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The Reform of the Chapter of Sées (1131) Reconsidered: The Evidence of the Episcopal Acta

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 December 2015

RICHARD ALLEN
RICHARD ALLEN*
Affiliation:
St Peter's College, Oxford OX1 2DL; e-mail: richard.allen@spc.ox.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper reexamines the reform of the cathedral chapter of Sées in 1131. It does so by looking primarily, though not exclusively, at the almost 400 acta – that is, the charters and documents –issued by the bishops of the diocese in the period up to 1220. It shows that this underused material has the potential better to contextualise this key event in the ecclesiastical history of medieval France and radically to improve our understanding of its wider effects. It also looks in detail at the careers of the bishops during this period and shows that these prelates, contrary to popular belief, were often supportive not only of the reform established within their cathedral, but also of the wider Augustinian movement. It concludes by briefly considering what the example of Sées can tell us about the regularisation of cathedral chapters in the Middle Ages.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Ecclesiastical History , Volume 67 , Issue 1 , January 2016 , pp. 23 - 52
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2016 

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References

1 The chapter at Sées was, along with that of Saint-Malo, one of only two regular cathedral chapters in northern France: J. Becquet, ‘La Réforme des chapitres cathédraux en France aux xie et xiie siècles', Bulletin philologique et historique (jusqu'en 1610) du Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques (1977 for 1975), 31–41 at pp. 36–7.

2 Bidou, S., ‘La Réforme du chapitre cathédral de Sées en 1131’, BSHAO cvi (1987), 21–32Google Scholar; F. Loddé, ‘L'Histoire d'un chapitre régulier au moyen âge: celui du diocèse de Sées’, in S. Lemagnen and P. Manneville (eds), Chapitres et cathédrales en Normandie, Caen 1997, 241–51; M. Arnoux, Des Clercs au service de la réforme: études et documents sur les chanoines réguliers de la province de Rouen, Turnhout 2000, 39–55, and ‘La Régularisation du chapitre cathédral de Sées en 1131: un événement local aux dimensions multiples’, BSHAO cxxxiii (2015 for 2014), 133–47Google Scholar.

3 Peltzer, J., ‘The Angevin kings and canon law: episcopal elections and the loss of Normandy’, ANS xxvii (2005), 169–184Google Scholar at pp. 171–4, 179–82, and Canon law, careers and conquest: episcopal elections in Normandy and Greater Anjou, c. 1140–c. 1230, Cambridge 2008, 115–35.

4 J. Châtillon, Théologie, spiritualité et métaphysique dans l'œuvre oratoire d'Achard de Saint-Victor, Paris 1969, 69; P. Montaubin, ‘Les Chanoines réguliers et le service pastoral (xie–xiiie siècles)’, in M. Parisse (ed.), Les Chanoines réguliers: émergence et expansion (XIe–XIIIe siècles), Saint-Etienne 2009, 119–58 at p. 133.

5 P. Desportes, J.–P. Foucher, F. Loddé and L. Vallière, Fasti Ecclesiae Gallicanae: répertoire prosopographique des évêques, dignitaires et chanoines de France de 1200 à 1500, IX: Diocèse de Sées, 1200–1547, Turnhout 2005, p. vii.

6 The acta will be published as Les Actes des évêques de Sées, XIe siècle–1220, ed. R. Allen, in Corpus des actes épiscopaux normands (XIe–XIIIe siècle), dir. G. Combalbert, V. Gazeau and others, Caen, forthcoming.

7 Exmes, Orne, chef-lieu de cant.

8 For discussion see Neveux, F., ‘La Ville de Sées du haut moyen âge à l'époque ducale’, ANS xvii (1994), 145–63 at pp. 149–50Google Scholar.

9 Moussy-le-Neuf, Seine-et-Marne, cant. Dammartin-en-Goële.

10 The diocese's misfortunes and those of Bishop Adelelme are recounted in his life and miracles of St Opportune: Acta Sanctorum, April iii, 68–71.

11 Neveux, ‘Ville de Sées’, 151. It is possible, however, that the bishops continued to administer the diocese from their retreat at Moussy-le-Neuf: Musset, L., ‘L'Exode des reliques du diocèse de Sées au temps des invasions normandes’, BSHAO lxxxviii (1970), 3–22Google Scholar.

