.

der westlichen

Normandie

3 Bulletin de la société historique et archéologique de l'Orne, vi (1887), 273-92. Cf. BHL, no. 2374. * C. R. Dodwell, The Canterbury School of Illumination, 1066-1200 (Cambridge, 1954), p. 123. 5 For a discussion of the evolution and dates of the Vitae see M. Chibnall, ‘The Merovingian monastery of Saint-Evroul in the light of conflicting traditions’, in Studies in Church History, viii (Cambridge, 1971), pp. 31-40; for the

text see ‘La recension primitive de la Vie de St. Evroul’, forthcoming in BSAN.

364

APPENDIX I

of a King Childebert. Vita B is based to a certain extent on it: it appears to have been written to provide a series of readings during the divine office, and in addition to new material about the saint’s early life,

possibly taken from the Vitae of other saints, it adds short moral homilies and a number of traditional miracles. It omits almost all the information about monastic organization and the liturgical cursus. Although the writer speaks of the body of St. Evroul as if it were still at the monastery, this was a common convention even after relics had been removed, and

does not prove that Vita B was written before the tenth or even the eleventh century. This version adds for the first time the statement that

Evroul died when Robert was bishop of Séez. Vita A (2) made use of both the earlier versions, but was freely composed and often paraphrased inaccurately rather than copied. It was probably written in the twelfth century, and described Childebert as the son of Sigebert. In this the writer merely repeated the error of the Annals of Saint-Evroul which assigned the death of the saint to the reign of Childebert II, an error popularized by Orderic.!

Both J. Laporte and L. Musset, who examined the published Vitae critically, came to the conclusion that Evroul probably died in the reign of Childebert ITI, in the year 706; since he was then about eighty this

would place his birth c. 626. The content of Vita A (1) leaves no doubt that this revised dating is correct. t See above, p. xv. ? J. Laporte, ‘Les origines du monachisme dans la province de Rouen’, in Revue

219-20.

Mabillon,

xxxi (1941), 35-6; L. Musset,

‘St. Evroul’, in DHGE,

xvi.

APPENDIX

II

The Priors of Maule IT is possible, with the aid of charters

and Orderic’s

narrative,

to

establish a rough sequence of the priors of Maule, though very few

precise dates can be assigned to their terms of office. The formal date of foundation was 1076,! and Goisbert the doctor

was the first prior. In two places Orderic gives a list of some priors: 1. Building of a new church began shortly after Goisbert’s appointment and occupied twenty years, under Goisbert, Guitmund, Roger, and Hugh.? Unless Orderic used the expression non multo post very

loosely, the fourth prior was in office about 1100 at the latest. Guitmund was Goisbert’s immediate successor,3 and though the date of his ap-

pointment is unknown he had certainly taken up office before Goisbert (who retired from Maule to collect other gifts for his abbey) secured a charter from Robert of Ivry, who took the monastic habit at Bec

shortly afterwards. Robert's monastic conversion can be dated roughly between 1084 and 1089.4 The sequence of names is more likely to be

chronological than haphazard; if so, Roger preceded Hugh. 2. Orderic says that Warin of Séez, who was prior when Louis VI visited Maule at a date between 1120 and 1125, secured the confirmation of everything that Goisbert, Guitmund, William, Hugh, David,

Ralph, and other priors of the cell had procured for it.5 William of Montreuil was prior at a time when he procured a relic of St. Évroul, not earlier than the accession of Louis VI in 1108.9 Hugh of Gacé can be shown by charter evidence to have been prior before David, certainly

not very long before. David was prior in 1118.8 Ralph is probably Ralph of Sainte-Colombe, who witnessed a charter of Peter IT of Maule after Ansold's death, not earlier than 1119.9 This suggests that the whole

list is in chronological sequence, and that Hugh of Gacé is probably not the same as the Hugh who was prior when the church was being built 1 See above, p. 171. 2 [bid., pp. 176-8. 3 Tbid., p. 4 Ibid., p. 209. 5 Tbid., p. 206. 6 Tbid., p. 7 [bid.,pp.186-8. William, the eldest orsecond of four sons of Germund of Montfort, assented to a grant made by his dying father when Hugh was

176. 336. Rufus prior;

and asserted a claim to the property as soon as he became a knight, when David

was prior. Cf. also above, pp. 202-4. 8 Both when Henry I attacked Saint-Clair in 1118 (above, p. 188) and when Ansold died on 27 December 1118 (ibid., p. 192). 9 Cf. Depoin, Cartulaire de Pontoise, p. 2772.

366

APPENDIX

II

before 1100. He and Roger may be the ‘other priors’ of Orderic’s list. But it is possible that William of Montreuil is out of sequence, and that Hugh and Hugh of Gacé were one and the same man. Further, there

may have been other priors of whom no record has survived. The most probable sequence was as follows: Goisbert the doctor, occurs 1076.

Guitmund, occurs before 1084x 1089. Roger, occurs before c. 1100. Hugh,! occurs before c. 1100. William of Montreuil, occurs after 1108. Hugh of Gacé,! occurs before 1118. David, occurs in 1118.

Ralph of Sainte-Colombe, occurs after 1118. Warin of Séez, occurs 1120X 1125. ! Possibly these two Hughs were the same person.

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INDEX OF QUOTATIONS A. THE

Genesis:

XiV. 21-4 XXXIV. I-31 Exodus: XXl. 15

2 Samuel: xvii. 18

XX. IO 2 Kings:

XXV. IO-17 2 Chronicles:

X. I-19 Job: XIPEIS Psalms: 1.2 xxvii (xxviii). 13

xxxiii. 15 (xxxiv. 14) xxxiii. 16 (xxxiv. 15)

xxxiii. 17 (xxxiv. 16) xl (xli.) 1

Ixxvii (Ixxviii). 60-1 Ixxxv (Ixxxvi). 2 cxvil (cxix). 57 Proverbs: li. 14 XXl. 25 Ecclesiastes :

ii. 17-18 Song of Songs: rhs Jeremiah: XXIX. II Ezekiel:

xviii. 21—2

BIBLE

page Matthew:

260

S18

144

Xi. 30 xix. 27-9

112

XX 12

98 98

310

Xxiv. I2 XXiv. 20 XXIV. 33

XXV. 25 XXV. 43 xxxiii. 6-8

98 | Mark: xiii. 29 8 xiii. 33 Luke: 296, 4 iv. 23 I54 ix. 23 272 Soy iy) 272 xii. 4

272

xil. 37

274

xvi. 2

326 xvi. 9 27° | John:

279 348

4

X. I2 Acts: iv. 32

xvii. 28

page 272 280, 358

266

358

8 172 172 300 214 172 292 20 266 100 272 292 14 264.

292 292 302

152

Romans: i. 6

196

Vs

292 292 292

Vil. I4.

266

Xil. 13 120 | 1 Corinthians: 272

XVi. 13

262

Ephesians: IV. 23

Daniel:

v. 24 (27)

AND ALLUSIONS

292 292

INDEX

370 B.

OF

QUOTATIONS

CLASSICAL,

PATRISTIC,

AND

AND

ALLUSIONS

MEDIEVAL

SOURCES

page

page

Anonymous: Annales Beccenses

I2

Annales Uticenses

8, 74, 76, 78, 84,

;

314, 322

i. 13 i. 14, I5

54 54

1-923

60

1-25

280

IV V. I9 V. 20 V. 24 Benedict, St.: Regula xxviii xlviii Eusebius of Caesarea: Historia Ecclesiastica VIII. xiii. 12-13 Flodoard:

Ecclesiae

62 68 68 66-8

88 4

48

Remensis

Libr;

Quatuor

lv. 38

(?) 280

Gregory the Great, St.: Libri Dialogorum

li. 5-8 Moralia XXIV. 3 Jerome, St.: De nominibus Hebraicis

De remedio amoris

V. 136, 139-40

4

Ex Ponto

Historia Ecclesiastica

Historiae

146

Ovid:

De translatione Sancti Ebrulfi Bede:

Lucan: Pharsalia i. 281

358 8 260

I. iv. 21

4

Paul the Deacon:

Historia Langobardorum i. I-3 1. 25

72) 58

ii. 28

72

ili. 25 ili. 35 iv. 42

60 "2 72

iv. 48 iv. 51

72 64

v. 35

64

vi. 28

66

vi. 35

74

Vl. 43 vi. 47, 48

66 66

Virgil: Aeneid ii. 650 vi. 468 Georgics

300 300

i. 145 lii. 525 William of Poitiers: Gesta Guillelmi ducis i. 58

+4 i 16

GENERAL

INDEX

Persons and places named in the text are indexed under the form given in the translation. English places are identified by the county; French places by the department and, where necessary, the canton and commune.

Aachen, palace at, 82.

mesnil, wife of Roger of Ivry, xxiii, 164 n. 3, 166 and n. 1, 237 n. r1.

Abbeville (Oise), 113 n. 6.

Abdullah, emir, 70. Abraham, 260-2. Absalom, 98, 112. Achitophel, 98. Acquigny (Eure, cant. Louviers), 123 n. 6, 126. Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagen-

sium, xxvi-xxvii, xxviii, 36, 49, 89. Ada, daughter of Manasser count of Guines, wife of Peter II of Maule, 200. Ada, daughter of Richard of Heugleville, wife of Geoffrey of Neufmarché, 246 n. 2, 254, 367 Ada, wife of (1) Herluin the elder of Heugleville, (2) Richard of Heugleville; 252, 367-

Adalard, bishop of Rouen, 78. Adalwald, king of the Lombards, 60, "72 Adam, son of Tedfred, 250. Adela, daughter of Richard of Coulonces, nun at Holy Trinity, Caen,

230. Adela, daughter of William the Con-

queror, wife of Stephen count of Blois, 116; receives Bohemond Chartres in 1106, 182; mother

Theobald

IV count

at of

of Blois and

Champagne, 340 n. I. Adela, wife of Richard of Coulonces,

230. Adela, wife of Simon

son of William

of Moulins-la-Marche, 134. Adelaide, daughter of William Conqueror, 114 and n. 1.

the

Adelais, daughter of Evrard of Le Puiset, wife of Roger of Montgomery, 138, 140. Adelina, daughter of Hugh of Grand-

Adelina, daughter of Robert I of Grandmesnil, wife of Humphrey of Tilleul, 118; her nephew, see

Arnold. Adeline, wife of Roger of Beaumont,

240. Adeline, wife of Waleran I of Meulan,

1220) 53Adeliza,

daughter

of Fulk

dean

of

Évreux, 120. Adeliza, wife of Ralph of Montpingon, 164, 166.

Adeliza of Beaumont,

wife of Hugh

of Grandmesnil, 237 n. 12. Adeliza of Louvain, daughter

of

Godfrey VII count of Louvain, wife of Henry I, 260 and n. 1. Adeodatus, pope (672-6), 62. Adolgiso, son of Desiderius king of the Lombards, 70.

Adrastus, 100.

Adrian I, pope (772-95), 70, 74. Adrian II, pope (867-72), 78. Adrian III, pope (884-5), 78. fEthelbert I, king of Kent (560-616), 60, 62; his wife, see Bertha. Africa, 56, 58. Agapitus I, pope (535-6), 56, 58, 282. Agapitus II, pope (946-55), 80, 82, (?) 84. Agatha, St., relics of taken to Constantinople, 86. Agatha, daughter of William the Conqueror, 114 and n. 1.

Agatho, pope (678-81), 62, 64. Agelmund, king of the Lombards, 72. Agilulf Ago, duke of Turin, king of

the Lombards, 60, 72. Agnes, daughter of Richard count of

Évreux,

half-sister

of

Ralph

of

GENERAL

372 Agnes (cont.):

Alexius Comnenus,

Tosny, 128; marries Simon Montfort, 128. Agnes, daughter of Robert III

of

134 and n. 1.

Agnes, wife of Hugh Pain Crassalingua, 210. Aicardre, St., abbot of Jumiéges, 62; relics of, 66, 304 and n. 1. Aigle, L? (Orne), see Laigle. Aio, chief of the Winnili, 70.

Aistulf, son of Penmon duke of Friuli, king of the Lombards, 7o, 74. Alacharis, duke of Breschia, 64. Alan III, duke (count) of Brittany, 86, 88; his brother, see Eudo, count of Penthiévre; his son, see Conan II. Alan Fergant, duke (count) of Brittany, marries Constance daughter

the

Conqueror,

emperor,

114,

I, king

of Castile, Galicia, and León, 114 n. 1; possibly Amfursius. Alfred, son of King Ethelred and Emma, 86. Alfred the Giant, 102 n. 1; his son, see Joel. Almenéches,

abbey,

142

and

n.

1;

abbess of, see Emma. Alpes, wife of Foucher son of Gerard of Chartres, 154. altar dues, 28. Alton (in Rock) (Worcs.), given to Saint-Évroul, 126, 236, 237 n. 13. Amasa, 98.

Amaury, prior of Rebais, 340, 342. Amaury, son of Athelelm of Gaseran, 176.

Amaury, son of Eremburge daughter of Peter I of Maule, 190-2. Amaury, son of Wazo of Poissy, 204.

alb, 240.

Amaury de Belveder, 204.

Albana, (?) sister of St. William, 220 and n. 2.

Amaury Floenel, 190.

Albert of Cravent, 242-4; his wife, see Aubrée; his son, see Ralph; his son-in-law, see Guy, son of Evrard of Ray. Albinus, abbot of SS. Peter and Paul (later St. Augustine's), Canterbury,

70.

Amaury

of

Evreux,

Montfort,

186,

188;

his

count

of

wife,

see

Richenda. Ambrose,

St., archbishop

of Milan,

Bat Amer, 260. Amfursius,

Spanish

king,

possibly

Alfonso VI, 114 and n. 1.

Alboin, king of the Lombards, 58, 72. Aldana (Alda), daughter of Charles Martel, mother of St. William, 218,

219 n. 4. Alengon (Orne), charter of Roger of Montgomery given at, 140; revenues from given to Saint-Évroul, 138; fair at, 139 n. 3. Alercus (probably Old Évreux), 42.

Alexander, benefactor of Saint-Évroul, possibly Alexander

94, 180

and n. I. Alfonso VI, son of Ferdinand

of

Grandmesnil, wife of Robert son of William of Moulins-la-Marche,

of William IIS n. 2.

INDEX

son of Hawise,

210. Alexander, son of Basil, emperor, 78. Alexander, son of Hawise, 208, (?) 210. Alexander I, king of Scotland, 66.

Alexander II, pope (1061—73), D531027 Alexander III, pope (1159-81), bull to Saint-Évroul, 234 n. 2. Alexandria, patriarch of, see Cyril.

11 his

Amiens (Somme), 48. Amieria, niece of Roger of Montgomery, wife of (1) Warin the Bald, (2) Reginald of Bailleul, 140 and

n2 Anacletus II, antipope, 338 n. 3.

Anastasius, St., martyr, 60. Anastasius I, emperor, 56, 58.

Anastasius Anastasius Anastasius Anceins

II, emperor, 64. I, pope, 52. II, pope (496-8), 56. (Orne, cant. La Ferté-

Frénel), church of, xxii.

Andrew de Baudement, steward of Theobald IV of Champagne, 340, BAIN: 2. Andrew of Coulombs (? Coulommiers), 340. Angers (Maine-et-Loire), abbey of Saint-Aubin, 324 n. 2.

GENERAL — bishop of, see Maurilius. — church of St. Mainbeeuf in, 324, 325. n: 3: Angevins, 106, 112, 324. Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, 102 n. 2.

373

Apulia, 86, 134, 136, 160, 162, 166. Aquitaine, 68, 102, 218, 276; king of,

see Louis the Pious; men of, 112.

Aniane, abbey of, 218 n. 3; relics at, 220 n. 3; monks of, 220 n. 1. Anjou, count of, see Fulk Nerra,

Geoffrey ‘Greymantle’. Annales Beccenses, of Quotations.

INDEX Antoninus Pius, emperor, 46. Aosta, 13 n. 4.

13 n. 3; see Index

Arator, 58.

Arcadius, emperor, 52. arcagium dues, 152. archdeacons, 34 n. 1; duties of, 28; see Lisieux. Arduin

Annals of Caen, 8 n. 5. Annals of Rouen, xxvi, 50 n. 2.

the Lombard,

not the uncle

78 nn. 1,2,82n. 1,84n. 1,94n. 1;

of Melo, 86 and n. 2. Arians, 52, 72. Aripert I, king of the Lombards, 64, 66, 72. Aripert II, son of Raginpert, king of the Lombards, 72.

see Index of Quotations; dating in, 312 n. r.

Arles, council of (314), 50.

Annals of Saint-Evroul (Annales Uticenses), xv, xxvi, xxviii, 8 n. 5, 50 n. 2, 56 n. 1,60n. 1,75n. 5, 77 n.4,

Ansbert,

St., bishop

errors

of Rouen,

of

64,

Ariwald, king of the Lombards, 60, 72. Arnold, son of Arnold, 130.

Arnold, son of Humphrey of Tilleul,

304 n. 2; relics of incorrectly stated to be at Saint-Wandrille, 322-4.

monk

Ansbert (? St), monk of the first abbey of Saint-Evroul, 292-4; relics

son

Arnulf, son of Roger of Montgomery and Mabel, 138; acquires the county of Pembroke, 150 and n. 1. Arnulf, son of William Pantulf, 162. Arnulf I, count of Flanders, 304 n. 2; betrays William Longsword, 80, 92, 306.

life and character, 178-82; his gifts

to Saint-Évroul and the priory of Maule, 182-6; his last illness and death, 192-8, 365 and n. 8; becomes

Arnulf of Dol, his son, see Odo. arpents, xxviii, 126 and n. 1, 174, 190, 202.

a monk of Maule, 198; his epitaph, 198; his wife, see Odeline; his sons,

his daughters,

Lisiard,

Arques

Ralph, Warin;

(Seine-Inférieure),

men

of,

254; vicomte of, see Robert. Arras, bishop of, see Vedast.

see Mary, Windes-

moth; his fee, 200.

Ansprand, king of the Lombards, 72, 74Anstasius, 182. Anthony, St., 52. \ Anthony, monk of Winchester, 218 and n. 1. Antichrist, 8. Antioch, 182; patriarch of, see Macharius; prince of, see Bohemond. 822210X

of

goes to Apulia, 166.

Peter I of Maule, xix, 172, 184.

Hugh,

the town

Arnulf, son of John of St. Denis, 200. Arnulf, son of Odo son of Walo, 184, 202.

Ansold of Maule, son of Peter I of Maule, xxiv, 174, 176, 190, 206; his

Guy,

burns

Arnulf, son of Hugh of Montpingon,

abbot of Bec (1078-93), archbishop

of Canterbury (1093-1109), 12, 13 noa Ansold, son of Ansold of Maule, 182. Ansold Le Riche of Paris, father of

II of Maule,

of Giroie,

Saint-Evroul, 124.

Anselm, St., prior of Bec (1063—78),

Peter

118, 119

Arnold of Echauffour, son of William

at Rebais, 314-20, 322-4.

see Ansold,

of Saint-Evroul,

n. 4, 226.

—

men of, 304.

Ascelin,

monk

of Saint-Evroul,

at

Noron, 162.

Ascelin, prior or provost of the first monastery of Saint-Evroul, 316 and n. 1; remains after the sack of the monastery, 324-8; his nephew Ascelin, 324, 328.

Ascelin, nephew of Ascelin, 324, 328. cc

GENERAL

374

Ascelin Goel, son of Robert of Ivry, builds the castle of Bréval and captures William of Breteuil, 208; his death, 210 n. 2; his charters to Saint-Evroul, 208; his sons, see Robert Goel, William Lovel.

