Lay Patronage to Saint-Florent of Saumur, Ca. 950-1150
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
Western Michigan University ScholarWorks at WMU Master's Theses Graduate College 12-2013 Recovering the Saumurois: Lay Patronage to Saint-Florent of Saumur, ca. 950-1150 Adam C. Matthews Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses Part of the European History Commons, and the Medieval Studies Commons Recommended Citation Matthews, Adam C., "Recovering the Saumurois: Lay Patronage to Saint-Florent of Saumur, ca. 950-1150" (2013). Master's Theses. 444. https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/masters_theses/444 This Masters Thesis-Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate College at ScholarWorks at WMU. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at WMU. For more information, please contact [email protected]. RECOVERING THE SAUMUROIS: LAY PATRONAGE TO SAINT-FLORENT OF SAUMUR, ca. 950-1150 by Adam C. Matthews A thesis submitted to the Graduate College in partial fulfillment ofthe requirements for the degree ofMaster ofArts History Western Michigan University December 2013 Thesis Committee: Robert F. Berkhofer III, Ph.D., Chair E. Rozanne Elder, Ph.D. Luigi Andrea Berto, Ph.D. RECOVERING THE SAUMUROIS: LAY PATRONAGE TO SAINT-FLORENT OF SAUMUR, ca. 950-1150 Adam C. Matthews, M.A. Western Michigan University, 2013 In the mid-tenth century, the lay powers ofthe Loire valley established the abbey ofSaint-Florent at Saumur with the local aristocracy welcoming the monks and forming spiritual and economic relationships through acts ofpatronage. The brothers remembered gifts ofproperty, grants ofrights, and exemptions in charters which were ultimately collected into the abbey's first cartulary, the Livre Noir. Despite this wealth ofsources, historians have paid only cursory attention to Saint-Florent in recent scholarship. The present study incorporates the abbey's charter sources into broader debates concerning society in eleventh-century France. The use ofcase studies provides insight into the societal norms ofaristocratic families in the environs ofSaumur. This examination demonstrates that inter- and intra-familial cooperation was a defining quality ofthe Saumurois, and one which the counts ofthe Loire valley facilitated and maintained through public acts ofauthority. This image ofthe Loire opposes traditional interpretations ofsocial upheaval around the year 1000. A summary ofinteractionsin the Saumurois adds to the growing scholarly rejection ofthe mutationiste paradigm. In doing so, the evidence ofthe Saumurois might be more fully integrated into our understanding ofcentral medieval France. Copyright by Adam C. Matthews 2013 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Without the unwavering support ofthe Department ofHistory at Western Michigan University, my professors, fellow graduate students, friends and family, this thesis would not have been possible. Over the course ofmy master's program, Professor Robert Berkhofer has been a wonderful mentor and a model for the kind ofhistorian I wish to one day become. I am indebted to his unfaltering generosity and guidance over the span ofmy graduate experience. I also wish to thank Professors Rozanne Elder and Luigi Andrea Berto who afforded me the skills which were essential to this project's completion. I am grateful for their thoughtful review ofmy thesis, and I greatly appreciate their feedback and commitment. For helping me acquire a microfilm ofthe Livre Noir, I am indebted to Professor George Beech. He introduced me to the Saumurois and his extensive knowledge ofthe history ofSaint-Florent was a terrific resource. I am also grateful to Professor Kathryn Dutton ofthe University ofManchester who graciously agreed to photograph charters for me on one ofher visits to the Archives departementales de Maine-et-Loire. I would also like to thank Professor Elizabeth Teviotdale. Her experience with Latin paleography and codicology was vital to strengthening Chapter Two. As a longtime mentor and friend, Professor Amy Livingstone was my earliest champion in the field ofhistory. Without her steadfast encouragement and belief in my future, I would not be where I am today. 11 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS- CONTINUED Dorilee Schieble, Candace List, John Byczynski, Edward Kern, Luke Chambers, Jack Goodman, Jamie McCandless, Jan Volek, Eric Ware, and Bradley Patrick also deserve mention. Whether it was reading drafts, troubleshooting paleography, or digitizing the LivreNoir, they facilitated the progression ofmy research and writing. Finally, I thank my family. Through their resolute support and dedication, my mother and father have long been my greatest advocates. I owe my success to their encouragement and sacrifice. Since my youth, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins reminded me ofmy potential and pushed me to excel. I am eternally grateful. Adam C. Matthews in TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ii NOTES v MAP vii INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER I. The Journey to Saumur and the Emergence ofa Donor Community 14 II. The Livre Noir and the Place ofSaint-Florent's First Cartulary 30 III. Comital Guidance and the Foundational Elements ofa Patron Community. 