12 The Gesta normannorum ducum of William of Jumièges, Orderic Vitalis, and Robert of Torigni, ed. E. M. C. van Houts, Oxford 1992–5, ii. 114.

13 Orderic iii.2, in The ecclesiastical history of Orderic Vitalis, ed. M. Chibnall, Oxford 1969–80, ii. 26.

14 G. Louise, La Seigneurie de Bellême, Xe–XIIe siècles: évolution des pouvoirs territoriaux et construction d'une seigneurie de frontière aux confins de la Normandie et du Maine à la charnière de l'an mil, Flers 1990–1, i. 130–1. For the complex origins of this family see also White, G. H., ‘The first house of Bellême’, Transactions of the Royal Historical Society, 4th ser. xxii (1940), 67–99Google Scholar; J. Boussard, ‘La Seigneurie de Bellême aux xe et xie siècles’, in C.-E. Perrin (ed.), Mélanges d'histoire du moyen âge Louis Halphen, Paris 1951, 43–54; and Thompson, K., ‘Family and influence to the south of Normandy in the eleventh century: the lordship of Bellême’, Journal of Medieval History xi (1985), 215–26CrossRefGoogle Scholar. On the fluidity of diocesan boundaries at this time, with special mention of the case of Sées, see F. Mazel, ‘Cujus dominus, ejus episcopatus? Pouvoirs seigneuriaux et territoires diocésains (xe–xiiie siècle)’, in F. Mazel (ed.), L'Espace du diocèse: genèse d'un territoire dans l'Occident médiéval (Ve–XIIIe siècle), Rennes 2008, 213–52 at pp. 227–33.

15 Louise, Seigneurie de Bellême, i. 151; J. Decaens, ‘L'Évêque Yves de Sées’, in P. Bouet and F. Neveux (eds), Les Évêques normands du XIe siècle, Caen 1995, 117–37.

16 For discussion see Allen, R., ‘Robert Curthose and the Norman episcopate’, Haskins Society Journal xxi (2009), 87–112Google Scholar at pp. 104–8.

17 For John's family see Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, 44–5.

18 Ibid. 46–7; E. U. Crosby, The king's bishops: the politics of patronage in England and Normandy, 1066–1216, Basingstoke 2013, 244.

19 For the reform efforts of Louis vi, king of France (1108–37), see J. Führer, König Ludwig VI. von Frankreich und die Kanonikerreform, Frankfurt 2008; for those of Alexander i (1107–24) and David i (1124–53) of Scotland, which included the regularisation of the cathedral chapter of St Andrews, see Veitch, K., ‘“Replanting paradise”: Alexander i and the reform of religious life in Scotland’, Innes Review lii (2001), 136–66Google Scholar; and C. Brooke, ‘King David i of Scotland as a connoisseur of the religious orders’, in C. E. Viola (ed.), Mediaevalia Christiana: XIe–XIIIe siècles: hommage à Raymonde Foreville de ses amis, ses collègues et ses anciens élèves, Paris 1989, 320–34.

20 For discussion see Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, 11–39.

21 For the Augustinian institutions founded in England during Henry's reign, of which five were established directly by the king, see M. Brett, The English Church under Henry I, Oxford 1975, 138–40; J. Green, The government of England under Henry I, Cambridge 1986, 4; J. Burton, Monastic and religious orders in Britain, 1000–1300, Cambridge 1994, 45–52, and ‘Les Chanoines réguliers en Grande-Bretagne’, in Parisse, Chanoines réguliers, 477–98 at pp. 482–6; and H. Mayr-Harting, Religion, politics and society in Britain, 1066–1272, Harlow 2011, 167–79.