Atcham

(Salop),

St. Eata’s

church

at, 6. Athalaric, king of the Ostrogoths, 58.

Athanasius, St., bishop of Alexandria,

50.

Athelelm Amaury,

of Gaseran,

à

176; his son

Avars (Huns), 74 n. 2.

Avice, daughter of Fulk dean of Évreux, 120. Avice, daughter of Herbrand of Sauqueville, wife of Walter of Auffay, xxiv, 250, 367; her gifts to the priory of Auffay, 250; her character, 256; her epitaph, 256-8.

Avice, daughter of Richard of Cou-

176.

Athelstan, son of Edward the Elder, king of England (924-39), uncle of Louis d'Outremer, 8o, 312.

Attigny, council of (c. 762), xvi. Aubette, river, 36. Aubrée, daughter of Guitmund, wife of William of Moulins-la-Marche, 132 and n. I.

Aubrée, daughter of Hugh bishop of Bayeux, wife of (? 1) Robert father of Robert of Ivry, (2) Albert of Cravent, 242-4, 244 n. I. Aubrey, earl of Northumbria, sent to

Robert Curthose in 1087, 112 and 6 Ge Aubrey of Mareil, 202. Aubri-le-Pantou (Orne, cant. Vimoutiers), 156; church of St. Germain

in, 156. Audoin, king of the Lombards, 72. Auffay (Seine-Maritime, cant. Totes), 246; formerly called Isneauville, 254; borough established at, xx, 254; burgesses at, 250; collegiate church of St. Mary, xx, 246;

canons replaced by monks of Saint-

Evroul, 246 and n. 3; mill at, 248.

— priory dependent on Saint-Evroul, KV; IKK KK Vien 227 095350 1tS foundation and benefactors, 24660; priors of, see Hildegar, Warin; charters granted to, 246-52; see also Gilbert, Jordan, Walter. Augustine, St., archbishop of Canter-

bury (597-604), 60, 62.

Augustine, St., bishop of Hippo, 52; his relics translated, 66.

Augustus, emperor, 70. Aunois (Aisne, cant. Thierry), hamlet of, 322.

INDEX Autarith (Flavius), son of Cleph, king of the Lombards, 60, 72. Auxerre (Yonne), 76; bishop of, see Germanus.

lonces, 230.

Avitian, St., bishop of Rouen, 48-50. Avitus, priest, 52. Avranches

(Manche),

see Michael. Aymer, monk Marchainville,

of

48; bishop

Saint-Évroul, 154; at Parnes,

of,

at 154

ns. Babylon, 360.

Bailleul (Orne, cant. Trun), 140 n. 2; church of St. Leonard in, 140; see Reginald. Baldwin de Bouillon, son of Eustace count of Boulogne, marries Ralph of 'l'osny's daughter Godechilde, 128.

Barnon of Glos, steward of Osbern, 130 n. 2; his son, see William. Bartholomew Boel, 154; his

son

Gerard, 154. Basil, St., bishop of Caesarea, 52. Basil, name

erroneously attributed to

a tenth-century pope, 80. Basil I, emperor, 78. Basilia, wife of Roger of Rolleboise, 208; her son Guiard, 208.

Bathilde, queen, wife of Clovis II, 62, 284 n. 2.

Battle Abbey (Sussex), 254 n. 2. Baudry, son of Baudry of Bocquencé, xxi. Baudry, son of Nicholas, possibly the same as Baudry of Guitry, 250 and DT 5I Baudry, vassal of Hugh earl of Chester, 238.

Cháteau-

Baudry of Bocquencé, the duke's archer, xvii; his sons, see Baudry, Robert.

GENERAL

Baudry

of

Dreux,

son-in-law

of

Peter I of Maule, 176, 186; his wife, see Eremburge. Baudry of Guitry, xix, 114 n. 15 possibly the same as Baudry, son of Nicholas. Baudry Rufus of Montfort, becomes a monk at Maule, 190; his son, see

Geoffrey. Bavarians, 74. Bayeux (Calvados), 48, 114; captured by Rollo, 90; given to Hugh the Great, 308; siege of, 310 n. 2, 311 n. 3; birthplace of St. Évroul, xv,

264. — bishop of, see Hugh.

— cathedral

of, dedicated,

10,

11

D. 4, 159 n. 2, 160; Agatha daughter

of William

the Conqueror

buried

there, 114. — church of Saint-Vigor at, 34 n. 1.

— region (pagus) of, 268. ; Beatrice, daughter of Gilbert of

Auffay, 254, 367. Beatrice of Valenciennes, wife of Gil-

bert of Auffay, cousin of Queen Matilda, xix—xx, 246, 248, 250, 254, 256, 367. Beatrix, mother of William Pantulf, 156. Beaumont, see Robert, Roger. Beaunay (Seine-Maritime, cant.

Tétes), church of, 248. Beauvais (Oise), 48; bishop

INDEX 375 Belléme (Orne), 158 and n. 1; castle of, 136 n.

1; see

Hilderic; church of St. Quentin at, 108 n. 1. Beauvaisis, xviii, 108, 328.

Bec-Hellouin (Eure), abbey, 237 n. 11; founded, 12; Robert of Ivry becomes a monk there, 208, 209 n. 4, 365; William of Breteuil dies there, 130; chapter house of, 12; church dedicated, 10, 12 n. 2, 159 n. 2, 160; abbots of, see Anselm, Herluin. Bede, his life and works, 66-8; his

Ecclesiastical History, xxvii, 45 n. 2,

Robert,

Benaiah, 98. Benedict, St., of Aniane, his Life by Ardon, 218 n. 3. Benedict, St., of Nursia, abbot of Monte Cassino, 58, 60, 88, 92; miracle attributed to, 346, 352-8; his Rule, xvi, xvii, 8, 10, 222, 334, 346, literally interpreted by the Cistercians, 338.

Benedict, canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3, 252. Benedict I, pope (575-9), 58, 282. Benedict II, pope (683-5), 62, 64. Benedict III, pope (855-8), 78.

Benedict Benedict Benedict Benedict,

V, pope (964-6), 82. VIII, pope (1012-24), 84. IX, pope (1032-44), 84. son of Odelerius of Orleans,

monk of Shrewsbury,

146, 148.

Benedict Biscop, abbot of Wearmouth, 66. Beorhtweald, archbishop of Canter-

bury (693—731), 68.

Bercoterie

(La), (possibly

Livet-en-

Ouche), 288. Berengar, 276; his heirs Gervase, Lether, and William, 276. Bernard, St., abbot of Clairvaux, con-

sulted

by

the

abbots

Evroul and Rebais, of, see

Mabel,

William (Talvas).

of Saint-

338-40,

338

nw 3: Bernard, count of Senlis, 308 and n. 1. Bernard, son of Azo, 248. Bernard, son of St. William, 222. Bernard of Neufmarché, son of

Geoffrey

of Neufmarché,

lord of

Brecon, xx, 248, 249 n. 3, 250, 254, 367.

Bernard of Saint-Valéry, son of Gilbert

the

Advocate,

252,

367;

his

sons, see Richard of Heugleville, Walter of Saint-Valéry. Bernard the Dane, 82, 308, 310-12.

64 n. 3, 280 n. 2; and see Index of Quotations. Bedfordshire, 348 n. 1.

Bernay (Eure), 20 n. 1. Berniéres-sur-Seine (Eure, cant. Gaillon), 126.

Belgrave

Merthegrave)

Bertha, daughter of Charibert I king

(Leics.), 234, 236; church of, 236. Beliard, wife of Odo son of Walo, 202. Belisarius, 58.

of Sigebert), wife of King /Ethel-

(formerly

of Paris (erroneously called daughter bert of Kent, 280 n. 2, 282.

GENERAL

376

Bertha, (?) sister of St. William, 220

and n. 2. Bertha of Blois, wife of Alan III of Brittany and subsequently of Hugh

IV of Maine, 116, 336 n. 1, (?) 336; her brother, see ‘Theobald; her chaplain, 336. Beule (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Meulan,

commune

Maule),

wood

of, 184

and n. 2, 186.

Beuve,

Ste.

(Bova),

wrongly

called

daughter of King Sigebert, 280 n. 2, 282. Blois, counts of, 116; called counts palatine, 116 n. 1; see Stephen, Theobald. Bobbio, abbey, 62.

Bocquencé (Orne, cant. La FertéFrénel), xvii; church of St. Martin at, 289 n.2; fee of, xviii; legend of the bull of, 330 and n. r; see

Baudry. Bohemond I, son of Robert Guiscard, prince of Antioch, 182, 183 n. 2; his wife, see Constance daughter of King Philip I. Boiano, counts of, 134 n. 2.

Boinville (Seine-et-Oise, tes), 188. Boniface, St., archbishop

cant. Manof Mainz,

70. Boniface I, pope (418-22), 52. Boniface II, pope (530-2), 56, 282. Boniface III, pope (607), (?) 282. Boniface IV, pope (608-15), 60, 282.

Boniface V, pope (619-25), 60, 282. Bonitus, abbot of Monte Cassino, 60.

Bonmoulins (Orne, cant. Moulins-laMarche), church of, 132; mill and oven in, 132.

(Aisne,

Bretons, 106. Bréval (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Bonniéres), 244; castle of, 208, 210, 244. Brickhill, see Great Brickhill. Bricstan of Chatteris, 346-58; becomes a monk at Ely, 358; his wife,

350-2. Brie, 336.

Brinsop (Hereford), church of, 248. Brisard, vassal of Hugh earl of Ches1e1238;

Brittany, 76, 88, 114; counts of, see Alan, Conan. Brunechildis, queen, daughter of Athanagild, wife of King Sigebert, 280, 282 and n. 2.

Bruno, bishop of Toul, see Leo IX. Bulgaria, 72, 88.

Burchard, bishop of Meaux, 340. Burchard of Montmorency, his niece Ada, 200.

Bures-sur-Dive (Calvados, cant. Troarn), castle of, 136.

Boethius, 58.

Bonneil

INDEX

cant.

Thierry), 322. Bonneville-sur-Touques

Cháteau(Calvados,

cant. Pont-l’Evéque), 112. Boulogne, 304 n. 2. Brecon (Brecknock), castle built at, 254; priory subject to Battle Abbey

founded in, 254 n. 2. — lord of, see Bernard of Neufmarché.

Breteuil (Eure, cant. Evreux), 116; burgess in, 130; forest of, 122 n. 4; honor of, 131 n. 5; see William.

Burga, sons of, 19o. burgesses, 250; at Auffay, 250; at Breteuil, 130; at Dieppe, 250. Burghill (Hereford), church of, 248.

Burgundy, 276; duke (count) of, see Ralph, Richard. Butlers Marston (Warwicks.), 234, 236; church of, 236, 237 n. 8.

Byfield (Northants.), church and land in, 238 and n. 6. Byland (Yorks.), abbey, 292 n. 1. Caen (Calvados), 115 n. 2. — abbey of Holy Trinity at, church dedicated, 8 n. 5, 10 n. 1; abbesses of, see Cecilia, Matilda; nuns of, see Adela.

— abbey of St. Stephen at, xxii, 142 and n. 1; church dedicated, 10-12,

158 n. 2, 160. Caesar, Julius, xxv, 34, 36, 268. Caesarea, bishop of, see Basil.

Calabria, 88, 160. Caldecote (Norfolk), given to SaintEvroul, 126, 236, 237 n. 13.

Caletus, town said to have been besieged by Julius Caesar, 34.

Calixtus II, pope (1119-24), 94. Cambises, priest of Diana, 40.

Cambrai, 66; men of, 304.

GENERAL

INDEX

377.

canon law, 30 n. 2; see marriage, tithe.

Charibert I, son of Chlotar I, 280.

canons, churches served by, 30.

Charlemagne, emperor, 70, 74-6, 218 and n. 4; ancestor of the kings of France, 310; occurs in the legend of St. William, 220 and n. 3, 224; his son, see Louis the Pious. Charles, duke of Lower Lotharingia, brother (wrongly called son) of King Lothair, 84.

Canterbury (Kent), 20 n. 1. — archbishops of, see Anselm, Augustine, Beorhtweald, Deusdedit, Dunstan, Honorius, Justus, Lanfranc, Laurence, Mellitus, Tatwine, Theo-

dore of Tarsus. — St. Augustine’s,

abbey

(formerly

abbey of SS. Peter and Paul), MS. of, 363; abbot of, see Albinus,

Hadrian. cantilena, of St. William, 218. Carthage, 58. Cassiodorus, xxvii, 58; his Historia Tripartita, 55 n. 4. castles, 28; see Belléme, Brecon,

Bréval,

Bures-sur-Dive, Gasny,

Gerberoy,

CoulomIvry-la-

Bataille, Moulins-la-Marche, Peray, Roche Igé (La), Roche Mabille (La), Rouen, Rugny, Saint-Clairsur-Epte. cathedral, as mother church of diocese, 28, 34. Caux, pays de, 34. Cecilia, daughter of William the Conqueror, abbess of Holy Trinity,

Caen, 8-10; her death, xiv. Celestine I, pope (422-32), 52, 54. cemeteries, 28, 30.

Chalcedon, council of (451), 54. Chaldeans, 310, 316; land of, 360. counts

of, 116 n. 3; see

Hugh, 'T'heobald. Champs (Orne, cant. Tourouvre), 318. chansons de geste, 216 n. 3, 218 n. 3,

219 n. 5. Chapelle-en-Vexin (La) (Oise), priory

France, Herluin chaplain of Hugh the Great, Gerold of Avranches. Charencey | (Eure-et-Loir), I54; church of, 154. river,

and n. 1, 332, 334-

xvi,

Simple), king of 80, 90, 312, 326 to Saint-Évroul, wife, see Eadgifu.

Charlton

(Leics.),

Curlew

236 and

n. 4; church of, 236.

Charlton-on-Otmoor

(Oxon.), 236; church of, 236. charters, see Auffay, Gellone, Maule, Saint-Évroul. Chartres (Eure-et-Loir), 116, 182, 304 n. 2; bishopric of, 158 and n. 2; bishops of, see Fulbert, Geoffrey, Ivo, Robert, Solin; burgesses of, II n..3. — cathedral, canons of, see Foucher son of Gerard; chapter of, 116 n. 3. Chaumont, family of, xix. Cheney Longville (Salop), 142 n. 2. Cherson (Crimea), 62. Chester, church of St. Peter in, 238 and n. 4. — county of, given to Hugh of

Avranches, 216. — earl of, see Hugh of Avranches. Chichester, Wulfwin the goldsmith of, 140, 234. Childebert II, king of the Franks, son of Sigebert, 60, 282, 284 and n. 2,

364; confused with Childebert III,

of Saint-Évroul, xix. chaplain, 28; of bishop of Lisieux, 158; see Bertha of Blois, Henry I king of England, Henry I king of

Charentonne,

Charles III (the France, xvi, 78, n. I; his charter xxi, 322 n. 2; his

chasuble, 14, 240. Chatteris (Cambs.), 346.

Cent-Acres (Les) (Seine-Maritime cant. Longueville), church of, 252. Ceolfrith, abbot of Jarrow, 66.

Champagne,

68, 7o, 219 n. 4.

Charles the Bald, king ofthe Franks, 76

Carloman, mayor of the palace, 7o.

miers,

Charles Martel, mayor of the palace,

xviii,

286

60, 300 and n. 3. Childebert III, king of the Franks, 64, 364; see Childebert II. Childeric I, king of the Franks, 54, 56. Childeric II, king of the Franks, 64. Childeric (Hilderic), king of the Vandals, 58.

Chilperic I, king, son of Chlotar I, 60, 280, 282; his wife, see Fredegonde.

GENERAL

378

Chilperic II (formerly a monk called Daniel), 66. Chlotar I, king of the Franks, son of Clovis, 56, 57 n. 6, 60, 264, 265 n. 3, 280.

Chlotar II, king of the Franks,

58,

282, 284. Chlotar III, king of the Franks, 64. Chosroes, king of Persia, 60. Christian, son of Fulk dean of

Évreux, 120. Christian of Valenciennes, his daughter, see Beatrice. Chronicon Anianense, 220 n. 3.

Church-Langton (Leics.), 234. churchyards, 28, 29 n. 5, 32, 188, 200.

INDEX Constance, daughter of King Philip I of France, marries (1) Hugh count of Champagne, 182 n. 2, (2) Bohemond, 182 and n. 2.

Constance,

daughter of William the

Conqueror,

Fergant, 114, Brittany, 114.

240;

115

marries

n.

Alan

2; dies

in

Constans I, emperor, 5o.

Constans II, emperor, 62. Constantine, abbot of Monte Cassino, 60. Constantine, emperor (error for Constans II), 62. Constantine the Great, emperor,

48,

50, 96.

Clairfont (Maule), vineyard in, 200.

Constantine II, emperor, 52.

Clairvaux,

Constantine III, emperor, 62. Constantine IV, emperor, 62, 64, 68.

abbey,

338; abbot

of, see

Bernard. Clefto, king of the Lombards, 72. Clement I, pope, 57 n. 5, 58.

Constantine

Clement II, pope (1046-7), 86.

Constantine VII, emperor, 80, 82. Constantine VIII, emperor, 80.

Cleph, king of the Lombards, 72. Clermont, council of (1095), 30 n. 2,

94. Clovis

I, king of the Franks,

54, 56,

264. Clovis II, king of the Franks, 60, 62; his wife, see Bathilde. Clovis III, king of the Franks, 64. Cluny, abbey, 142, 338 n. 1; refectory of, 142 n. 1; monk of, see Henry of Blois. Cnut, king of England, king of Denmark, 86; his wife, see Emma; his son, see Harthacnut; his daughter, see Gunhilda. Coenred, king of Mercia (704-9),

68. Columbanus,

St.,

60,

26008

mp:

monasticism of, xvi. Comacino, island of, 72.

Conan

II, count (duke) of Brittany,

son of Alan III, 89 n. 3. Conches (Eure), 126; see Tosny (Conches).

Ralph

of

— forest of, 122 n. 4. Concie (La), Oise), 190.

(in

Toiry,

Seine-et-

Conon, pope (686-7), 64. Conrad II, emperor, 84. constable, of Roger of Montgomery,

140, I4I n. 7.

V, emperor,

son of Leo

III, 70, 74. Constantine I, pope (708-15), 64, 68. Constantine II, pope (767-9), 70. Constantine, son of Romanus I, 82. Constantinople, 58, 74, 78, 82, 86, 92; founded, 48; siege of, 66. — council of (381), 52; council of

(680), 64; council of (754), 70. — patriarch of, see George. Constantius, emperor, 48. Constantius, father of Odelerius of Orleans, 142. consuetudines (public rights), 34 n. 2. cope, used by cantor, 163 and nm. r,

230, 240. Corbonnais, 342. Cormeilles, laws of, 254. Cornelia, daughter-in-law of Odo son of Walo, 202. Cotentin, given to Hugh the Great, 312; men of, 308.

Cottian Alps, 62; papal patrimony in, 66. Cottisford (Oxon.), 236, 237 n. 1; church of, 236. Coucy (Aisne, Cháteau), 308.

cant.

Coucy-le-

Coulombs, abbey, monks of, 244. Coulommiers (Seine-et-Marne), castle of, 340.

GENERAL

councils, 124; see Arles, Attigny, Chalcedon, Clermont, Constantinople, Ephesus, Lillebonne, Étampes, Lisieux,

Nicaea,

Rome,

Rheims,

Rouen, Sardica, Westminster. count palatine, 116 and n. r.