52 IV. FamilyPatronage: Kinship, Inheritance and the Laudatio Parentum in the Saumurois 102 CONCLUSION 113 APPENDIX Figures 117 BIBLIOGRAPHY 118 IV NOTES Note on Names and Places An effort has been made to convert the names ofnotable figures, such as the counts and countesses ofthe Loire valley, into their standard modern English equivalents. This has also been done with common names attributed to lesser known figures—an example: Bernardus = Bernard. Ambiguous names, such as Go(s/d)fredus (could be either, Geoffrey, or Godfrey), with multiple spellings provided in the same source, or those without modern equivalents have been left in the Latin spelling found in the charters and cartulary entries. Except for major cities, such as Angers, Tours, and Poitiers, and recognizable modern locations, place names have been left in their Latin spelling. Note ofthe Dating ofEntries in BnF nouv. acq, lat. 1930 For the dating ofentries in the LivreNoir—unless otherwise specified, I have deferred to the dating scheme presented in Marc Sache, Inventaire Sommaire des Archives Departmentales Anterieures a 1790 Maine-et-Loire ArchivesEcclesiastiques, Serie H, t. 2 (Angers: Siraudeau, 1926). Note on the Appearance ofLatin Words and Letter Groupings In Chapter 2, a distinction is made between abbreviations for Latin words versus letter groupings. In the text, words appear in italics, while individual letters and letter groupings are rendered in bold. vi MAP Principal locationsof the Loire valley and centers ofsignificantpropertydonation. vn INTRODUCTION In the summer of 1026, the Loire valley's political landscape dramatically changed. The house ofAnjou, after a protracted conflict, finally took from the counts of Blois one ofthe principal fortifications ofthe central Loire—the castrum of Saumur. This victory cleared a path for Angevin dominance ofthe valley which had previously been blocked by strong Blesois influence. The events at Saumur, however, also affected the monastic landscape ofwestern France. Following two centuries ofstruggle for survival and security, the monastery ofSaint-Florent was burned during the attack. Nevertheless, with the close ofthe Saumurois as a warzone and under the careful management ofa savvy abbot, William ofDol (1070-1118), the community survived. Indeed, Saint-Florent grew into one ofthe region's most patronized houses and controlled properties extending from the Welsh marches to Norman Sicily. The abbey reached its zenith during the latter halfofthe eleventh century. By the end ofthe thirteenth century, the monastery boasted three hundred monks and administered more than one hundred priories.1 The abbey became a key social player onthe Loire. Kin networks forged lasting bonds with the monks through gifts ofproperty. In pursuing the favor ofthe house's patron saint, this diverse group oflocal families and individuals also formed relationships amongst themselves. Saint-Florent helped to define the lay community and strengthen the interconnectivity ofits members. In making gifts to the monks, individuals sought the recognition (laudatio) oftheir family members and expressed concern for the spiritual welfare oftheir loved ones. 1George T. Beech, Was the Bayeux Tapestry Made inFrance?: The Casefor St. Florent ofSaumur (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005), 7. Thedonation records are not limited to the financial or political concerns of the abbey. Theyalso depict intimate details of the relationships which were vital to the legitimacy and continuity of gifts. To protect both social and economic interests, the monks committed transactions to parchment. These charters included information which thebrothers viewed as essential for ensuring the security of monastic properties while also preserving the continued spiritual association withthe abbey's many patrons. This effort resulted in the accumulation of a richbody of records. To thisday, the corpus continues to serve as one ofthe abbey's chief legacies to modern scholars. The surviving collection ofSaint-Florent's charters and cartularies is one ofthe largest in western France—rivaling that of Marmoutier. The abbey's records in recent scholarshiphave been used to comment on subjects with only limited relevanceto the monks and their patrons. Saint-Florenthas never been the topic ofa comprehensive, book-length analysis and few studies have used the entirety ofthe available charter evidence. With many ofthe