22 For a useful survey of the role played by the various bishops of France in the spread of reformed communities see Führer, König Ludwig VI., 269–98; for discussion with regards to bishops in England see Brett, Henry I, 138–40; J. Burton, The monastic order in Yorkshire, 1069–1215, Cambridge 1999, 69–97; K. Legg, Bolton Priory: its patrons and benefactors, 1120–1293, York 2004, 3; and A. Fizzard, Plympton Priory: a house of Augustinian canons in south-western England in the late Middle Ages, Leiden 2008, 45–55. John, however, seems to have only ever occupied a marginal role in the network of reforming bishops later centred around Hugh d'Amiens, archbishop of Rouen: Combalbert, G., ‘Formation et déclin d'un réseau réformateur: Hugues d'Amiens, archevêque de Rouen, et les évêques normands, entre le pape et le duc (fin des années 1130–1164)’, Annales de Normandie lxiii (2013), 3–48 at p. 34CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

23 Chronique de Robert de Torigni, ed. L. Delisle, Paris 1872–3, i. 235–6. Bishop Geoffrey would later employ John's brother, Arnulf, among his household clerks: Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, p. xiv. Some have seen the bishop of Chartres' influence as being key to the reform at Sées: L. Grant, ‘Arnulf's mentor: Geoffrey of Lèves, bishop of Chartres', in D. Bates, J. Crick and S. Hamilton (eds), Writing medieval biography, 750–1250: essays in honour of Professor Frank Barlow, Woodbridge 2006, 173–84 at p. 180.

24 Recueil des actes des ducs de Normandie de 911 à 1066, ed. M. Fauroux, Caen 1961, no. 33.

25 Crosby, King's bishops, 245. The donation of land for the purpose of housing the new canons, which was made by Engelrand Oison (Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 5), whose family may well have been a cadet branch of the Talvas (see D. Power, The Norman frontier in the twelfth and early thirteenth centuries, Cambridge 2004, 273), provides a good example of such ideas in practice.

26 M. Chibnall, The Normans, Oxford 2000, 58; Burton, ‘Chanoines réguliers’, 483–5; Crosby, King's bishops, 76–7; J. A. Franklin, ‘Augustinian and other canons' churches in Romanesque Europe: the significance of the aisleless cruciform plan’, in J. A. Franklin, T. A. Heslop and C. Stevenson (eds), Architecture and interpretation: essays for Eric Fernie, Woodbridge 2012, 78–98 at pp. 90–1. For the suggestion that the establishment of Augustinian canons in urban centres was perhaps part of a larger policy by which Henry i tried to maintain order there see Mayr-Harting, Religion, politics and society, 179.

27 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 1.

28 The claim is made by Arnulf of Lisieux in a letter sent to the pope in around 1161: Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, no. 34.

29 Orderic, Ecclesiastical history xii.35 (Chibnall edn at vi. 340).

30 Peltzer, Canon law, 115–20.

31 It was thanks to his intervention that the possession of the church of Saint-Julien-sur-Sarthe (Orne, cant. Pervenchères) was confirmed, while it was by his gift that the chapter came to enjoy the important revenues of the Crucifix altar: Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, nos 6 (incorrectly dated by the editor to 1154), 8.

32 Combalbert, ‘Formation et déclin’, 35.

33 Garin is commemorated in the necrology of Saint-Victor: Obituaires de la province de Sens, ed. A. Molinier, Paris 1902–9, i/1, p. 551.

34 For details see Recueil des historiens des Gaules et de la France, ed. M. Bouquet and others, Paris 1738–1904, xv. 696–7, no. 7. The prior mentioned in this letter is not named, but it is almost certainly Garin, who was still alive on 19 September 1143: Gallia Christiana, xi, instr. 162–3, no. 9.

35 Peltzer, Canon law, 117.

36 The chanter appears in five of the seven acts between c. 1082 and 1131 to survive with a witness list: Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour le Perche, ed. P. Barret, Mortagne 1894, nos 15, 19, 25; BES, ms non coté, fo. 15r–v [9r–v] (Cartulary of Saint-Martin de Sées, known as the Livre Blanc); AN, S 2238, no. 35. He is also known to have accompanied Bishop John to the abbey of Fontevraud in 1129: Grand cartulaire de Fontevraud, ed. J.-M. Bienvenu, Poitiers 2000–5, i, no. 408.

37 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 6; ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 11v.