Courbépine (Eure, cant. Bernay), 20 Dur. court, competence of, 33 n. 4. — baronial, case settled in, 204; and

see Maule. — bishop's,

decided

in,

200. see Lo, St. Cranborne, abbey, subsequently priory, 228 n. 2. Crescentius, bishop of Rouen, 54. crossbowman, 307 n. 4. Crowland, abbey, abbot of, see Geoffrey of Orleans. crusade, preached (1095), 94; see Jerusalem.

Cunicpert, son of Perctarit, Lombard king, 64, 72.

customs, episcopal, 30 and n. 1, 244. Cuthbert, St., 64-6. Cyprus, church of St. Nicholas in,

336.

Cyril, patriarch of Alexandria, 54. Dagobert I, king of the Franks, 60, 64, 66, 282. Damasus I, pope, 52. Damasus II, pope (1048), 86.

Danes, 50; invasions of, 276, 277 n.2, 282, 302, 326 and n. 1. Daniel, see Chilperic II. David, king, 98. David, prior of Maule, 186 n. 2, 188, 190, 192, 202, 365 and n. 7, 366.

commendatione

Turonicae

pro-

vinciae, xxv.

Demetrius, St., 216 and n. 3. Denis, St., the Areopagite, xxvi; con-

fused

with

379

Deodatus, supposed author of a life of St. Taurin, 40. Desiderius, king of the Lombards, 7o, 74Deusdedit, archbishop of Canterbury

(655-64), 62.

Deusdedit I, pope (615—18), 60, 282. Deux-Jumeaux (Calvados), abbey of, xv, 268 and nn. r, 2. Diana, temple of, at Évreux, 40, 44.

Dieppe (Seine-Maritime), xx, 250. 26, 34; case

— king's, 18, 34, 160; see Henry I. Coutances (Manche), 48; bishop of

De

INDEX

St.

Denis

bishop

of

Paris, 37 n. 5.

Denis, St., bishop of Paris, 22, 36, 37 n. 5, 38, 46 n. 2. Denis, archbishop of Milan, 5o.

Denmark, king of, 90; Harold, Harthacnut.

see

Cnut,

Dinah, daughter of Leah, 144. Diocletian, emperor, 46, 48. Diogenes, see Romanus. Dionysius Exiguus, his Easter cycles, 58.

Dioscorus of Alexandria, 54. Dive, river, 82. Domitian, emperor, 36, 38. Donatus, bishop of Epirus, 52. Donus, pope (676-8), 62. Drogo, bishop of Metz, 76.

Drogo of Neufmarché, son of Geoffrey of Neufmarché, nephew of Gilbert of Auffay, monk of Saint-Évroul, XX, 118, 119 n. 4, 226, 232, 246 and

n. 2, 254, 367. Drogo, Norman knight, 86. Duda, daughter of Waleran I of Meulan, wife of William of Moulins-laMarche, 132 and n. 1, 133 n. 3. Dudo of Saint-Quentin, 80 n. 1, 304,

Z05in 4.310 M2. duel, judicial, 32. Duilet, name of dog, 330. Dunstan, St., archbishop of Canterbury (960-88), 82. Durand, abbot of Troarn, 136. Durazzo, 180 n. I. Eadbald, king of Kent (616-40), 62. Eadgifu, queen, daughter of Edward the Elder, wife of Charles the Simple, 80. Eadred, king of the West Saxons

(946-55), 82.

Ealdred, archbishop of York (1061-9), 214. Earconbert, king of Kent (640-64), 62. East Shilton (Leics.), 234. Eblis, duke of Poitou, 78. Ebroin, mayor of the palace, 64.

GENERAL

380

Echauffour

(Orne, cant. Le Merle-

rault), 334; land and tithe in, 140; legend of the origin of the name, 290; see Arnold. Ecquevilly (formerly Fresnes) (Seineet-Oise, cant. Meulan), 204. Edgar, king of England

(957-75), 82,

214.

INDEX Enguerrand l'Oison, 134.

Ephesus, council of (431), 54. Épinay (Calvados, cant. Coulibceuf), 164. Epirus, Donatus bishop of, 52. Épone (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Mantes), 206. Epte, river, 38.

Edmund, king of England (939-46), 82.

Eremburge,

Edmund the Confessor, king of England (1042-66), son of Ethelred

Maule, wife of Baudry of Dreux, 186, 190-2; her son, see Amaury. Erneis, vassal of Richard of Coulonces, 230.

and Emma, 88; brought up in Normandy, 86; death of, 92. Edward the Elder, king of England

(899-924), 80.

Edwin, king of Northumbria (616-32), 60.

Egbert I, king of Kent (664-73), 62.

Egypt, 52.

Elias, son of Walter of Auffay, 258. Elijah, 358. Elisha, 358. Elizabeth, wife of Pain Odo, 174-6. Elizabeth, wife of Ralph of Tosny, see Isabel.

of Peter

Erneis of Coulonces, his Ralph, Richard, Roger.

Eschcol, 260. Essarts-en-Ouche

sons,

I of

see

(Les) (Eure, cant.

Broglie, commune Verneusses), 240. Étampes, council of (1130), 338 n. 3.

Etheldreda, St., miracle attributed to, 346 n. 2, 352-8. Ethelred, king of England (9781016), 86; his wife, see Emma; his sons, see Alfred, Edward the Confessor.

Ely, abbey of St. Etheldreda, 348, 358 and n. 1; monks of, 346. — bishop of, see Hervey. — Isle of, 358.

Émendeville, see Saint-Sever. Emiéville (Calvados, cant. 156; church of, 156.

Troarn),

Emma, daughter of Ralph of Ivry, mother of William fitz Osbern, LOST Emma, daughter of Roger II of Mont-

gomery, abbess of Almenéches, 138 and n. 1, 158 and n. r. Emma, queen, daughter of Richard I of Normandy, wife of (1) King

Ethelred, (2) King Cnut, 86. Emmeline, wife of Geoffrey of Marcq, 188. Emmeline, wife of Thierry, 210. Engelbert the provost, 142.

Engenold, son of Germund Rufus of Montfort, 188. England, xxvii, 8, 80,92, 116; Norman conquest of, xx, 214, 304; William I rules by conquest, 98; property of

Saint-Evroul in, xiii, xviii, xx, xxiii, xxiv,

daughter

126,

156, 232-40;

kings

of,

see under names of individual kings.

Ethelwold, St., bishop of Winchester (963-84), 82; relics of, 218 n. 1. Étouvy (Calvados, cant. Bény-Bocage), church, 230 and n. 2. Eu, count of, see Robert, William. Eudo, count of Penthiévre, brother of Alan III count of Brittany, 88, 89 n. 3.

Eudo, duke of Aquitaine, 68. Eudo, steward of William I, 240. Eugenius, St., 48.

Eugenius I, pope (654—7), 62] Eugenius II, pope (824-7), 76. eulogiae benedictionis, gift offered by postulant to a monastery, 146, 274. Euphrasia, daughter of Lucius, 38. Eusebius, bishop of Rouen, 5o. Eusebius, St., bishop of Vercelli, 5o. Eusebius I, pope, 50, 96. Eusebius of Caesarea, 48; his Ecclesiastical History, xxvii, 54, 55 n. 4.

Eustace, St., 216 and n. 3. Eustace

II, count

of Boulogne,

his

son, see Baldwin de Bouillon; his nephew, see RADAR bishop of Chartres. Eustace, illegitimate son of William of Breteuil, 130, 131 n. 5.

GENERAL

INDEX

381

Eustace of Carcuit, 250. Eustace of Torcy, 250. Eutyches, heretic, 54, 58.

Ferdinand I, Spanish king, 114 n. 1; his sons, see Alfonso VI, Garcia, Sancho.

Eutychia, mother of St. Taurin, 38.

fief-rente, 248 and n. 2. Flanders, count of, see Arnulf. Flavius, bishop of Rouen, 56, 282.

Evodus, bishop of Rouen, 54. Evrard, priest, 248. Evrard, son of Odelerius of Orleans, 146. Evrard, son of Roger of Montgomery and Adelais, 138. Evrard de Ruia, 132.

Evrard of Le Puiset, his daughter, see Adelais. Evrard of Ray, his son, see Guy. Evremond, St., his relics, 314-20, 318

_ and n. 1, 322. Evreux (Eure), 38, 48. —

bishop rin.

of, 334;

see Gilbert,

Tau-

— counts of, see Amaury of Montfort,

Robert

Historia

Remensis

Ecclesiae,

xxv,

280 n. 2. Florence, abbey of St. Mary in, 88. Florence of Worcester, 102 n. 2. florilegia, used by Orderic, 4 n. 7. Fontenay-les-Louvets, abbey, 318 n. 1. Fontenelle, see Saint- Wandrille.

forests, royal and baronial, 28.

— cathedral, dedicated, 1o. — church of St. Taurin at, 46 n. 1. Richard,

Flemings, 106, 304. Flodoard, 307 n. 3, 310 n. 2; his

archbishop

of

Rouen, William.

— dean of, see Fulk. — legends about, 44-6. Evroul, St., abbot (d. 706), 58, 60, 330; his life and miracles, xiv, xv— xvi, 264—302; restores Ansbert to life, 322; receives relic from the pope, 326; monasteries founded by, 280 and n. 1; date of his death,

363-4; translations of relics of, xiv, xvii, 306 and n. 1, 314-20,

336-8,

343 and n. r, 365; feast of, 344; Vitae of, 264 n. 2, 291, 292 n. I, 318 n. 1, 363-4. Exmes (Orne), 268, 269 n. 3; given to

Formosus, pope (891-6), 8o. Fortunatus, bishop of Poitiers, 68. Fosse (La) (? Calvados, cant. Livarot), 156. Foucher, son of Gerard, canon of Chartres, his charter to SaintÉvroul, xxi n. r, xxiv, 150-4; his wife Alpes, 154. Fountains (Yorks.), abbey, 292 n. 1.

France, 94, 180, 328; duchy of, 320 n. 2; kings of, see under the names of

individual kings; property of Saint-

Evroul in, xiii, xviii, xix; see SaintEvroul.

Franco, archbishop of Rouen, 78, 9o. Franks, history of, xxvii, 66, 74, 264, 280; make peace with Rollo, 90; kings of, 70 and see under the names of individual kings; alleged Trojan

origins of, 54. fraternities, spiritual, see Maule, SaintEvroul, Sap (Le).

Hugh the Great, 308; wrongly said to have been besieged by Hugh the

Fredegonde, queen, peric I, 58.

Great, 310-12.

Frenchmen,

wife

of

Chil-

their hostility to Nor-

mans, 106, 112.

Fala, name of the bull of Bocquencé, 330. Farford (Lincs.), 238.

Fécamp (Seine-Maritime), abbey, 84, 88-90, 250 n. 1; William the Conqueror at, 8; relics of St. Taurin at, 46; monks of, at Mantes, 190 and

T1227 Felix II, pope, 52. Felix III, pope (483-92), 56. Felix V, pope (526-30), 56, 282.

Fresnes, see Ecquevilly. Frisians, 9o. Frodo, monk of Séez, 148. Fromond, son of Fulk

Évreux, 120. Fulbert, bishop pupils, 120.

of

dean

Chartres,

of

his

Fulbert, canon of Paris, 336; possibly the uncle of Heloise, 336 n. 2.

Fulchred, monk of Séez, abbot Shrewsbury, 148 and n. 1.

of

GENERAL

382

Fulk, dean of Evreux, later a monk of Saint-Evroul, 120-2; his wife, Orielde, 120; his sons, see Christian,

Fromond,

Fulk

of Guernanville,

Hubert, Ralph, Walter (Tirel), Warin, William; his daughters Adeliza and Avice, 120. Fulk, priest of Maule, 336. Fulk, son of Foucher, 176, 184.

Fulk Nerra, count of Anjou, 324 n. 2. Fulk of Basoches, 156 n. 2. Fulk of Guernanville, son of Fulk dean of Evreux, prior of Saint-Evroul,

abbot

of

Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive,

120-2, 158, 168, 336.

Fulk of Le Pin, 142. Fulk of Saint-Aubin, 210; his heirs, 210. Fulk the Breton of Montfort, 200. Fulk the clerk, 192. Fulk the priest, 202.

Gacé (Orne), 268, 269 n. 3, 308. Gambara, mother of Ibor and Aio, 72. Garcia, son of Ferdinand I, king of Galicia, 114 n. I. Garde (La), wood of, at Maule, 190 n. I, (t) roo. Garibald, king of the Bavarians, 72. Garibald, son of Grimwald, king of

the Lombards, 72. Gascony, 74, 102. Gasny (Eure, cant. Ecos), castle of, 188; possibly Scamnis, 37 n. 6, 38.

Gaucelme (wrongly called William), son of St. William, 222 n. 2. Gaul, 37 n. 5, 48, 64, 66; conquest of by Julius Caesar, xxv; church in, XXV, 46; cities of, xxvi n. 7. Gelasius I, pope (492-6), 56. Gelasius II, pope (1118-19), 94. Gelismer, king of the Vandals, 58. Gellone, abbey of Saint-Guilhem-duDésert, 218-24; charters of, 220 and n. r.

Geoffrey, 154. Geoffrey, a Breton living in the Corbonnais, 342-4; his wife Hildeburg,

342; his son, 344. Geoffrey I, bishop of Chartres, 154, 246; nephew of Eustace count of Boulogne, 158; nephew of Reginald bishop of Paris, 244, 245 n. 2.

INDEX

Geoffrey II, bishop of Chartres, 154, 246.

Geoffrey,

brother of Walter

Hildeburge,

son

of

188.

Geoffrey, brother-in-law of William of Maule, probably the husband of Hubeline, 192. Geoffrey, husband of Odo son of Walo's daughter Sicilia, 202. Geoffrey, vassal of Gilbert of Auffay, 248.

Geoffrey,

monk

of

Saint-Évroul,

monk of Noron, 162.

Geoffrey,

son

of Baudry

Rufus

of

Montfort, 190.

Geoffrey,

son

of Richard

of Cou-

lonces, 230. Geoffrey, son of Richer, 190, 192.

Geoffrey

Brito

(the

Breton),

arch-

bishop of Rouen, dean of Le Mans,

94, 95 n. 3, 252. Geoffrey ‘Greymantle’, count of Anjou, wrongly called godson of Hugh Capet, 324 and n. 2; secures

relics of St. Évroul, 324; his son,

see Fulk Nerra.

Geoffrey of Marcq, becomes a monk at Maule, 188; his wife, see Emmeline; his sons, see Hugh, Pain, Simon, Stephen, William.

Geoffrey of Neufmarché,

son-in-law

of Richard of Heugleville, 246 n. 2, 254; his wife, see Ada; his sons, see

Bernard of Neufmarché, Drogo of Neufmarché. Geoffrey of Orleans, monk of Saint-

Évroul, abbot of Crowland,

118,

II9 n. 3. Geoffrey of St. Denis, 250. Geoffrey of Triqueville, treasurer of Lisieux, 20. George, St., 216 and n. 3.

George, patriarch of Constantinople, 64.

Gerald

Costatus,

brother-in-law

of

Grimoald, 200. Gerard, bishop of Séez, 162. Gerard, son of Bartholomew Boel, 154; his grandson Gerard, 154 n. 2. Gerard Fleitel, benefactor of Saint-

Wandrille, father of William bishop

of Evreux, 84.

Gerard the priest, 154.

GENERAL Gerard Trove, xxi; his wife and brother, xxi. Gerberga, queen, wife of Louis d'Outremer, of Germany,

Gerberoy castle

daughter 82.

(Oise, of, 108

of Henry

cant. and

I

Songeons),

n.

r; siege of,

108-10; Helias, vidame of, 108. Gerbert, archbishop of Ravenna, see Silvester II. Gerbert, monk of St. Mary's, Florence, goes to Fécamp, 88. Gerbod of Flanders, gives up the

county of Chester, 216. Géré, see Giroie.

Germans, emperors of, 7o. Germanus, St., bishop of Auxerre, 54. Germanus, bishop of Rouen, 54. Germany, 102, 104. Germund Rufus of Montfort, his gifts to the monks of Maule, 186; his wife, Eremburge, 186; his sons, see Engenold, Hervey, Hugh, Walter.

Gernenguilus,

122.

Gerold Gastinel, 123 n. 6, 126. Gerold of Avranches, son of Reginald de Breone, chaplain of Hugh earl of Chester, 216 and n. 2; becomes

a monk at Winchester, 226; abbot of Tewkesbury, 228. of Montreuil,

priest of Le

Sap, 240.

Gesta Romanorum,

lost, xxv, 34, 48

1135) 260101.1 3.

Ghent, 304 and n. 2. Gilbert,

benefactor

383

Gilbert of Auffay, son of Richard of Heugleville,

xix-xx,

246, 248, 250

and n. 1, 252-6; uncle of Drogo of Neufmarché, 227 n. 3; his wife, see Beatrice of Valenciennes; his sons, see Hugh, monk of Saint-Évroul, Walter of Auffay; his daughter, see Beatrice; his family, 246 n. 1, 367. Gilbert of Brionne, count, 88. Gilbert the Advocate of SaintValéry, son-in-law of Richard II duke of Normandy, 252, 367; his wife, see Papia; his son, see Bernard of Saint-Valéry. Gildard, St., bishop of Rouen, xxvii, 56; his father, see Nectard; his mother, see Protagia.

Gilo of Sully,his daughter, 116 and n. 3. Giroie (Géré) the old, son of Arnold of Courcerault, xviii; his sons, 88 n. 1; see Robert, William; his family, xvii, xviii, 134. Gisay (Eure, cant. Beaumesnil), 40. Gisla, daughter of Charles the Simple, possibly wife of Rollo, 78. Gisulf, duke of Salerno, 160. Glendfield (Leics.), 236; church of, 236 and n. 3. Glos-la-Ferriére (Orne, cant. La Ferté-Frénel), toll of, 128; rents at,

130.

Gervase, heir of Berengar, 276.

Gervase

INDEX

: of Saint-Evroul,

210. Gilbert, bishop of Évreux, 12, 18. Gilbert, canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3,

250, 252. Gilbert, constable of Roger of Montgomery, 140, I4I n. 7.

Godechilde, daughter of Ralph of Tosny, said to have been the wife of Robert count of Meulen, 128 and n. 1; marries Baldwin de Bouillon in 1096, 128 and n. 1; not the wife of Robert of Neubourg, 128 n. 1; dies in 1097, 128 n. 1. Godehoc, king of the Lombards, 72. Godfrey, abbot of Shrewsbury, 148 and n. I.

Godfrey VII, count of Louvain, his daughter, see Adeliza.

Gilbert, son of Hamo, 184. Gilbert, son of Turold, 126.

Godfrey, priest of Maule, 176. Godfrey, prior of Winchester, 226.

Gilbert Crispin, 122; lord of Tilliéres, I22 n3. Gilbert Crispin, abbot of West-

Godfrey, (illegitimate) son of Richard I duke of Normandy, father of Gilbert of Brionne, 88.

minster, 356 and n. 2.

Gilbert Maminot, bishop of Lisieux, son of Robert of Courbépine, 12; his election,

18; his character,

22; his father, 20.

18—

Godipert,

son of Aripert,

Lombard

king, 64, 72. Godmund, 256; his son Robert, 250.

Godwin, earl of Wessex, his son, see Harold.

GENERAL

384

Goisbert the doctor of Chartres, doctor of Ralph of Tosny, monk of Saint-Evroul,

xix, xxiii, 114 n.