38 ADO, 31 J 65/1, fos 334r–335v (act of Bishop Gerard for Saint-Martin de Sées and Lonlay).

39 Peltzer, Canon law, 117.

40 ADSM, 16 H 29 (act of Bishop Gerard dated 25 December 1155); ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 13v (act of Bishop Gerard dated 1155x1157); Cartulaire de l'abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité de Tiron, ed. L. Merlet, Chartres 1883, ii. 86, no. cccxiii (act of Bishop Froger dated 1159x1161). Henry is not, as suggested by David Spear, the same person as the archdeacon Henry de Alneto: The personnel of the Norman cathedrals during the ducal period, 911–1204, London 2006, 279.

41 ‘Decernimus quoque atque constituimus ut archidiaconi Sagiensis ecclesie de vostris fratribus et vostro capitulo vostroque consilio ab episcopo eligantur et beneficia et redditus et quidquid eis de archidiaconatu provenerit in vostros regulares usus atque communes redigantur’: Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, 317, no. 1.

42 The diocese of Sées was divided into five archdeaconries. That of Exmes seems to have originally taken its name from the village of Eraines, to the north-east of Falaise, and we have references throughout this period to the archdeacons of this circumscription as being both archdeacon of Eraines and archdeacon of Exmes. For discussion see Allen, R., ‘Mémoire et diplomatique: l'édition des actes des évêques de Sées (911–1220)’, BSHAO cxxxiii (2015 for 2014), 91–112 at pp. 106–7Google Scholar.

43 Peltzer, Canon law, 117.

44 For the identification of Roger as Gerard's brother see Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 9.

45 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, no. 3.

46 For discussion see Allen, ‘Mémoire et diplomatique’, 105.

47 His first datable appearance is 1128 (n.s.): Cartulaire pour le Perche, no. 25.

48 The exception is an act for the abbey of Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire: Recueil des chartes de l'Abbaye de Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, ed. H. Stein, M. Prou and A. Vidier, Paris 1900–12, i, no. cxlvi.

49 According to one of Gerard's acts, a copy of which was once found in the lost cartulary of Saint-Martin de Sées known as the Livre Rouge, the bishop was accompanied to Reims by the archdeacons William and Henry. The latter's name is rendered as Honorius in the only known copy of the act (ADO, 31 J 65/1, fos 334r–335v), but another mention confirms that he was in fact present: BN, ms Français 18953, p. 223.

50 He appears in only two: Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 6; ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 13v. For the identification of his circumscription as that of Corbon see Allen, ‘Mémoire et diplomatique’, 109.

51 On the other hand, the size of the archdeaconry of Corbon, which was the smallest of the diocese, perhaps accounts for Hugh's absence. But, as will be shown at pp. 38–9 below, the archdeacons of Corbon did not always play such a minor role in the bishop's entourage.

52 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 9. Pont-Audemer, Eure, chef-lieu de cant.

53 BN, ms Latin 12681, fo. 209r (act of Bishop Gerard for the abbey of Pontlevoy).

54 AN, S 2238, no. 35.

55 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 6; ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 13v; ADSM, 16 H 29.

56 Cartulaire pour le Perche, nos 29, 29bis; ADSM, 16 H 29.

57 The suggestion is also made by David Spear: Personnel, 290.

58 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 6 (misdated by the editor to 1154).

59 The only other canon to figure among the witnesses of Gerard's acts is a certain William who may be the same as William de Pont-Audemer: ADC, 2 H 159.

60 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, no. 34.

61 For these five see Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, nos 8, 9.

62 The act of 1153 is witnessed by the canons Simon, Engelrand, who was a member of the local Oison family (Spear, Personnel, 286; for the Oison see n. 25 above), Hugh d'Eraines (Calvados, cant. Falaise-Sud), Ralph de la Forêt, Gerard de Moulins (probably Moulins-la-Marche, Orne, chef-lieu de cant.), Gilbert d'Avranches (Manche, chef-lieu de cant.), William de Fontaines, Gilbert de Neauphe (either Neauphe-sur-Dive, Orne, cant. Trun or Neauphe-sous-Essai, Orne, cant. Sées), William de Lonrai (Orne, cant. Alençon-1) and William des Aspres (Orne, cant. Moulins-la-Marche). Of the other five canons of this period, only the toponym of Garin de Villa Duffusa suggests an origin from outside Normandy.

63 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, 57, no. 34.