1,

118, 119 n. 4, 124 n. 3, 126; procures gifts for Saint-Evroul, 150, 170-2, 206-8; prior of Maule, 176-8, 206, 365, 366.

Goscelin, 152. Goscelin,

scribe,

copies

charter

for

Robert of Grandmesnil, 322 n. 2. Goths, 56. à Gouffier of Villeray, 240. cant. Goupilliéres |(Seine-et-Oise, Montfort l'Amaury), 176. Graffham (Sussex), 140, 141 n. 5, 234.

Grandmesnil, family of, Hugh, Robert, William.

INDEX 366; formerly priest of Soulangy,

Goel, see Ascelin, Robert.

xviii;

see

206.

Gumbold, son of Ralph Mauvoisin, 184. Gumfold of Touquettes, 334. Gunbald, bishop of Rouen, 76. Gunhard, bishop of Rouen, 8o. Gunhilda, daughter of Cnut

and

Emma, wife of the Emperor Henry III, 86. Gunter, 154. Guntram, son of Chlotar I, 280, 282. Guy, abbot of Saint- Wandrille, 70. Guy, bishop of Soissons, 82. Guy, son of Ansold of Maule, 182. Guy, son of Evrard of Ray, son-in-law of Albert of Cravent, 246.

Gratian, emperor, 52.

Guy, son of Hugh Pain Crassalingua, 210.

Great Brickhill (Bucks.), 238 and n. 2. Greece (i.e. Greek territory), 180.

Guy, son of Reginald I, count of Burgundy, defeated at Val-és-Dunes,

Greek, glossary at Saint-Évroul, 8 n. 3. Greeks, see Thracians.

Gregory I, the Great, St., pope (590— 604), 58, 60, 62, 282, 358; his Libri Dialogorum, 58; his Moralia, 8; his Registers, 282 and n. 2. Gregory II, pope (715-31), 64, 66, 68.

Gregory III, pope (731-41), 68. Gregory IV, pope (827-44), 76. Gregory VII, pope (1073-85),

10, 11

11335524 402 ARTT2 Tak 5 Grimo, bishop of Rouen, 68. Grimoald, nephew of Stephen of Maule, 200; his wife Petronilla, 200.

Grimoald, son of Alman, 184, 190. Grimoald of Maule, 204. Grimoald of Saulx-Marchais,

92. Guy of La Val, brother-in-law Robert of 'l'osny, 127 n. 5. Guy of Mantes, becomes Saint-Evroul, 226.

a monk

of at

Hadrian, abbot of SS. Peter and Paul, Canterbury, 62, Hadrian, emperor, Hadrian, pope, see Hainault, men of,

Hamo,

steward

70. 42, 46. Adrian. go.

of the royal house-

hold, 228 n. 1; his son, see Robert fitz Hamon. Harduin, knight, 332-4.

Harold, Danish leader, called king of 186.

Grimwald, duke of Benevento, king of the Lombards, 64, 72. Grippo, bishop of Rouen, 64.

Gruffydd ap Llewelyn, king Gwynedd and Powis, 137 n. 2.

of

Guernanville (Eure, cant. Breteuil), 122 nn. 3, 4, 123 n. 6, 126; church of, 122. Guiard, son of Basilia, 208.

Denmark, possibly identical with Harold Blue- Tooth, 82, 308. Harold Godwinson, king of England (Jan.-Oct. 1066), 98; betrothed to a daughter of William the Conqueror, 114; defeated and killed at Hastings, 92, 214.

Harthacnut, king of England, king of Denmark, son of Cnut, 86, 88.

Guibert of Gacé, 324, 325 n. 4.

Harvey, chaplain Lisieux, 158.

Guitmund, castellan of Moulins-laMarche, 132 n. 1; his daughter, see

Haspres (Nord, cant. Bouchain), 66; priory dependent on Jumiéges at,

Aubrée. Guitmund, monk prior of Maule,

of Saint-Évroul, 176, 242-4, 365,

of the bishop

of

304 and n. 1. Hasting, Viking leader, 302, 326 and DI

GENERAL Hastings (Senlac) (Sussex), battle of, 92, 214. Haute-Bruyére, priory of the order of Fontevrault at, 128, 129 n. 4. Hawise, wife of Humphrey Harenc, 208; her sons Alexander and Pain,

208. Haymo of Tillaie, 324, 325 n. 4.

Hebrew,

glossary

at

Saint-Evroul,

Sint 3:

INDEX Henry

385 I, king

of

Germany,

his

daughter Gerberga, 82.

Henry, son of Richard of Coulonces, 230. Henry, son of Roger of Beaumont, IIO. Henry of Blois, monk of Cluny, abbot of

Glastonbury,

bishop

of Win-

chester (1129—71), 116, 117 n. 4. Heracleon, emperor, 62.

heir, eldest son made, 184; see heredi-

Heraclius, brother of Constantine IV,

tary right, inheritance. Helena, mother of Constantine

64. Heraclius, emperor, 48, 60, 282. heralds' rolls, 185 n. 3.

the

Great, 48. Helias, vidame of Gerberoy, 108. Helmechis, assassin of King Alboin, 72.

Helmet, mill of, 156. Heloise, wife of Peter Abailard,

336

nx Helvise, sister of William 156. Hengist, Jutish leader, 54.

Pantulf,

Henry II, emperor, 84. Henry III, emperor, 86; his wife, see

a knight’s fee by, 120; Ascelin Goel

Henry I, king of England (1100-35), son of William the Conqueror, n.

35, 66,. 150,

Herbert II, count of Vermandois (of Péronne), 80. Herbert, priest, at Lisieux, 14. Herbrand of Sauqueville, 256, 367; his sons, see Jordan, Robert, William; his daughter, see Avice. hereditary right, of Robert Guiscard’s sons, 86; William I’s to Normandy,

98; Fulk, dean of Chartres, holds

Gunhilda. Henry IV, emperor, 92. Henry V, emperor, 94.

32

Hérault, river, 222. Herbert, bishop of Lisieux, 12, 16.

340. and

crowned,

94;

marries

Louvain,

260

n.

n.

1;

Adeliza

of

1; his gifts and

succeeds to his patrimony by, 208; inheritance by, 164, 166; and see heir, inheritance. Hereford cathedral, MS. of, 363. Heremar, abbot of St. Remigius Rheims, 120.

favours to Michael son of archbishop Mauger, 86; to Stephen

Hérichards

count of Mortain, 116; to Richard of Coulonces, 230; to Jordan of

Herimar, St., 62. Herleve, wife of Robert archbishop of

Auffay, 258-60; disinherits Robert of Moulins-la-Marche, 134; administers

the

lands

of Jordan

of

Auffay, 258; served by Robert Malarteis, 348 and n. 1; his chaplains, 138; his charters in favour

(Les)

of

(Seine-Maritime,

cant. 'l'ótes), wood in, 248.

Rouen, 84.

Herluin, T2

abbot

of

Bec-Hellouin,

130,132) Meal, 623010. 12,1234: 11:12;

Herluin, chancellor of Hugh the Great, abbot of Saint-Pierre-enPont, Orleans, 308, 314 and n. 1, 318, 320-2, 322 n. 1; chief chaplain of Hugh the Great, 322.

246, 252; his court, 228, 258; his

Herluin,

of Saint-Evroul,

wife,

see

Matilda;

xx n. 5, xxi-xxii,

Adeliza events

dated

of

Louvain,

by years

of

his reign, xiv, 10, 162, 188, 344, 346. Henry II, king of England, reign of, Kit Mia. Henry I, king of France (1031-60), 84, 276; chaplain of, 336; his son,

see Philip I.

count

of Ponthieu

or

of

Montreuil, 82, 308; his brother, see

Lambert. Herluin the elder of Heugleville, his wife, see Ada.

Hersende, daughter of Peter I of Maule, wife of Hugh of Voisins, 184, 186, 191 n. 4; her son Peter, 184 and n. 1.

GENERAL

386

INDEX

Hervey, bishop of Ely (1109-31), 346 and n. 1, 350.

Hubert, son of Fulk dean of Évreux, 120.

Hervey,

Hugh, abbot of Cluny, 85 n. 2.

son of Germund

Rufus

of

Montfort, 188.

Hervey,

son

of Heroard,

176,

182,

188; his wife, see Odeline. Hesbach, men of, go. Heugleville-sur-Scie (Seine-Maritime,

cant. Longueville), xix, 252; church of St. Aubin in, 248; lords of, xix; see Herluin, Richard. Heugon, lord of Montreuil and Echauffour, xviii. Heurtevente (Calvados, cant. Livarot), mill at, 164. Hiémois, xvi, xvii, 268; given to Hugh the Great, 312; count of, see Hugh; vicomte of, see Roger of Mont-

gomery.

Paris, abbot of Jumiéges and Saint-

Wandrille, xxvii, 66; relics of, 304 and n. I. Hugh II, archbishop of Rouen, 8o.

Hugh, bishop of Bayeux, son of Ralph of Ivry, 122 and n. 1, 244 and n. 1;

his daughter, see Aubrée; his sister, see Emma. Hugh, bishop of Lisieux, 158 and n. 1,

334; builds up a cathedral chapter, 20; his death and epitaph, 14-18; his mother, see Lesceline. Hugh, brother of Robert Courbépine,

ZO nu

High Onn (Staffs.), 140, 141 n. 3, 234.

Hilary, St. bishop of Poitiers, 50. Hilary, St., pope (461-8), 56. Hilbre Island (Cheshire), church of, 238 and n. 4. Hildebert of Lavardin, bishop of Le Mans, 94. Hildebrand, king of the Lombards, 74. Hildeburg, wife of Geoffrey, 342. Hildegar, prior of Auffay, 258.

Hildehoc, king of the Lombards, 72. Hilderic, bishop of Beauvais, 82. Hildulf, bishop of Rouen, 60, 282. Historia Francorum Senonensis, xxvii.

Hoel, bishop of Le Mans,

94, 158

and n. I.

homage, ceremony of, xxiv, 154, 184, 185 n. 3. Honorius, archbishop

Hugh, abbot of Lonlay, 158. Hugh, St., bishop of Rouen, Bayeux,

of Canterbury

(627-53), 62. Honorius, emperor, 52. Honorius I, pope (625—38), 60.

Honorius II, pope (1124-30), previously Lambert, bishop of Ostia,

94, 96.

Hormisdas, pope (514-23), 56, 282. Horsa, Jutish leader, 54. hótes, xxviii, 123 n. 6, 126 and n. 3, 156, 174, 176, 202, 250, 252.

Hotot-sur-Dieppe (Seine-Maritime, cant. Offranville), 250. Hubeline, daughter of Peter I of Maule, 178; her husband, see (?) Geoffrey; her son, see Robert.

Hugh I, count of Champagne, n. 1; his wife, see Constance.

182

Hugh, count of the Hiémois, possibly lay abbot of Saint-Évroul, xvi. Hugh, monk of Saint-Évroul, prior of Maule, possibly identical with Hugh

of Gacé, 178, 204, 206, 365, 366. Hugh, son of Ansold of Maule, 182.

Hugh, son of Constantius, 236, 237 n. I4. Hugh, son of Geoffrey of Marcq, 188. Hugh, son of Germund Rufus of Montfort, 186, 188. Hugh, son of Gilbert of Auffay, monk of Saint-Évroul, xx, 254, 256. Hugh, son of Odo, 174, 182; his son,

see Pain Odo. Hugh, son of Pain Odo, 174. Hugh,

son of Richard

of Coulonces,

230,232: Hugh, son of Robert son of Theobald, 140. Hugh,

son

of

Roger

I of

Mont-

gomery, 88. Hugh,

son

of Roger

son

of Gerold,

204. Hugh, son of Turgis, 140. Hugh, son of Walo, 176.

Hugh, son of Walo Fresnel, becomes a monk at Maule, 176. Hugh, son of William of Moulins-laMarche and Duda, 132.

Hugh, son of William n. 9.

Pantulf, 235

GENERAL Hugh, vassal of Peter I of Maule, 176. Hugh Bunel (de Ialgeio), murders Mabel of Belléme, 136, 160. Hugh Capet, king of France (98796), son of Hugh the Great, 84, 324. Hugh Fresnel, 210.

Hugh Muscosus, the Blind, 174.

nephew

of Walter

Hugh of Avranches, earl of Chester, son of Richard Goz, 110, 216,

236-8, 239 n. 6; his household, xx, 118

n.

226;

4, 216,

his son,

see

Robert. Hugh of Chateauneuf-en-Thimerais, his share in the revolt of Robert Curthose, 112 and n. 1; his wife, see Mabel, daughter of Roger of

Montgomery. Hugh of Gacé, prior of Maule,

186

and n. 2, 188, 189 n. 3, 202, 206,

365 and n. 7, 366. Hugh of Gournay,

Hue

de Gournay’,

110 n. 2; his

Hugh of Grandmesnil, son of Robert I of Grandmesnil, castellan of Neufxviii-xix,

110,

118,

to Saint-Evroul, 234-6; his park and vineyard at Ware, 236 n. 1; his wife, see Adeliza of Beaumont; his daughters, see Adelina, Matilda; his sister, see Adelina. Hugh of Mareil, 184. Hugh of Médavy, 140. Hugh of Montfort, 88. Hugh of Montgomery, son of Roger

Montgomery

Belléme,

mother’s

138,

Hugh Pain Crassalingua, Agnes, 210; his sons Robert, Simon, 210. Hugh Rufus of Fresnay, Hugh the Ass, 122. Hugh the Clerk, of Le

210; his wife Guy, Ralph, 188. Sap, 236 and

n. 7. Hugh the Englishman, monk of SaintÉvroul, at Marchainville, 154. Hugh the Great, duke of Orleans, son of King Robert I, xvii, 80, 82, 84, 308, 316, 318, 320; besieges Bayeux, 310n. 2, 311 n. 3; the siege wrongly placed by Orderic at Exmes, 310I2; his son, see Hugh Capet; his vassals, 320 and n. r1.

Humphrey

Harenc,

208;

his

wife

Hawise, 208. Humphrey of Tilleul (Le), his wife, see Adelina, daughter of Robert I of

and 140;

murderers,

Mabel pursues

of his

136; inherits

the county of Shropshire,

Robert of Rhuddlan. Hunneric, king of the Vandals, 56. Huns, see Avars. Huntingdon (Hunts.), 350. Huntingdonshire, 348 n. 1.

238;

sheriff of Leicester, 226; his gifts

of

387

Grandmesnil; his sons, see Arnold,

110; the ‘conquéts

grandson Hugh, 110 n. 2.

marché,

INDEX

148, 150

Jalgeium, see Roche-Mabille (La). Ibor, chief of the Winnili, 7o. Ilbert, father of John of Rheims, 168. Ilbert, son of Restold of Beauvais, 330. Ingonde, St., daughter of Sigebert, wife of Hermingeld king of the Visigoths, 282. Ingran, priest, of St. Peter's, Ouche,

334inheritance, claimed by Robert Curthose, 96; English lands not part of Roger of Montgomery's, 142, 144;

Robert

of | Moulins-la-Marche

n. 1; his death, 148, 150 n. 1; buried

disinherited, 134; Hugh Bunel disinherited, 136; rebellious English-

at Shrewsbury,

men

148.

Hugh of Montpingon, son of Ralph of Montpingon,

xxiii,

his

sons,

and

buried

Innocent, bishop of Rouen, 52.

see

Arnulf,

Innocent I, pope (401-17), 52. Innocent II, pope, 338 n. 3.

Ralph, William. Hugh of Morimont, son of Thurkill of Neufmarché,

214;

164-6;

at Saint-Évroul, 166; his wife, see Matilda;

disinherited,

254, 367.

Hugh of Voisins, 186; his wife, see Hersende, daughter of Peter I of Maule.

see

hereditary right.

Ireland, 45 n. 2, 54. Irene, empress, 74.

Isabel (Elizabeth), daughter of Simon of Montfort, wife of Ralph of Tosny, xxiv, 126, 127 n. 4, 128, 129 n. 3.

GENERAL

388

Isabel, daughter of William of Breteuil, wife of Ascelin Goel, 208. Isemburge,

wife

of Walter

son

of

Hildeburge, 188. Isidore of Seville, his E£ymologies, xxv.

Isnard, 154. Isneauville, early name for Auffay, 254. Israelites, 124. Italy, 58, 64, 72, 74, 86; Normans in, 86 and n. 2. Iton, river, 38, 44. Ivo, bishop of Chartres, 116 n. 3, 154,

John VII, pope (705-7), 64.

John VIII, pope (872-82), 78. John XI, pope (931-6), 8o. John XII, pope (955-63) (called Octavian), 82.

John XIII, pope (965—72), 82. John XVIII, pope (1004-9), 84. John XIX, pope (1024-32), 84. John,

son

of Richard

siege-train, 306; probably the grand-

father of William I of Belléme, 307 n. 4. Ivry-la-Bataille (Eure, cant. SaintAndré-de-l’Eure), 208; castle of, 208 and n. 3. 66; abbot of, see

Jerome, St., 52, 212; and see Index of Quotations. Jerusalem, 60, 200, 310, 316; crusade to, 94, 182, 183 n. 2, 200 and n. 1, 360; pilgrimages to, 86, 166, 334-6. — patriarch of, 220; see John.

— heavenly, 334, 360.

of Coulonces,

becomes a monk at Saint-Evroul, 230. John of Avranches, archbishop of Rouen, son of Ralph count of Bayeux,

246.

Ivo, son of Richard of Coulonces, 230. Ivo, son of William Pantulf, 162. Ivo of Creuil, master of the royal

Jarrow, monastery, Ceolfrith.

INDEX

previously

bishop

of Av-

ranches, 8, 12, 18, 20, 92, 246, 252 and n. 1; his death and epitaph, 22.

John of Beverley, bishop of Hexham, 68. John of Rheims, monk of Saint-

Evroul, 118; enters Saint-Évroul,

164; master of Orderic Vitalis, 119

n. 3, 164 n. 5, 168; his life and character, 166-8; Orderic's poem on his death, 168—70; at the priory of Maule,

epitaph

184, 192;

of Peter

composes

the

of Maule,

178;

writes a charter, 210; his father Ilbert, 168; his mother Poncia, 168.

John of St. Denis, 200; his wife Mary, 200; his son Arnulf, 200. John the Cat, 250. John the Deacon, papal legate at the

Council of Constantinople (680), 64.

Job, 8. Joel, son of Alfred the Giant, 100.

Joppa, 166. Jordan, son of Herbrand

John, abbot of Fécamp, 88.

ville, 256, 367; granted the wardship of his nephews, 258. Jordan, son of Walter of Auffay,

John, bishop of Porto, 64.

John, bishop of Rouen, 78. John I, bishop of Séez, 162. John, canon of Auffay, son of Bene-

dict canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3, 250, 252. John, companion of St. Augustine of Canterbury, 60. John I Tzimisces, emperor, 82. ‘ohn II Comnenus, emperor, 94, 96.

ohn II, patriarch of Jerusalem, 52.

258-60,

of Sauque-

367; his wife, see Juliana,

daughter of Godeschalk; his son, see Richard of Auffay. Jors (Calvados, cant. Coulibceuf), mills at, 164. Josfred, nephew

of

Fulk

son

of

Foucher of Maule, 184. Joslin of Mareil, 184, 185 n. 3. Jovian, emperor, 52.

John I, pope (523-6), 56, 58, 282.

Julian the Apostate, emperor, 52.

John II, pope (533-5), 56, 282.

Juliana, daughter of Godeschalk, wife

John III, pope (561-74), 58, 282. John IV, pope (640-2), 60.

Julius, pope, 50.

John V, pope (685-6), 62. John VI, pope (701-5), 64.

of Jordan of Auffay, 260. Jumeauville

(Seine-et-Oise,

Mantes), 190.

cant.

GENERAL Jumiéges (Seine-Maritime, cant. Duclair), abbey, xvii, xviii, 62, 66, 284 n. 2; restored by William Longsword, 80, 90; abbots of, see Aicardre, Hugh, Martin, Philibert; monks of, 304 and n. 1; see William (Calculus) of Jumiéges. — manuscript from, 363.

Justin I, emperor, 56. Justin II (the Less), emperor, 58, 282. Justinian, emperor, 56, 58, 282; his Codex, 58. Justinian II, emperor, 64.

Justus, bishop of Rochester (604-24),

389

Leicester,

sheriff

of,

see

Hugh

Grandmesnil. Leo, error 64.

for

Leontius,

of

emperor,

Leo I, emperor, 54. Leo II, emperor, 56. Leo III, emperor, 64, 66; his son, see Constantine V. Leo IV, emperor, 7o, 74. Leo V, emperor, 74. Leo VI, emperor, 78.

Leo I, pope (440-61), 54. Leo II, pope (682-3), 62, 64.

Leo III, pope (795-816), 74, 76. Leo IV, pope (847-55), 78.

archbishop of Canterbury (624-7),

62.

Leo VIII, pope (963—5), 82.

Kirby, see West Kirby. Kirkby-Malory (Leics.), 234. knights, investment with symbols of knighthood, 112, 114, 242; tirones who have been formally invested, 112, 186-8, 244; of Roger of Mont-

gomery’s household, 136, 141 n. 7; of Maule, 174, 184, 206; landless, 98 n. 2; gregarü military service.

INDEX

equites,

108;

see

Leo IX, pope (1049-54), formerly Bruno bishop of Toul, 86, 120. Leofric, tenant in Peatling Magna, 293052237. 12. Leonilla, wife of Licinius, 42. Leontius, emperor, wrongly called Leo, 64. Lesceline, wife of William count of Eu, 17 n. 3; her sons, see Hugh bishop of Lisieux, Robert, count of Eu.

Lesceline,

Laigle (L’Aigle, Orne), cell of SaintÉvroul at, xx; see Richer.

Lambert, bishop of Ostia, see Honorius II. Lambert, brother of Herluin count of Ponthieu, 82, 308.

Lamissio, king of the Lombards, 72. Lande (La), near Moulicent (Orne), 152.

wife of William

Pantulf,

158, 160, 162. Lether, heir of Berengar, 276.

Lethu, king of the Lombards, 72. Leudegar (Leger) St., error for Leudesius, mayor of the palace, 64. Leudfroi, St., 62. Liber de compositione castri Ambaziae,

XXV

Landry, 154.

Liber Eliensis, 346 n. 2, 358 n. 1.

Lanfranc, archbishop of Canterbury (1070-89), 98; goes to Rome, 10 and n. 3; in Normandy in 1077, 11 n. 4, I2, 13 n. 4; friend of Abbot

Liber Pontificalis, xxv, xxvii, 62 n. 1, 282. Liberius, pope, 52.

Licinius,

persecutor

of St. Taurin,

40-2; his wife Leonilla, 42; his son Marinus, 42.

Mainer, 232. Langton, see Church Langton. Laon, 82, 306. Laumer, St., 56.

Lillebonne

(Seine-Maritime),

legend

of origins, 36.

Laurence, archbishop of Canterbury (604—19), 62.

— council of (1080), xiii, 24, 96, 160

legends, about Évreux and St. Taurin,

Lincoln,

n. 2; canons of, 26-34.

44—6; about the origin of Échauffour, 288-90; about the origin of Lillebonne, 36; about the bull of Bocquencé, 330; see also Thebes,

pd

of, 234

n.

2; see

Lindisfarne (Northumberland), 64. Lire, abbey of, founded by William fitz Osbern, 130; William of Breteuil

buried in, 130.

Trojans. 822219X

bishop

Remigius.

GENERAL

390

Lisiard, son of Ansold of Maule, 182. Lisieux (Calvados), 18, 48. — abbey of Notre-Dame-du-Pré, 16— 18; Hugh bishop of Lisieux buried in, 18. — archdeacons of, 20; see Richard of Angerville, William of Glanville, William of Poitiers.

— bishops

of, see Gilbert, Herbert,

cathedral of, 16; struck by lightning, I4.

N

— canons of, 20. — council of (1064), Liudolf, son of Otto Liutpert, king of the Liutprand, king of

visits

Maule

and

grants

a

Louis VII, king of France (1137-80), 235 Dele Louvain, 260.

Louviéres (Calvados, cant. Tréviéres), I310093. Louviéres (Orne, cant. Trun), 131 n. 3. Louviers (Eure), 131 n. 3. Lucian, St., 48. Lucian, priest of Caphargamala,

52.

Lucius, host of St. Taurin, 38; his 27 n. 5, 120 n. 4. I, 82. Lombards, 72. the Lombards,

66, 74.

daughter Euphrasia, 38-40. Luxeuil, abbey of, 62.

Lyons-la-Forét (Eure), xxii. Mabel,

Livet-en-Ouche

les-Bois)

336;

charter, 206, 365.

Loxley (Warwicks.), 237 n. 14.

Hugh

—

INDEX

(Eure, cant.

daughter

of Roger

of Mont-

Livet-

gomery, wife of Hugh of Cháteau-

Jonquerets-

neuf-en-Thimerais, 138, 234. Mabel of Belléme, daughter of William

(previously

de-Livet), 289 n. 1. Lo, St., bishop of Coutances, 56. Lodéve (Hérault), 218. Loire, river, 324. Lombards, 58, 60, 68; history of, xxvii, 70-4; see Paul the Deacon. Lommoie (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Bonniéres), tithe of, xiv, 244. London, 352, 356; bishop of, see Mellitus.

Lonlay, abbey, abbot of, see Hugh. Lot, 260, 261 n. 2. Lothair of Supplinburg, emperor, 96.

94,

Lothair, son of Louis the Pious, king, 76. Lothair, son of Louis d'Outremer, king of France, 82, 84. Lotharingia, 66, 76, 102. Louis the German, king, son of Louis the Pious, 76. Louis the Pious, king of Aquitaine, emperor, 76, 222; his sons, see Lothair, Louis the German. Louis the Stammerer, king, 78.

Louis IV (d'Outremer), king of France (936-54), 80, 82, 306, 308; invades Normandy, 310, 311 n. 3; in exile in England, 312 and n. 1; his wife, see Gerberga; his son, see Lothair. Louis VI, king of France (1108-37),

son of Philip I, 94, 162, 188, 284,

Talvas of Belléme, wife of Roger of Montgomery, xxiv, 140; murdered, xix, 134-6, 160; her epitaph, 136-8. Macharius, patriarch of Antioch, 64. Magnus III (Bareleg), king of Norway

(wrongly called brother of the king of Norway), 148. Mahéru (Orne, cant.

Moulins-la-

Marche), church of, 132. Maine, xvi, 112; authority of Robert Curthose in, 96 n. 4; lands of SaintEvroul in, xviii. Mainer, son of Gunscelin of Echauffour, monk, prior and abbot of Saint-Evroul (1066-89), xiii, XX) 124; his work as abbot, 118-20;

receives new

monks,

8, 104, 164,

168, 226, 256; receives gifts for the abbey, 176, 244; procures a charter from Roger of Montgomery, 158, from King Philip I, 206, from King

William

the

Conqueror,

232-40;

visits England, xxiv, 232; protects William Pantulf, 162; makes gifts to his benefactors, 132, 154.

Maineria (unidentified), vineyard at, 174. Mainz, 88; archbishop of, see Boniface. Malchus, monk of the first monastery

of

Saint-Évroul,

Évroul, 288.

godson

of St.

GENERAL Mallon, St., bishop of Rouen, XXVi, 38, 48-50. Malson, bishop of Rouen, 54.

Mamertus, archbishop of Vienne, 56. Mamre, 260. Maniaces, George, rival emperor, 86.

Mans (Le), captured by the Normans in 1063, 92; bishops of, see Hildebert, Hoel; dean of, see Geoffrey

Brito. Mantes (Seine-et-Oise), 180 n. 2, 190, 206, 244; priory of St. George depending on Fécamp at, 190 and n. 2. Marcellinus, bishop of Rouen, 52.

Marchainville

(Orne, cant. Longny),

152; church of, Saint-Évroul at, Marcian, emperor, Marcilly-sur-Eure

152, 154; priory of xx, I53 n. 3. 54. (Eure, cant. Saint-

André), xvii. Marcq (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Montfort PAmaury), church of, 188. Marcus, pope, 5o.

Mareil-sur-Mauldre

—(Seine-et-Oise,

cant. Meulan), xix, 200, 202. Marinus I (called Martin II), pope

(882-4), 78. Marinus

II (called Martin

IIT), pope

(942-6), 82. Drayton

(Salop),

391

Mary, wife of John of St. Denis, 200. Matilda, abbess of Holy Trinity, Caen, 10; obituary roll of, 10 n. 1. Matilda, daughter of Eustace III, count of Boulogne, 116; her hus-

band, see Stephen count of Mortain. Matilda, daughter of Hugh of Grand-

mesnil, wife of Hugh of Montpincon, xxiii, 166; marries a young knight, 166.

Matilda,

daughter

of

Matthew,

Richard

of

Coulonces, 230. Matilda, daughter of Roger of Montgomery, wife of Robert, count of Mortain, 138. Matilda, queen of England, wife of Henry I, regent in England in 1116-18, 354 and n. 1, 356. Matilda, queen of England, wife of William the Conqueror, 8 n. 5; in Normandy in 1077, 10; sends money to Robert Curthose, 102-4; consults a German hermit, 104-8; her gifts to Saint-Evroul, 240; cousin of Beatrice of Valenciennes, xix-xx, 256; her death, 112 n. 4; buried at Caen, 92-4; her children, 114-16.

Matthew, second husband of Matilda daughter of Hugh of Grandmesnil,

Marinus, son of Licinius, 42.

Market

INDEX

162

and

n. 3; church of, 162.

Marmoutier, abbey of St. Martin, xvii. Maromme, river (now Cailly), 36. marriage, clerical, 26, 27 n. 5; customary in the time of Rollo, 120-2; forbidden in Normandy in 1064,

120 n. 4. — law of, 26 and n. 4. Marston, see Butlers Marston. Marston in St. Mary's (Staffs.), 140,

141 n. 3, 234 and n. 5. Marston St. Lawrence (Northants.), church of, 238; monks of SaintÉvroul at, 239 n. 5. Martial, St., 214.

Martin, St., archbishop of Tours, 52, 214. Martin, St., of Vertou, 268 and n. 1.

166. Mauger, archbishop of Rouen, son of Richard II duke of Normandy, 86; deposed, 90; his son, see Michael; his mother, see Papia. Mauldre, river, xix, 172 n. 1, 206. Maule (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Meulan), 242; church of St. Mary in, 172-4; church of St. Germain and St.

Vincent in, 172-4; knights of, 174, 184, 206; lords of, xx, xxiv, 172 n. 15; see also Ansold, Peter; parish-

ioners of, 176; tithes of, 184, 186. — priory dependent on Saint-Evroul at, xix, xxii-xxiii, I24. n. 3, 172 ff.;

charter of foundation, 172-6; other gifts to, 182-92, 200-6; church rebuilt, 176 and n. 3, 178, 365; benefactors buried in, 178, 180;

Martin, abbot of Jumiéges, 80, 92.

court

of the monks,

Martin I, pope (649-55), 62. Mary, daughter of Ansold of Maule, 182. 822219X. pda

tory,

182,

183 n.

182;

dormi-

3; fraternities

with, 174, 175 n. 2, 186; priors of,

365-6, see also David, Goisbert the

GENERAL

392 Maule (cont.): — priory at (cont.): doctor, Guitmund,

Gacé,

Ralph

Hugh, Hugh of

of Sainte-Colombe,

Roger, Warin of Séez, William of Montreuil; monks of, see Ansold of

Maule,

Baudry

Rufus,

Geoffrey

INDEX tion from, 152;auxiliary forces, 110; see also Normandy. Mille-artifex, name of a legendary demon, 348 n. 1. millstones, 184, 186. Milo, son of Odo son of Walo, 202. Miltiades, St., pope, 5o.

of Marcq, Hugh son of Walo Fresnel, John of Rheims, Odo of Mon-

Molise,

treuil, Odo son of Walo, Osbern.

monasteries, double, 284 n. 2. monasticism, praised, 144, 196. Moniage Guillaume, 220 n. 4.

Maurice, St., 216 and n. 3.

Maurice, emperor, 58, 60, 282. Maurilius, St., bishop of Angers, 52.

Maurilius, archbishop of Rouen, previously abbot of St. Mary’s, Florence, 8 n. 5, 88-90, 334. Mauvoisin, family of, 180 n. 2; see Ralph. Maxim, bishop of Turin, 54. Maximian, bishop of Tréves, 50. Maximianus, emperor, 46, 48. Meaux, bishop of, see Burchard. Medard, St., bishop of Soissons, 56. Meinard, bishop of Rouen, 70, 74. Melantius, bishop of Rouen, 58, 282. Melbourne (Cambs.), 140, 141 n. 4,234.

Meldreth (Cambs.), 141 n. 4. Mellitus,

bishop

of

London,

arch-

bishop of Canterbury (619-24), 60, 62. Melo, Lombard rebel, not the nephew of Arduin, 86 and n. 2. Meole, tributary of the Severn, 142, 146. mercenary soldiers, 98-100. Mercia, 6. Merovius, king of the Franks, 54, 56. Mesnil-Baclay (Calvados, cant. Livarot), 156. Metz, bishop of, see Drogo.

Meulan (Seine-et-Oise), 174. Michael II; emperor, 74. Michael III, emperor, 76, 78. Michael VII (Ducas), emperor,

and n. 2. of, see Am-

brose, Denis. priests

holding

246-8, by,

255 120;

monks, as ‘Christ’s poor’, 144, 194. Mont-Blandin, abbey, 304 n. 2. Monte Cassino, abbey, 60; abbot of, see |Benedict, Bonitus, Constantine,

Simplicius,

Vitalis;

n.

monk

of, see

Paul the Deacon. Montgomery, family of, their wealth, 139 n. 3; see Hugh, Roger.

Montigny (? at Saint-Marcel de Longueville, near Vernon), 208.

Montjubert (?near Aulnay), 200. Montlhéry, family of, xix. Montmarcien, in Maule, 200.

Montmorency, family of, xix. Montpingon (Calvados, cant.

Saint-

Pierre-sur-Dive), mill at, 164; lords of, see Hugh, Ralph; their gifts to

Saint-Evroul, 164-6, 168 n. 2. Mont-Saint-Michel (Le) 308. — abbey, 84. Morin of Le Pin, 122.

(Manche),

Mortain, county of, 116. Mortemer, battle of, 92. Moses, 124, 186, 214, 358; law of, 112. Moulicent (Orne, cant. Longny), pri-

ory of Saint-Evroul at, xx; church of, 1525

(Orne), castle of,

liam of Moulins-la- Marche. 92

Michael, son of Mauger archbishop of Rouen, 86.

service,

family of, 134

132 and n. 1; surrendered to the king of France in 1050, 132 n. 1; castellans of, see Guitmund, Wil-

Michael I, emperor, 74.

military

Italian

Moulins-la-Marche

Michael, bishop of Avranches, 20.

Milan, 64; archbishops

south

n2.

3;

exemp-

—church of St. Laurence in, 132; priory of Saint-Évroul at, xx, xxi,

1330152) Mowbray, see Robert. Narbonne, province of, 68. Narses, 72. Natalis, see Noél.

GENERAL Nebuchadnezzar, 316. Nectard of Noyon, father

of

St.

and n. 2. Neufmarché-en-Lyons (Seine-Maritime, cant. Gournay), church of St. Peter in, xviii, xxii; becomes a priory of Saint-Evroul, xviii-xix. Neustria, 46, 48, 62, 78, 302. New Forest (Hants), death of Prince Richard in, 114. Newbold (Lincs.), 238. Newbury (Berks.), 248, 249 n. 3. Newton in Blithfield (Staffs.), 234.

Nicaea, council of (325), 50. Nicaise, St., said to have been the first

of Rouen,

393

— magnates of, 24.

Gildard and St. Medard, 56. Nettleham (Lincs.), church of, 234

bishop

INDEX

22, 36, 38, 50

n. 1; Life of, xxvii. Nicephorus I, emperor, 74.

— people of, 14. — property of Saint-Evroul

in, xiii,

xviii, xxviii, and see Saint-Évroul. — steward of, see Osbern. Normans, 6; character of, 98; capture Le Mans, 92; fighting in south Italy,

86. Noron

(Calvados,

cant.

Falaise),

churches of St. Peter and St. Cyr in, 156 and n. 1; priory of SaintEvroul in, founded, xix, 156-8; gifts

to, 162; monks of Saint-Evroul at, 158, 162. Northmen, invasions of, 74; see Danes. Northumbria, earl of, see Aubrey. Norton Ferris (in Kilmington, Somerset), 260 n. 1.

Norway, king of, see Magnus.

Nicephorus II Phocas, emperor, 82. Nicholas, St., bishop of Myra, 214; said to have attended the council of

Noseley (Leics.), 236; church of, 236. Notre-Dame-du-Bois, church of, see

Nicaea, 50; translation of his relics,

Notre-Dame-du-Parc (Seine-Maritime, cant. Longueville), village and church of, 246-8; men of, 246-8; mill of, 250. Noyon (Oise), 302. Noyon-sur-Andelle (now Charleval, Eure, cant. Granville), priory of

162 and n. 2. Nicholas I, pope (858-67), 78. Nivard of Hargeville, 188; his sons, see Peter, Warin.

Noél (Natalis), abbot of Rebais, 33842; chancellor of King Louis VII,

238 Davie Noél, monk of the first monastery of

Saint-Evroul, 290.

Saint-Évroul.

Saint-Évroul at, xx. Oda, wife of Waleran 1343 n. 3°

I of Meulan,

Noirmoutier, island, 76. Normandy,

Odelerius

son

— — — — —

8, 28, 116, 256; subjected

of Orleans,

of Con-

to the king of France after the death

stantius, father of Orderic Vitalis,

of William Longsword, 308 ff.; attacks of Northmen on, 82; events in during the minority of William the Conqueror, 88; William the Conqueror in, 10; authority of

6-8; encourages the foundation of Shrewsbury Abbey, 142-8; becomes a monk there, 148, 150; his death, 148 and n. 2; his sons, see Benedict, Evrard, Orderic Vitalis. Odeline, daughter of Peter I of Maule,

Robert Curthose in, 96-8; see also Neustria, prophecy abbeys of, xxviii. bishops of, 12, 24. clergy of, 120. duchy of, 8o. dukes of, 102 n. 1; military service due to, 248; fief-rente from, 248; see Richard I, Richard II, Richard III, Robert I, Robert II, Rollo, William Longsword, William the Conqueror.

possibly the same as Odeline, wife of Hervey son of Heroard, 178. Odeline, daughter of Ralph Mauvoisin, wife of Ansold 180, 184, 186, 196-8.

Odeline, Heroard,

wife

of

of Maule,

Hervey

son

possibly the daughter

Peter I of Maule, 190. Odo, archbishop of 'lréves,

of of

erro-

neously called the brother of Robert the Frisian, 102, 103 n. 3.

GENERAL

394

Odo, son of Arnulf of Dol, chaplain of Hugh of Avranches, becomes a monk at n. 3, 226.

Saint-Evroul,

118,

119

Odo, son of Fulk son of Foucher (of Maule), 184. Odo, son of Richard of Coulonces, 230. Odo, son of Tessa, 204. Odo, son of Theobald III count of Blois, 116. Odo, son of Walo, 176, 182, 184, 190, 192; becomes a monk at Maule, 202;

his wife Beliard, 202; his sons, see Arnulf, Milo, Peter, Walter the Bold; his daughter Sicilia, 202; his daughter-in-law Cornelia, 202; his son-in-law Geoffrey, 202.

Odo

of Le

Sap,

monk

of Saint-

INDEX — duke of, see Hugh the Great. — Saint-Pierre-en-Pont, abbey,

320

and n. 4; Herluin the Chancellor abbot of, 322 and n. 1. Orosius, xxvii, 52. Osbern, monk of Maule, 192. Osbern, son of Tezso, vassal of Hugh earl of Chester, 238.

Osbern,

steward

of Normandy,

88,

130 n. 2; his son, see William fitz Osbern; his steward, see Barnon of Glos. Osbern Buflo, 250. Osbern Capes, 248, 250. Osmund, tutor of Duke Richard I, 82, 306-8. Osmund Drengot, 86. Osred I, king of Northumbria (70516), son of Aldfrith, 68.

Evroul, brother of Roger, 118. Odo of Montreuil, son of Gervase of Montreuil, monk of Saint-Evroul, 338-40; prior, 240; at Maule, 192, 198. Odo of Peray, 140, 142.

Oswine, king of Deira (644-51), 60.

Odo Pain, son of Hugh, 184, 192.

Oswy, king of Northumbria (654-70),

Odoacer, 56.

Offa, son of Sighere, king of the East

60, 62. Otto I, emperor, 82.

Saxons, 68. Onn, see High Onn.

Otto III, emperor, 84.

Orange (Vaucluse), 218. Vitalis,

monk

of

Saint-

Evroul, author of the Historia "Ecclesiastica, his birth (1075) and

early education, xiii, xxiii, 6-8, 146; sent to Saint-Evroul (1085), xiv, 150; ordained subdeacon, 20; composes epitaphs, 168, 256, 258, 336; copies a charter of Saint-Evroul, 322 n. 2; his handwriting, xxi; his

interpolations

St.,

archbishop

of

York

king of Northumbria

(633-

(972-92), 82. Oswald,

41), 60.

Otto II, emperor, 82.

ordeal, judicial, 32, 34, 160-2, 352. Orderic, priest at Atcham, 6.

Orderic

Oswald,

in William

of Ju-

miéges, xvii, and see William (Calculus) of Jumiéges; his master, see John of Rheims; his father, see Odelerius.

Orielde, wife of Fulk dean of Evreux, 120. Origen, 212. Orleans (Loiret), xvii, 280, 320

and

n. 2, 324; charter of Saint-Evroul (A.D. 900) found at, 322 n. 2. — county of, 320 n. 2.

Ouche, 284,

forest of, xviii, 270-2, 276, 306, 330; and see Saint-

Evroul.

Ouen,

St., bishop of Rouen,

62-4;

relics of, 76.

Ouillie-le-Vicomte (Calvados), 16 n. 2. Oundle, region of, 68. Over (?Churchover, Warwicks.), church of, 236, 237 n. 14. Oxhill (Warwicks.), 236. Pacy (Eure), 131 n. 5, 242, 244. Pain, son of Geoffrey of Marcq, 188.

Pain, son of Hawise, 208. Pain Odo, son of Hugh

son of Odo,

174, 182; his wife Elizabeth, 174-6; his sons Hugh and Simon, 174; his fee, 200. Palladius, bishop, 54. Pampeluna, 74. pancarte, xxi, xxii. pannage, 126 and n. 2, 140, 152. Pannonia, 72. Pantulf, see William.

GENERAL Papia, daughter of Richard II duke of Normandy, wife of Gilbert the Advocate, 252, 367. Papia, wife of Richard II duke of Normandy, 86. Paris, 280; attacked by Rollo, 9o; bishops of, see Denis, Hugh, Reginald, Stephen. parish, witnesses gifts, 176, 188; in forest of Ouche, 288; see priests.

Parnes (Oise, cant. Chaumont), priory

of Saint-Évroul at, xix, 154 n. 3. Paschal I, pope (817-24), 74. Paschal II, pope (1099-1118), 92, 94. Paschasius, attendant of Marinus, 42.

Paul, bishop of Rouen, 76.

Paul I, pope (757-67), 70. Paul the Deacon (Paulus Diaconus), monk of Monte Cassino, 68; his Historia Romana, xxv; his History of the Lombards, xxvii; and see Index of Quotations. Pavia, 64, 66, 70.

Pavilly (Seint-Maritime), abbey, 284 no Peatling Magna (Leics.), 236, 237 and

n. I1; church of, 236. Pelagius I, pope (556-61), 58, 282. Pelagius II, pope (579-90), 58, 282. Penda, king of Mercia (c. 626—54), 60. Peray (Sarthe), castle of, 160. Perche, frontier of, xviii.

Perctarit, son of Aripert, king of the Lombards, 64, 72. Peter, St. apostle, 27 n. 5, 358; relic of claimed at Saint-Evroul, 326. Peter, bishop of Rouen, 52. Peter, bishop of Saragossa, 52. Peter, son of Nivard of Hargeville, 188.

Peter, son of Odo son of Walo, 184, 190, 202. Peter I of Maule, son of Ansold Le Riche of Paris, xxiv, xix, 150, 182, 184, 206; his foundation charter for the priory of Maule, 170 n. 1,

172-6; his character, 178; his death, 178; his epitaph, 168 n. 1, 178; his wife, see Windesmoth; his sons, see Ansold, Theobald, Warin, William ; his daughters, see Eremburge, Hersende, Hubeline, Odeline; his

vassals, 176.

INDEX

395

Peter II of Maule, son of Ansold of Maule, (?) 176, 182, 184, 186, 188,

190, 192-4, 206; restores property to the priory of Maule, 200; charter of, 365; his character, 198-200; his wife, see Ada; his fee, 200-2. Petronilla, wife of Grimoald, 200. Pharamond, son of Sunno, 54. Philibert, St., abbot of Jumiéges, 62; relics of, 76. Philip I, king of France (1060-1108), son of Henry I, 18, 92, 158, 182,

244, 284, 322 n. 2; at the siege of Gerberoy, 108 and n. 1; confirms the property of Saint-Evroul, 206; his death, 94; his son, see Louis VI; his daughter, see Constance. Philip, son of Roger of Montgomery and Mabel, 138, 140. Philip, son of William Pantulf, 162, 164. Philippicus-Bardanes, emperor, 64. Philistines, 326. Phocas, emperor, 60, 282. Picot of Say, 146 and n. 4. Picts, 54.

Pillerton Hersey (Warwicks.), church of, 236, 237 n. 9. Pillerton Priors (Warwicks.), 234, 235 n. IO, 238 and n. I. Pippin of Heristal, mayor of the palace, 64. Pippin the Short, king of the Franks, 66, 70, 218. Placidus, monk, xviii n. 2. Planches (Orne, cant. Le Merlerault),

fairs at, 140. Po, river, 74.

Poitiers, bishops of, see Fortunatus, Hilary. Polynices, the Theban, 1oo. Poncia, mother of John of Rheims, 168. Pont-l'Évéque (Calvados), 16. Ponthieu, 311 n. 3. Pontoise (Seine-et-Oise), college of

canons at, 50, 51 n. 4. pope, said to have sent a relic to St. Évroul, 326; patrimony of, 72; and see under the names of individual popes.

Poulton

(Glos.),

140, 234.

234

n.

7; tithe of,

GENERAL

396

Praetextatus, bishop of Rouen, 58, 282. priests, parish, 28, 30 and n. 2, 120. Priscian, grammarian, 58.

prophecy, on the future of Normandy, 104-8. Protagia, mother of St. Gildard St. Medard, 56.

and

Puiseux

186,

(?Seine-et-Oise),

176,

Quentin, St., Life of, xxvii, 48 and n. 1. Quirinus, St., 36. Radbert, bishop of Rouen, 68. Radon (Eure, cant. Alencgon-Est), church of, 140 and n. r. , Ragingarius, abbot of Saint-Evroul (762), xvi. Raginpert, duke of Turin, king of the Lombards, 72. Ragnoard, bishop of Rouen, 76. Raimbold, 156. Rainer, heir of Fulk of Saint-Aubin, 210; his wife Tesceline, 210. Rainfrid, bishop of Rouen, 7o. Ralph, archbishop of Rheims, 170. Ralph, canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3, 248,

250. Ralph, duke of Burgundy, France (928-36), 8o.

monk

of

king

Saint-Evroul,

Marchainville, 154. Ralph, son of Albert

of

of

at

Cravent,

242-4. Ralph, son Ralph, son 184, 186, Ralph, son Ralph, son 220 m Is Ralph, son

of Ansered, 250, 251 n. 3. of Ansold of Maule, 182, 190. of Azo, 248. of Erneis of Coulonces, of Fulk dean of Évreux,

120. Ralph,

son

of

Godfrey,

vassal

of

Robert son of Giroie, 140 n. r. Ralph, son of Hugh of Montpingon, as a boy visits Saint-Évroul, xxiii, 166; marries the daughter of Ranulf chancellor of Henry I, 166; buried in the chapter-house of SaintÉvroul, 166. Ralph, son of Hugh Pain Crassalingua,

210.

Ralph, son of Ralph of Montpincon, 166; dies on pilgrimage, 166.

Ralph, son of Ralph of Tosny, 127.

126,

4, 128, 129!n32;

Ralph, son of Richard of Coulonces, 230. Ralph, son of 'lurgis precentor of Lisieux, 20. Ralph Basset, royal justice, 346 n. 2,

350, 354-6; not justiciar, 350 n. 1;

188, 190.

Ralph,

INDEX

his seal, 356 n. 1. Ralph Clouet, 122.

Ralph d’Escures, abbot of Séez, bishop of Rochester (1108-14), archbishop of Canterbury (111422), 66 and n. 1, 228, 229 n. 4. Ralph Fraisnel, son of Thorulf, xviii

n.:2, 332;°334;5 his /sons; 332. 1 Ralph Mauvoisin, castellan of Mantes, 180, 244; his son Gumbold, 184; his daughter, see Odeline. Ralph of Drachy, chamberlain of Hugh the Great, 308, 314 and n. 1, 318, 320-2.

Ralph of Fourneaux, 122. Ralph of Gacé, son of Robert archbishop of Rouen, 84.

Ralph II of Gael, receives the honor of Breteuil, 130; grandson of William fitz Osbern, 131 n. 5; his son-in-law Robert earl of Leicester,

wee ters i Ralph of Ivry, count, 122 n. 1; his son, see Hugh bishop of Bayeux; his daughter, see Emma. Ralph of La Cunelle, 130, 246.

Ralph of La Lande, 122. Ralph

of

Montpincon,

steward

of

William the Conqueror, his gift to Saint-Evroul, 164; patron of John of Rheims, 164; buried at SaintEvroul, 164; his wife, see Adeliza; his sons, see Hugh, Ralph.

Ralph of Sainte-Colombe, prior of Maule, 206 and n. 3, 365, 366. Ralph of Tosny (Conches), son of Roger of Tosny, 122 n. 4, 124; his gifts to Saint-Évroul, xxiii, 124-6, 236, 237 n. 13, 238; his life and character, 126-8; burns the town of Saint-Evroul, 124; goes to Spain, Xix, xxiii, I24 and n. 3; goes to England, 126; his death and burial

GENERAL at Conches, 128; his wife, see Isabel (Elizabeth); his sons, see Ralph, Roger; his daughter, see Godechilde; his half-sister, see Agnes; his doctor, see Goisbert.

Ralph the chaplain, 130. Ramsey, abbey, abbots, see Reginald. Raniland, bishop of Rouen, 66.

Ranulf, chancellor of Henry I, fatherin-law of Ralph son of Hugh Montpingon, 166 and n. 2. Ranulf, earl of Chester, 238 n.

of r,

239 n. 7. Ratchis,

son

of

Penmon

duke

of

Friuli, king of the Lombards, 74. Ravenna, 58.

Razso, son of Ilbert, monk of SaintEvroul, 118. Rebais (Seine-et-Marne), abbey of, 328 n. 1, 336; secures relics of St.

INDEX —council

397 of (1049),

120

and n. 4;

council of (1119), 124 n. 2. Rhóne, river, 218. Rhys, Welsh king, 254. Ribert, St., 62. Richard, brother of Walter Hildeburge, 188. Richard, count of Évreux,

Robert

archbishop

son

of

son

of Rouen,

of

84;

his daughter Agnes, 128. Richard, duke of Burgundy, 78, 80. Richard I, duke of Normandy, son of William Longsword, xix, 80, 82, II2, 306, 307 n. 2; legends about the events of his minority, 306 ff. Richard II, duke of Normandy, son of Richard I. and Gunnor, 84-6,

II2, 304. Richard

III, duke of Normandy,

84,

II2.

Évroul, xiv, xvii, 322, 338; treatise

Richard, son of Richard of Coulonces,

on the translation of St. Évroul at, 306 and n. r; abbot of, see Noél (Natalis); prior of, see Amaury; monks of, 338-40, 342 and n. r. Redwald, king of the East Angles (wrongly called Gewzssae), 60. Reginald, abbot of Ramsey, 350. Reginald, bishop of Paris, uncle of

230. Richard, son of Walter of Auffay, 258,

Geoffrey I bishop of Chartres, 244. Reginald, monk of Séez, 148.

Reginald,

priest

of Saint-Jouin-de-

Blavou, 140. Reginald of Bailleul, sheriff of Shropshire, 140, 142; his wife, see Amieria.

Reginald de Breone, father of Gerold of Avranches, 216 n. 2. Reginald the Small, monk

priest

archbishops

Richard of Angerville, archdeacon of Lisieux, 20. Richard of Auffay, son of Jordan of Auffay, 367. Richard of Avranches (Richard Goz), father of Hugh of Avranches, 216. Richard of Bienfaite, son of Count Gilbert of Brionne, his son Roger, Richard of Coulonces, son of Erneis of Coulonces, his gifts to SaintEvroul, 226 n. 1, 230; his death,

of St.

his wife, 330; his son, see Ilbert. Réville (Orne, cant. Vimoutier), 156. 168;

130 and

232; his wife, see Adela; his sons,

Peter's, Ouche, xviii, 328-30, 334;

Rheims,

(Fraisnel),

see Geoffrey, Henry, Hugh, Ivo, John, Odo, Ralph, Richard, Robert, William; his daughters, see Adela,

Remigius, bishop of Lincoln, 1o.

of Beauvais,

Fresnel

nde

of

St., archbishop

Rheims, 56, 70, 264. Restold

II4. Richard

100. of Saint-

Évroul, at Moulins-la-Marche, 132.

Rehoboam, 98. Remigius (Rémi),

367. Richard, son of William the Conqueror, his death in the New Forest,

of,

see

Ralph, Remigius. — abbey of St. Remigius (Rémi), church dedicated, 120; abbot of, see Heremar.

Avice, Matilda, Rohais. Richard of Heugleville, son of Bernard of Saint-Valéry, xix—xx, 252-4, 367; his wife, see Ada; his son, see Gilbert of Auffay; his daughter, see Ada. Riche (Le), of Paris, family of, xviii,

172 n. 1; see Ansold, Peter I of Maule.

GENERAL

398

Richenda, daughter of Baldwin count of Hainault, wife of Amaury of Montfort, 188 and n. 1. Richer,

canon

of Rheims,

historian,

INDEX Robert,

father

of Robert

of Ivry,

(?) husband of Aubrée daughter of

Hugh bishop of Bayeux, 244 n. 1. Robert I, king of France (922-3), father of Hugh the Great, 80, 306 n. 1; his treason denounced, 312.

310 n. 2. Richer, son of Foucher, 184. Richer of Laigle, 122, 240; his death,

Robert II, king of France (996-1031),

122 n. 2. Richer the provost, 176.

84. Robert, knight of Scie, 248, 250.

Riculf, bishop of Rouen, 78. Risle, river, 344. Robec, river, 36. Robert, son of Richard I and Gunnor, archbishop of Rouen, count of

Heugleville-sur-

Robert, monk of Saint-Evroul, 156. Robert, son of Baudry of Bocquencé, xxi. Robert (Nicholas), son of Gervase of

Evreux, 84, 92; his wife Herléve,

Montreuil, monk of Saint-Évroul,

84; his sons, see Richard, Ralph, William. Robert, bishop of Chartres, 154. Robert I, bishop of Séez, 300 and

240. Robert, son of Giroie, 140 n. 1, 234; Robert, son of Herbrand of Sauque-

n. 3, 364. Robert II, bishop of Séez, 158, 162. Robert, count of Eu, son of William count of Eu, 18. Robert I (the Frisian), count of Flanders, 102.

Robert,

count

of Meulan,

son

of

Roger of Beaumont, possibly the first husband of Ralph of Tosny’s daughter Godechilde, 128 and n. 1; marries Isabel of Crépy, 128 n. 1. Robert, count of Mortain, son of Herluin of Conteville, 138; his wife, see Matilda daughter of Roger of Montgomery. Robert I (the Magnificent), duke of Normandy, father of William the

Conqueror, xvii, 28, 30, 34, 84-6, 112; great-uncle of Richard of Heugleville, 252. Robert II (Curthose), duke of Nor-

mandy, son of William the Conqueror, IO, I2 n. I, 94, 128, 130, 238, 252, 253 n. 2; his quarrels with his father, xiii, 96-112; his failings as duke foretold, 106-8; received in the castle of Gerberoy, 108; temporarily reconciled with his father, 112; goes into exile (c. 1083), 1I2 and n. 4. Robert, earl of Leicester, son-in-law of Ralph II of Gael, 131 n. 5;

granted 130.

his son, see Robert Giroie. Robert, son of Godmund, 250.

the

honor

of

Breteuil,

ville, 256, 367. Robert, son of Heugon, witnesses charter of gift, 122; appropriates land of Saint-Évroul, 123 n. 7.

Robert, son of Hubeline daughter of Peter I of Maule, 182, 184, 185 n. 4, 192. Robert, son of Hugh of Avranches, monk of Saint-Évroul, 236-8. Robert, son of Hugh Pain Crassalingua, 210. Robert, son of Murdac, 240.

Robert, son of Richard of Coulances, 230. Robert,

son

of Roger

of Beaumont,

IIO. Robert, son of Theobald, son, see Hugh.

140;

his

Robert, son of 'lheodelin, 158 and ns Robert, son of William I of Belléme, 140 n. I. Robert,

son

of William

of Moulins-

la-Marche and Aubrée, 132 and n. 1; his charter to Saint-Evroul, 134; goes to Apulia, 134; his wife, see Agnes daughter of Robert III of Grandmesnil. Robert, son of William Pantulf, 164 and n. 2.

Robert, vicomte of Arques, 258. Robert, a villein, 210.

Robert Andrew, scribe, 150.

GENERAL Robert fitz Hamon, founds Tewkesbury abbey, 228; his wife, see Sybil daughter of Roger of Montgom-

ery. Robert Fraisnel, xviii. Robert Giroie, son of Robert

Giroie, recovers meee

son of

Saint-Céneri, 135

INDEX Robert

399

of Rhuddlan,

son

of Hum-

phrey of Tilleul, nephew of Hugh of Grandmesnil, 238 and n. 3. Robert of Romilly, 126. Robert of St. Nicholas, 210.

Robert of Stuteville, 122; his family, 123 n. 5.

Robert of Corday, nephew of Robert of Grandmesnil, 160. Robert of Courbépine, father of Gil-

Robert of 'l'origny, his interpolations in William of Jumiéges, 113 n. 6. Robert of Vaux, vassal of Ralph of Tosny, his gifts to Saint-Évroul, 126; his son Roger, 126. Robert the Bald, monk of SaintÉvroul, monk of Noron, 162; prior of Neufmarché and Parnes, 163 n. 5. Robert the Breton, monk of Tewkesbury, 228. Robert the heretic, 156. Roche Igé (La), castle of, probably not to be identified with lalgeium, 136 n. 1. Roche Mabille (La), castle of, probably later name of Jalgeium, 136 and n. I. Rochester, bishops of, see Justus, Ralph d’Escures. Rodelinda, queen of the Lombards,

bert Maminot, 20. Robert of Courcy, 230 n. 2.

Rodwald,

Robert Goel, son of Ascelin Goel, 208,

210 n. 2. Robert Guiscard, duke of Apulia and Calabria, xxviii, 180 and n. r; his conquests, 86-8, 160; his father, see 'Tancred of Hauteville; his son, see Bohemond. Robert Malarteis, 346 n. 2, 348-50. Robert Pultrel, 238, 239 n. 7. Robert of Beaumont, brother of Roger of Beaumont, 88: Robert of Belléme, son of Roger of Montgomery and Mabel, 138, 140, 150 n. 1; supports Robert Curthose, 100; inherits his father's Norman lands, 148.

Robert of Cropus, 250. Robert I of Grandmesnil,

64, 72. his sons,

see Hugh, Robert II.

Robert Robert

II of Grandmesnil,

son

of

I of Grandmesnil, abbot of

Saint-Évroul, Eufemia,

xvii,

later 234;

abbot visits

of St. Nor-

mandy, 158-60; finds early charter at Orleans, 322 n. 2. Robert III of Grandmesnil, 134 and n. 1; his daughter, see Agnes.

Robert of Ivry, 208, 244 n. 1; becomes a monk of Bec, 365; his sons, see Ascelin Goel, William.

Robert of Louviers, 130. Robert of Mowbray, nephew of Geoffrey of Mowbray, 230; supports Robert Curthose, 100. Robert of Neubourg, nephew of Robert of Meulan, not the husband

of Ralph of Tosny’s daughter Godechilde, 128 n. 1. Robert of Prunelai, abbot of Thorney,

346, 350.

king of the Lombards,

60,

72rogation days, 56. Roger, monk of Saint-Évroul, prior of Maule, 178, 365, 366. Roger, son of Erneis of Coulances,

nephew monk

of William

of Warenne,

of Saint-Évroul

(also called

Roger of Warenne), 118, 119 n. 4, 226, 228-30. Roger, son of Gerold, 204; his son Hugh, 204. Roger, son of Ralph of 'l'osny, 126, 127 n. 4, 128, 129 n. 2. Roger, son of Robert of Vaux, 126. Roger Faitel, 158 and n. 1. Roger Goulafré, 158 and n. 1. Roger of Beaumont, son of Humphrey of Vieilles, 110, 114; his wife, see Adeline; his sons Henry and Robert, 110.

Roger of Bienfaite, son of Richard of Bienfaite, 100. Roger of Cléres,

122,

126; vassal of

the Tosny family, 122 n. 4.

400

GENERAL

Roger of Hereford, son of William fitz Osbern, 128, 129 n. 5. Roger of Ivry, son-in-law of Hugh of Grandmesnil, 237 n. 11; his wife, see Adelina.

Roger of Le Sap, son of Gervase of Montreuil, abbot of Saint-Evroul (1091-1123), xiv, 6, 118, 119 n. 3, 168, 240, 250; sent to England, 240; his character and talents, 240-2.

Roger of Mélay, 238, 239 n. 7. Roger I of Montgomery, 88; his sons, see Hugh, Roger IJ of Montgomery, William. Roger II of Montgomery, earl of Shrewsbury, vicomte of the Hiémois, 110, 238; seizes the lands of the Giroie family, 134, 140 n. 1; seizes the lands of William Pantulf, 160; founds Shrewsbury Abbey,

xxii, 142-8; his early hostility to Saint-Évroul,

Saint-Evroul,

134 fl; his

138-42,

gifts to

158,

234;

his death and burial in Shrewsbury Abbey, 148, 149 n. 4; his wives, see Adelais, Mabel of Belléme; his sons, see Arnulf, Evrard, Hugh of Montgomery, Philip, Robert of Belléme, Roger of Poitou; his daughters, see Emma, Mabel, Matilda, Sybil; his family, 138 n. 1; his constable, see Gilbert. Roger of Musegros, 126. Roger of Notre- Dame-du-Parc, 250. Roger of Poitou, son of Roger of Montgomery and Mabel, 138, 148; marries the heiress of La Marche,

IO

I

Roger of Rollebois, 208; his wife Basilia, 208. Roger of 'l'osny, banner-bearer of the Normans, 88, 124, 125 n. 4; his

son, see Ralph of Tosny. Roger of Warenne, monk of SaintÉvroul, see Roger, son of Erneis of

Coulonces. Rohais, daughter of Richard of Coulonces, 230. Rollo, duke of Normandy, 112, 310; invades Normandy, 78, 302, 326, his baptism, 78, 120; his tomb and epitaph, 90; his wife, see Gisla; his

son, see William Longsword.

INDEX Romans, 36 and n. 1, 48, 54.

Romanus (Romain), St., bishop Rouen, 60, 282; Life of, xxvii. Romanus

of

I, emperor, 82.

Romanus II, emperor, stantine VII, 8o, 82.

son of Con-

Romanus IV Diogenes, emperor (1068—71), wrongly assigned to the period c. 1040, 86, 92 and n. 2.

Rome, 10, 38, 48, 56, 62, 66, 68, 70, 120, 168. — church of S. Paolo fuori le mura, damaged in earthquake, 74, 75 n. 3. — church of St. Peter in, 146. — council of (649), 62.

Rosamund, wife of King Alboin, 72. Roscelin,

vassal

of

Hugh

earl

of

Chester, 238. Rothari, duke of Bergamo, king of the Lombards, 60, 72. Rouen (Seine-Maritime), xxv, 36, 38, 48, 82, 110, 160 and n. 2, 166, 306; sacked by the Northmen, 76, 302; Louis d’Outremer enters, 310; king’s court held at, 18; ordeal held at, 34 n. 1, 160; Robert Curthose attempts to seize, 96 n. 4; fair of

St. Romain (the Pardon) at, 25 n. 2. — archbishops (originally bishops) of, xiii, xiv, xxv, xxvi-xxvii, 50 ff.;

originally

not

metropolitans,

48

n. 4; see Acta archiepiscoporum Rothomagensium, Adalard, Ansbert, Avitian, Crescentius, Eusebius, Evodus, Flavius, Franco, Geoffrey Brito, Germanus, Gildard, Grimo, Grippo, Gunbald, Gunhard, Hildulf, Hugh, Innocent, John, John of Avranches, Mallon, Malson, Marcellinus, Mauger, Maurilius, Meinard, Melantius, Nicaise, Ouen, Paul, Peter, Praetextatus, Radbert, Ragnoard, Rainfrid, Raniland, Remigius, Riculf, Robert, Romanus, Severus, Silvester, Victricius, Wanilo, William Bonne-Ame, Witto. — castle (arx) of, 82 and n. rz.

— cathedral, early history of, 24 n. 1; rebuilt by archbishop Robert, 84 and n. 2; dedicated, 90; Rollo and

Wiliam

Longsword

buried in, 9o

and n. 1; John of Avranches buried

in, 22; cour d'Albane of, 23 n. 6;

GENERAL archives

of, xxvi-xxvii,

26

n.

clergy of, 48; estates of, 70 n. 1, 78. — church of St. Gervase at, 50. — council of (1072), 27 n. 5; council of (1096), 35 n. 3; council of (1128),

124 n. 2. — episcopal n. 6.

palace,

rebuilt,

— province of, xxv, xxvi. — St. Ouen, abbey of, 84. — see of, alleged apostolic

22,

23

cant. 'l'ótes), 248. ^

(Notre-

Dame-du-Bois) in, xviii and n. 2, 130 n. 1, 284, 285 n. 3, 286 and n. 1,

288; possibly a women's monastery, xvi, 286; restored, 332 and n. 1.

——

chapel of St. Evroul at, xvi.

— Benedictine abbey, refounded in 1050, xv-xx; refoundation of, xviii,

church

rebuilt,

118,

new refectory of, 240; chapterhouse, gifts made in, xxi, xxiii-xxiv, 122, 124, 132, 158, 166; benefactors buried in, 134, 164, 166, 244, 246; property granted to, xiii-xiv, 122— 64, 244-6, 260; charters of, xiii, xvi-xvii, XX-XxiV, 122, 124, 126-32,

130-54, 156-8, 172-6, 182-6, 190,

Rufinus, St., 48. Rugny (Yonne, cant. Cruzy-le- Chátel), castle of, 338. Sabinianus, pope (604-6), 60, 282.

Saens, St., see Sidonius. Saint-Aubin (Seine-Maritime),

254

and n. 1. Saint-Céneri-le-Gérei (Orne, cant. Alencon-Ouest), 135 n. 3; first

monastery of, xviii; priory of SaintEvroul at, xx. Saint-Clair-sur-Epte, castle of, 188. Saint-Denis-sur-Scie (Seine-Maritime, cant. Tétes), church of, 248.

St. Eufemia (Calabria), abbot of, see Robert of Grandmesnil.

Saint-Évroul, first monastery, founded by St. Évroul (d. 706) in the forest of Ouche, history of, xv—xvili, 270—328; its fate during the wars of the

308 ff.; abandoned,

328; abbot of, see Ragingarius; lay abbots of, xvi-xvii; charter (Frankish) allegedly granted to, 286; charter of Charles III (A.D. 900), xxi, 322 n. 2; canons of, xviXVII x1 322! 11.102, 325) tee 3;

Malchus,

Noél; prior or provost of, see Ascelin. — — church of St. Peter in, xvi, xviii, 286 n. r, 302 and n. r, 326; re-

stored, 330, 334.

Mary

94, 130; altar of St. Peter in, 122; origins,

n2:

of, see Ansbert,

of St.

240; church dedicated in 1099, xxiii,

Rowell (Glos.), 234. Rue-Sauvage (La) (Seine-Maritime,

monks

401

church

6, 234, 334;

36 n. 4. — suburb of, see Saint-Sever. Rovreio (unidentified), mill of, 230

tenth century,

INDEX

1;

192, 206, 232-40, 245 n. 2, and see Auffay, Maule; tithes given to, see

tithes; William Pantulf takes refuge in, 160-2; Samson the Breton takes refuge in, 104; fraternities with, 118, 132, 166; Liber Vitae of, 118 132,175 n: 2-215 Nn. 15 342 n 15 library of, xxvii, 8 n. 3, 168 n. 1; cartulary of, xxii n. 1; MS. Vita Sancti Ebrulfi at, 363; abbots, see Mainer, Robert II of Grandmesnil, Roger of Le Sap, Serlo of Orgéres, Thierry of Mathonville, Warin des Essarts; priors, see Fulk of Guer-

nanville, Odo of Montreuil; monks of, xxi, 124, 141 n. 5, and see Arnold son of Humphrey of Tilleul,

Ascelin,

Aymer,

Drogo

of

Neufmarché, Fulk dean of Évreux, Geoffrey, Geoffrey of of Mantes, Hugh son Auffay, Hugh the John of Rheims, Odo

of Dol, Odo

Orleans, Guy of Gilbert of Englishman, son of Arnulf

of Le Sap, Orderic

Vitalis, Ralph, Razso son of Ilbert, Reginald the Small, Robert, Robert (Nicholas), Robert son of Hugh of Avranches, Robert the Bald, Roger of Warenne, Samson the Breton, Warin of Séez, William of Mer-

lerault, Marston

and St.

see

under

Auffay,

Lawrence,

Maule;

priories of, see Auffay, La-Chapelleen-Vexin,

Laigle,

Marchainville,

402

GENERAL

Saint Evroul (cont.): Maule,

Marche,

Samson the Breton, Queen Matilda’s

Moulicent,

Moulins-la-

| Neufmarché-en-Lyons,

Noron, Noyon-sur-Andelle, Parnes, Saint-Céneri-le-Gerei, Villers-Canivet, Ware.

— Annals of, see Annals of SaintEvroul. — town of, burnt by Ralph of Tosny and Arnold of Echauffour, xix, 124 and n. 3.

church of, 328-30. Saint- Évroult- Notre- Dame- du- Bois (Orne), xv; see Saint-Évroul. — Fontaine-Saint-Evroult in, 276

n. I, 334-

becomes

a

monk

at

Saint-Evroul, 104. Sancho, son of Ferdinand I, king of Castile, 114 n. 1.

Sap (Le) (Orne,

cant.

Vimoutiers),

240; fraternity (frarria) of, 118 n. 2; see Roger. Saracens, 66, 68, 86, 218.

Saragossa, 74; Peter, bishop of, 52. Sardinia, 58, 66. Sarthe, river, xviil. Saxony, 74. Scamnis, see Gasny. Scandinavia, 72. Schechem, son of Hamon

the Hivite,

144.

Saint-Germain-des-Prés,

abbey

of,

XVi, XV1i n. I, XiX, 172 D. I, 174 n. I, 180 n. 2, 184 n. 2. Saint-Gilles (Gard), pilgrimage to, 156.

Saint-Guilhem-du-Désert,

see

Gel-

lone. Saint-Hillier (? Seine-et-Oise, Bonniéres), 208. Saint-Jouin-de-Blavou (Orne,

cant.

Pervenchéres), church of, 140.

see Fulk of Guernanville. Saint-Sever (formerly Emendeville), suburb of Rouen, 164, 165 n. 7.

St. Stephen’s,

church

(unidentified)

with property in Charencey,

Saint-Valéry,

family Gilbert

Saint-Wandrille

of, the

xvii,

154.

xix;

see

Advocate,

(Fontenelle) abbey,

schism, papal, of 1130, 338 n. 3.

Scie, river, xx, 248, 254. Scotland, king of, see Alexander I. Scuviculus, deacon and martyr, 36. Sebastian, St., 216 and n. 3. Séez (Orne), 48. — abbey of St. Martin, 142; gifts of Montgomery family to, 139 n. 3;

abbot cant.

Saint-Julien-de-Brioude (HauteLoire), church of, 220. Saint-Martin-sur-Guiel (now Heugon) (Orne, cant. La Ferté-Frénel), church of, xxii. Saint-Pierre-sur-Dive, abbey, nuns moved to Lisieux, 17 n. 3; abbot of,

Maritime),

messenger,

Sardica, council of (c. 344), 50.

Saint-Evroult-du-Montfort (Orne, cant. Gacé), xv, 268, 269 n. 3;

Bernard, Walter.

INDEX

(Seine62,

84;

relics of saints at, 322-4, 324 n. 1; abbots of, see Guy, Hugh, Wulfram; monks of, 304 and n. 2.

Sainte-Colombe (Seine-et-Oise, cant. Meulan, commune Aubergenville), 202. Salerno, duke of, see Gisulf.

of,

see

Ralph

d’Escures;

monks of, see Frodo, Fulchred, Reginald. — bishops of, see Gerard, John, Robert, Serlo of Orgéres. Seine, river, 34, 36, 314. Senlac, name of site of the Battle of Hastings, 92, 214, 304. Sens, archbishops of, see William, Wulfram. Septimania, 218.

Sergius I, pope (687—701), 64. Sergius II, pope (844—7), 76. Serlo of Orgéres, abbot of SaintEvroul (1089-91), bishop of Séez, 118, 119 n. 3, 162, 168, 242.

Severinus, pope (638-40), 60. Severn, river, 6, 142, 228. Severus, bishop of Rouen, 50. Sexburga, St., sister of St. Etheldreda,

352-4.

Shengay (Cambs.), 234, 235 n. 8. Shenley (Bucks.), 238 and n. 2. Sheriffhales (Staffs.), 234, 235 n. 9. Shilton, see East Shilton.

Shrewsbury (Salop), abbey of St. Peter, founded, xxiii, 146-8; abbots

GENERAL of, see Fulchred,

Godfrey;

monks

of, see Benedict, Odelerius. — parish church of St. Peter at, xxiii, 7 n. 6, 142 and n. 2, 148.

Shropshire, sheriffs of, see Reginald . of Bailleul, Warin the Bald. Sicilia, daughter of Odo son of Walo,

wife of Geoffrey, 202. Sidonius (Saens), St., 62.

of, see Guy, Medard. Solin, bishop of Chartres, 56.

Solomon, 4. Solomon of Sablé, xviii.

relations

with,

114;

wars

of succession in, 124 n. 3; see Ralph of Tosny.

Spaniards, 218. Speen (Berks.), land and church 248, 249 n. 3.

in,

Sprota, mother of Richard I duke of

Sigismund, not the son of Clovis, 56. Sigismund of Bavaria, 57 n. 6.

Silverius, pope (536—7), 58, 282.

Ravenna, 84. Simeon of Durham,

Soissons, 280, 320, 321 n. 5; bishops

queror’s

see Brunechildis. Sigisbrand, son of Liutpert, 72.

Gerbert

Sodom, 260; king of, 260-2.

Spain, xix, 52, 74; William the Con-

siege-train, 307 and n. 4. Sigebert of Gembloux, his De laude urbis Mettensis, xxv. Sigebert of Metz, son of Chlotar I, king of the Franks, 280; his wife,

viously

Slavs, 74.

Somme, river, 80.

Sicily, 86, 88.

Silvester, bishop of Rouen, 54. Silvester I, St., pope, 50, 214. Silvester II, pope (999-1003),

403

INDEX

Normandy, 80, 306, 307 n. 2. Stainton (Lincs.), 238. Statius, his Thebais, 100 n. 2. Stauracius, emperor, 74. Stephen, St., 52. Stephen, bishop of Paris, 240.

pre-

Stephen, count of Blois, son of Theo-

archbishop

of

De miraculis

et

bald III, 116; goes to the Holy Land, 200; his wife, see Adela daughter of William the Conqueror; his sons, see Henry of Blois, Stephen count of Mortain, Theobald IV,

translationibus, 66 n. 1. Simon, brother of Nivard of Hargeville, 188. Simon, son of Geoffrey of Marcq, 188. Simon, son of Hugh Pain Crassalingua, 210.

Simon, son of Pain Odo, 174. Simon, son of William of Moulinsla-Marche and Duda, 132, 133 n. 3,

134; his wife, see Adela. Simon of Montfort, 128; his wife, see Agnes; his daughter, see Isabel (Elizabeth).

Simon of Toiry, 190.

William. Stephen,

count

of Mortain,

king of

England (1135-54), son of Stephen count of Blois, 116; his wife, see Matilda, daughter of Eustace III count of Boulogne. Stephen II (III), pope (752-7), 70.

Stephen III (IV), pope (768-72), 70, 74Stephen IV (V), pope (816-17), 74. Stephen V (VI), pope (885-01), 78. Stephen VII (VIII) pope (929-31), 8o.

Simplicius, abbot of Monte Cassino, 60. Simplicius, pope (468-83), 56.

Stephen VIII (IX), pope (939-42), 80.

Singleton (Sussex), 141 n. 5. Siricius, pope, 52. Sisinnius, pope (708), 64.

Stephen, son of Gilbert, 176.

Sisinnius Fescenninus, 36.

Siward, priest of St. Peter’s, Shrewsbury, 6. Siward, son of /Ethelgar, kinsman

King Edward, 142 and n. 2. Sixtus I, St., pope, 42. Sixtus III, pope (432-40), 54.

of

Stephen, 188.

son of Geoffrey

of Marcq,

Stephen, son of Romanus I, 82. Stephen, vassal of Peter I of Maule, 176. Stephen of Maule, uncle of Grimoald,

200. stewards, royal, see Eudo, Hamo, Ralph of Montpingon; of Champagne, see Andrew de Baudement;

404

GENERAL

stewards (cont.): of Normandy, see William fitz Osbern; baronial, see Barnon of Glos,

William son of Barnon of Glos. Stoughton (Leics.), 234.

Susannah, 350.

INDEX Theodelinda, daughter of Garibald, wife of Autari, 60, 72. Theodore, St., 216 and n. 3. 'Theodore, exarch of Ravenna, 62. Theodore I, pope (642-9), 62. Theodore of Tarsus, archbishop of

Sybil, daughter of Roger of Montgomery, wife of Robert fitz Hamon, 138, 228 n. 1. Symmachus, patrician, 58.

Canterbury (668-90), 62. Theodoret, bishop of Cyrus,

Symmachus,

Talgarth (Brecknock), 254. 'Talou (Le), 34, 246, 254.

'Theodoric, natural son of Clovis, 57 11363 Theodoric II, king of the Franks, 60, 282. 'Theodoric III, king of the Franks,

Tancred of Hauteville, father of Robert Guiscard, 160. Tarquinius Romanus, father of St.

'Theodoric 56.

"Triarius,

Gothic

'Theodoric

‘Walamer’,

king

pope

58.

(498-514),

56,

.

'Taurin, 38. Tato, king of the Lombards, 72.

Tatwine,

archbishop

(731-4), 68.

of Canterbury es

Taurin, St., bishop of Evreux, 38-46, 214; his father Tarquinius Roma-

nus, 38; his mother Eutychia, 38; Life of, xxvi; relics of, 46. Te Deum, 358.

Tesceline, wife of Rainer, 210. Tessa, wife of Bernard the Blind, 202-4. Tewkesbury, abbey, 216 n. 2, 228 and n. 2; abbot of, see Gerold of Avranches. 'Theban legion, 216 and n. 3. Thebes, legend of, 100 n. 2. Theobald, brother of Walter son of Hildeburge, 188. Theobald III, count of Blois, 116; his sons, see Hugh I count of Champagne, Odo, Stephen count of Blois; his sister, see Bertha of Blois. Theobald IV, count of Blois and

Champagne, son of Stephen count of Blois, 116 and n. 3; nephew of King Henry I of England, 338 and n. 2, 340 and n. 1; his steward, see Andrew de Baudement. Theobald, son of Peter I of Maule,

174, 176, 178. Theodebald, legendary Saracen king, 218, 219 n. 5. Theodebert II, king of the Franks (Austrasia), 60, 282.

his-

torian, xxvii; his Ecclesiastical His-

tory, 54, 55 n. 4.

64.

Ostrogoths, 56, 58. Theodosius I (the Great),

king,

of the emperor,

52. Theodosius

II, emperor, 52.

Theodosius III, emperor, 64. Theophano, daughter of Romanus II, wife of Otto II, 82. Theophilus, emperor, 76. Thierry, count, father of St. William, 218.

Thierry, heir of Fulk of Saint-Aubin, 210; his wife Emmeline, 210.

Thierry of Mathonville, Saint-Evroul (1050-7),

abbot of formerly

monk of Jumiéges, 240, 334; his resignation, pilgrimage to Jerusalem, and death, 334 and n. 2, 336.

Thomas of Bayeux, archbishop of York (1070-1100), 10 and n. 3, 12 and n. 2. Thorney, abbey, 218 n. 1, 346; abbot of, see Robert of Prunelai.

Thracians (Greeks), 182. Thrasamund, king of the Vandals, 58. Thurcaston (Leics.), 236; church of, 236 and n. 2. Thurkill of Neufmarché, 88; his sons, see Geoffrey of Neufmarché, Hugh of Morimont.

Thurmaston (Leics.), 234. Thurstan,

benefactor

of

Wandrille, 84. Thurstan of Soulangy, 230. Tiberius I, emperor, 282.

Saint-

Tiberius

INDEX

emperor,

Vaudeloges

58, 64.

Tiberius, son of Constans II, 64. Ticino, tributary of the Po, 74 n. 1.

tithes, 182; granted to Saint-Évroul, 119,124,

120) 132,

405

GENERAL II (Constantine),

140, sey

E54,

156, 164, 174, 176, 186, 208, 234, 236, 238, 244; to Saint-Evroul and Auffay, 244, 246-8, 250, 252; to Saint-Evroul and Maule, 174, 176,

184-92, 200, 202; as portion of the Levites, 124, 186; granted to monasteries, 124; sale forbidden,

124; laymen not to have third part, 28. tonsure, 296 and n. 2. Tosny (Eure, cant. Gaillon), 126; see

Ralph, Roger. Tétes (Seine-Maritime), xx. Totila, king of the Ostrogoths, 58. Toul, bishop of, see Bruno. Touquettes (Orne, cant. La Ferté-

Frénel), xxii. Tours, archbishop of, see Martin. Tréves, bishop of, see Maximian. Troarn, abbey of, 142 and n. 1; Mabel

of Belléme buried at, 136; abbot of, see Durand. Trojan romances, xxv. Trojans, legends of, 54 and n. 2. Troyes (Aube), 180, 202. Truce of God, 26, 32. Turgis, precentor of Lisieux, 20; his son Ralph, 20. Turin, bishop of, see Maxim.

(Calvados,

Vernon (Eure), 340. vestments, ecclesiastical, see alb, chasuble, cope. Vexin, 50; French, xviii, 108 n. 1 ? IIO n. 2; Norman, xviii, 108 n. 1. vicomte, 26; see Hiémois, Robert vicomte of Arques. Victor, bishop of Capua, 58. Victor III, pope (1086-7), 92. Victorius, author of an Easter cycle,

56, 58. Victricius, St., bishop of Rouen, 52. Vienne, archbishop of, see Mamertus. Vigilius, pope (537-55), 58, 282. viguerie, granted to Saint-Évroul, 210. Vikings, raids of, xvii, and see Danes. Villegats (Eure, cant. Pacy-sur-Eure), 208, 210; church of, 208. villeins, xxviii, 164, 165 n. 6, 234, 248. Villers-Canivet (Calvados, cant. Falaise), priory of Saint-Évroul at, xx. Vitalian, pope (657—72), 62. Vitalis, abbot of Monte Cassino, 60. Vortigern, 54.

Wacho, king of the Lombards, 72. Walchelin, bishop of Winchester (1070-98), 226. Walchelin of Ferriéres, 88. Walcheren, Isle of, go. Waleran I of Meulan, 132, 133 n. 33

his daughter,

usurer, 278 and n. I. usury, 130 n. 2; Bricstan charged with,

122401. 3.

Oda,

133

n.

see Duda;

his wife

3; his wife

Adeline,

Wales, wars in, 254.

Waltari, king of the Lombards, 72.

346, 350-2.

Walter, brother of Hugh Rufus of Fresnay, 188. Walter, canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3, 248, 250, 252. Walter, son of Alpes, 190.

Valens, emperor, 52.

Valentine, pope (827), 76. Valentinian I, emperor, 52.

Valentinian II, emperor, 52.

Walter, son of Fulk, 184.

Valentinian III, emperor, 54.

Walter

Valerian, St., 48. battle

of, 26

n.

2,

near Lommoie),

(Tirel), son

of Fulk

dean

of

Rufus

of

Évreux, 120. Walter,

92. Vallée (unidentified,

242. Vandals, 56, 58.

Saint-

Pierre-sur-Dive), 164. vavassor, 156. Vedast, St., bishop of Arras, 56. Vercelli, bishop of, see Eusebius.

Urban II, pope (1088-99), 92, 168; holds the council of Clermont, 94.

Val-és-Dunes,

cant.

son

of Germund

Montfort, 186, 188. Walter, son of Hildeburge, wife, see Isemburge.

188; his

GENERAL

406

Walter, son of Rufa, 156. Walter, son of Safroi, 156. Walter, son of Walter of Auffay, 258. Walter Costatus, knight, 176.

Walter I Giffard, (?) 252, 253 n. 2. Walter II Giffard, (?) 252, 253 n. 2. Walter of Apres, 132.

Walter of Auffay, son of Gilbert of

Auffay,

becomes

250,

252,

a monk

254-8,

at Auffay,

his wife, see Avice;

his sons,

367;

258;

see

Elias, Jordan, Richard, Walter. Walter of Caumont, 122, 126. Walter of Falaise, his son, see William of Moulins-la- Marche.

Walter of Poissy, son-in-law of Peter I of Maule, 176. Walter of Saint-Valéry, son of Bernard of Saint-Valéry, 252, 367. Walter of Spain, 126. Walter le Sor, 140 and n. 1. Walter the Bald, knight, xxiii, 166. Walter the Blind, 174; his nephew, see Hugh Muscosus. Walter the Bold, son of Odo son of Walo, 202.

Walter the priest, 176. Wandrille, St., abbot, 62, 302 and n. 2, 322, 324 n. 1, and see Hugh. Wanilo, bishop of Rouen, 76. Ware (eas. ), 234; church of, 236; priory of Saint-Évroul at, xx, xxiv,

236n. 1,239n. 6;iptior of, 14I n. 5. Warin, ancestor of Peter of Maule, 184. Warin, prior of Auffay, 256. Warin, son of Ansold of Maule, 182. Warin, son of Fulk dean of RR

120. Warin, 188.

140 and n. 2, 141 n. 6, 146 and n. 4, 148, 234, 240; his wife, see Amieria. Wascelin, 202, 204. Wazo of Montfort, 330, 332, 334. Wazo of Poissy, 202-4; his son Amaury, 204. Wearmouth, monastery, 66; abbot of, see Benedict Biscop. Wenlock (Salop), Cluniac priory,

142 n. I. West Kirby

(Cheshire),

manor

and

church of, 238 and n. 4.

Westminster, abbey of St. Peter, 214, 356; abbot of, see Gilbert Crispin. — council of (1102), 30 n. 2.

Weston-under-Lizard 235 n. 9.

(Staffs.),

234,

Wigheard, archbishop elect of Canterbury, 62. Wilcot (Glos.), 236 and n. 7.

Wilfrid, bishop of York, 68. William, St., of Gellone (William of Orange),

216,

217

n.

4; Life of,

218-26; his charters to Gellone, 220) Neel. William, archbishop of Sens, 80 n. 1. William, count of Eu, his wife, see Lesceline; his sons, see Hugh bishop

of Lisieux, Robert count of Eu. William, count of Evreux, xx; wife, xx.

his

William, count of Poitou, his charter to Saint-Evroul, 139 n. 3. William, heir of Berengar, 276. William, son of Barnon of Glos,

steward of William fitz Osbern and William of Breteuil, 130 and n. 2. William, son and heir of Fulk dean of

Evreux, 120, 122.

William, son of Geoffrey of Marcq, 188. son of Nivard

of Hargeville,

William, son of Germund

Rufus of

Montfort, 365 n. 7.

Warin, son of Peter I of Maule, 178. Warin

INDEX

des

Essarts,

abbot

of Saint-

Évroul (1123-37), 6, 168 n. 2, 242; recovers relics of St. Évroul from Rebais, 338—42; his life and character, 344; visits Thorney, 344; his letter describing a miracle, 346-60. Warin of Séez, monk of Saint-Évroul,

William, son of Giroie, refounds Saint-Evroul, 234, 334; his son, see Arnold of Echauffour. William, son of Henry of Richebourg, 190. William, son of Herbrand of Sauqueville, 256, 367.

338-40; prior of Maule, 206, 365,

Wallan son of Hugh of Montpingss 166.

366. Warin the Bald, sheriff of Shropshire,

William, son of Peter I of Maule, 174, 176, 178, 184, 190-2.

GENERAL William, son of Richard of Coulonces, 230. William, son of Robert archbishop of Rouen, 84. William, son of Robert of Ivry, 208.

William,

son of Roger

I of Mont-

gomery, 88, 130 n. 2.

William,

son

of Stephen

count

of

Blois, 116 and n. 3; marries a daughter of Gilo of Sully, 116 and

11:47 William, son of Tedfred, 250.

William, called son of St. William, see Gaucelme.

William, son of William of Moulinsla-Marche and Aubrée, 132. William, son-in-law of Tessa, 204. William Alis, 122, 130 and n. 1.

William

407 (Talvas) of Belléme,

father

of Mabel of Belléme, 137 n. 3. William of Breteuil, son of William fitz Osbern, 238; inherits his father’s lands in Normandy, 122 n. 2, 128; his gifts to Saint-Evroul, 122, 12830; supports Robert Curthose, 100;

holds the castle of Ivry, 208 n. 3; captured by Ascelin Goel, 208; present at the dedication of the church of Saint-Evroul, 130; his death, 130; his anniversary celebrated at Saint-Evroul, 130; his son (illegitimate), see Eustace; his daughter, see Isabel; his steward, see William son of Barnon of Glos. William of Glanville, dean of Lisieux and archdeacon, 20.

of

William of Grandmesnil, son of Hugh of Grandmesnil, prospers in Apulia, 166. William (Calculus) of Jumiéges, his Gesta Normannorum Ducum, xxvii, FAS) tly Dy SEDE OE EEG E,

fitz

archbishop

William

Rouen (1079-1110), xxvi, 36 n. 4, 50 n. I, 92, 98, 252; his character and achievements, 22-4. William de Maloi, 156. William Gastinel, 122, 123 n. 6.

William

Bonne-Ame,

INDEX

of

304,7305 n1. 3, 307 nn. 2, 3, 4;

Normandy, earl of Hereford, nephew of Hugh bishop of Bayeux, 122; killed in Flanders, 128; his sons, see Roger of Hereford, William of Breteuil. William Longsword, duke of Normandy, son of Rollo, 80, 82, 112,

Osbern,

Orderic's interpolations in, xvii, IO n. I, 88 n. 1, 114 n. I, 136, 326 n. I, 334 n. 2; Robert of Torigny's interpolations in, 113 n. 6. William of Longueville, 122.

306, 308; his tomb

steward

and epitaph,

90-2; his son, see Richard I.

William Lovel, son of Ascelin Goel, 208-10. William Pantulf, vassal of Roger of Montgomery, 140, 142; founds the priory of Noron, xix, 156-8; accused of the murder of Mabel of Belléme, xix, 160; clears himself at the ordeal, 24 n. I, 160-2; goes to

Apulia, 160, 162; his gifts to SaintÉvroul, 162, 164 and n. 1, 235 n. 9;

his wife, see Lesceline; his sons, see Arnulf, Ivo, Philip, Robert; his mother Beatrix, 156; his sister Helvise, 156.

William of Arques, his rebellion, 254. William I of Belléme,

ably

the

grandson

102 n. 1; prob-

of

Ivo

of

Creuil, 307 n. 4; his sons, Robert, William ('T'alvas).

see

William of Malmesbury, 113 n. 6, IIA4 n. I. William of Merlerault, monk of SaintÉvroul, at Marchainville, 154 and TS! William of Montreuil, prior of Maule,

206, 336, 365, 366. William of Moulins-la-Marche, son of Walter of Falaise, castellan of Moulins-la-Marche, 132 and n. 1, 240; supports Robert Curthose, 100-2; his death and burial at Saint-Evroul, 134; his wives, see Aubrée daughter of Guitmund, Duda daughter of Waleran of Meulan; his sons, see Hugh, Robert, Simon, William. William of Orange, see William of Gellone.

William of Pacy, 126. William of Poitiers, archdeacon, 20, 21 n. 4; his Gesta Guillelmi ducis, 16 n. 1, II14 Rh. I.

GENERAL

408

INDEX I14—16, 360; his wife, see Matilda; his sons, see Henry I, Richard,

William of Rupierre, supports Robert Curthose, 102.

William I of Warenne, earl of Surrey, uncle of Roger Coulonces, 226.

son

of Erneis

Robert Curthose, William Rufus; his daughters, see Adela, Adelaide,

of

Agatha, Cecilia, Constance; his stewards, see Hamo, Osbern, Ralph of Montpingon, William fitz Osbern.

William II (Rufus), king of England, son of William the Conqueror,

10,

94, 114, 148, 228, 238, 252, 254. William

I, the

Conqueror,

king

of

England, duke of Normandy, son of Robert the Magnificent, 14, 18,

28, 30, 34, 92, 128, 148, 154, 208 n. 3, 246, 250, 254, 306, 336; his minority, 86, 88; establishes the Truce of God in Normandy, 26 and n. 2; gives Moulins-la-Marche to

William, son of Walter of Falaise, 132; his dislike of hereditary castellanships, 132 n. 1; defeats William of Arques, 254; defeats Harold and is crowned king of England, 92, 214; conquers England, 254-6; at Bonneville-surTouques, 112; in Normandy (1075),

8, 10; in Normandy (1077), 10, 12 n. 1; makes peace with Robert of Grandmesnil, 158; his quarrels with Robert Curthose, 96-112; at the siege of Gerberoy (1079), 108-10; at Rouen, 110; holds a council at Lillebonne (1080), 24; his court at Winchester (1081), 232 and n. 1; his reconciliation and second quarrel with Robert Curt-

hose, 112 and n. 4; his charters to Saint-Evroul, xxii, xxiv, 124 n. 3, 126, 232-40; his charters to Auffay, 252; confirms the foundation of Notre-Dame-du-Pré, Lisieux, 17 n. 3; events after his death foretold, 106-8; his death, xiii, 6, 360; buried at Caen, 92-4; disorder after his death, 164 n. 2; history of William of Jumiéges dedicated to him, 304; his chaplains, 138; his children,

Willibert,

bishop

of Rouen,

74,

76

and n. 1. Wiltzes (Slavs), 74. Winchester (Hants), 114, 226, 232 and n. 1, 238; William II buried —

there, 94. bishops of, see chelin.

Ethelwold,

Wal-

— Old Minster (St. Swithun's), 228 and n. 3; prior of, see Godfrey; monks of, see Anthony, Gerold of Avranches.

Windesmoth, daughter of Ansold of Maule, 182. Windesmoth, wife of Peter I of Maule, 174, 178, 180. Winimar, canon of Auffay, 246 n. 3, 252. Winnili, 70, 72 n. 1.

Witto, bishop of Rouen, 78. Worcester, bishop of, see Wulfstan. Wulfram, St., archbishop of Sens,

abbot of Saint-Wandrille, 304 and N12 322,324 11-51. Wulfstan, bishop of Worcester, 142 rah, 25 Wulfwin,

goldsmith

of

Chichester,

140, 234. York,

archbishops

of, see

Ealdred,

Oswald, Thomas of Bayeux. Zacharias, pope (741-52), 70. Zacharias, priest, 220. Zaraa, priest of Diana, 40.

Zeno, emperor, 56. Zoe, empress, 8o.

Zosimus, pope (417-18), 52.