64 For details see Peltzer, Canon law, 120–3.

65 Chronique de Robert de Torigni, ii. 179.

66 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, nos 34–5. Froger's apparent association with the prebend of La Pommeraye (Calvados, cant. Lisieux-3, com. Saint-Désir) is suggested by the fact that his nephew John, archdeacon of Eraines/Exmes, became involved in a dispute over it during the reign of Pope Clement iii (1187–91), that is, after the bishop's death. John is referred to as ‘archdeacon of Sées' (‘archidiaconus Sagiensis’) in the document resolving this dispute: Corpus iuris canonici, ed. E. Friedberg, Leipzig 1879–81, i. 212–13. However, this is a reference to the diocese rather than the archdeaconry, since Silvester, later bishop of Sées, is known to have occupied the archdeaconry of Sées at this time: Allen, ‘Mémoire et diplomatique’, 106. David Spear mistakenly identifies John as an archdeacon of Lisieux: Personnel, 178. It is unclear why John would have otherwise had an interest in this land, which lay two kilometres to the north-west of Lisieux itself, unless he felt he had some claim to it through his uncle.

67 C. Brooke, J. Denton and D. E. Greenway, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, 1066–1300, XI: Coventry and Lichfield, London 2012, 38.

68 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, nos 33–5.

69 The correspondence of Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, 1162–1170, ed. A. Duggan, Oxford 2000, ii. 1247, no. 296.

70 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, 61, no. 35.

71 Decretales ineditae saeculi XII, ed. W. Holtzmann, S. Chodorow and C. Duggan, Vatican City 1982, no. 24.

72 Crosby, King's bishops, 248–50.

73 P. Gallagher, ‘The monastery of Mortemer-en-Lyons in the twelfth century: its history and its cartulary’, unpubl. PhD diss. University of Notre Dame 1970, 174, 180.

74 Archives départementales de l'Eure, H 639. Roule, Eure, cant. Lyons-la-Forêt, com. Rosay-sur-Lieure.

75 For discussion see Petit, J.-F., ‘Professions canoniales d'évêques au xiie siècle’, AP xxxvii (1961), 232–42 at p. 237Google Scholar; Die Viten Gottfrieds von Cappenberg, ed. G. Niemeyer, I. Ehlers-Kisseler and V. Lukas (MGH, SS rer. Germ. lxxiv, 2005), 66–7.

76 L'Obituaire de l'abbaye de Prémontré, ed. R. Van Waefelghem, Louvain 1913, 174.

77 Brouette, E., ‘Notes extraites de l'obituaire de Silly’, AP lvi (1980), 229–38 at p. 233Google Scholar.

78 Degert, A., ‘Le Nécrologe de Saint-Jean de la Castelle’, Bulletin de la Société de Borda xlix (1925), 34–46 at p. 43Google Scholar. Froger is also commemorated in the necrologies of Arnstein, Bonne-Espérance, Braine, Breuil-Benoît (a Cistercian house), La Chapelle-aux-Planches and Parc: B. Krings, Das Prämonstratenserstift Arnstein a.d. Lahn im Mittelalter (1139–1527), Wiesbaden 1990, 42 n. 17; Brouette, E., ‘Obituaire de l'abbaye de Bonne-Espérance de l'ordre de Prémontré’, AP xl (1964), 90–137Google Scholar at p. 99, and ‘Obituaire de l'abbaye de Saint–Yved de Braine, publié avec une introduction, des notes et une table’, AP xxxiv (1958), 274–337Google Scholar at p. 310; Gallia Christiana, xi. 690; Obituaires de Sens, iv. 346. On learning of Froger's death, the Cistercian General Chapter ordered the celebration of three masses for the bishop's soul: Twelfth-century statutes from the Cistercian General Chapter, ed. C. Waddell, Brecht 2002, 719.

79 Peltzer, Canon law, 123.

80 John also appears alongside his uncle in an act of Rotrou, archbishop of Rouen (ADC, H 1842); in a notice concerning the priory of Saint-Vigor de Perrières (ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 14); in two charters concerning the resolution of a conflict between the abbots of Troarn and Saint-André-en-Gouffern (ADC, H 6593, H 7840); and in an act of William d'Abloville for Saint-Étienne de Caen: Recueil des actes de Henri II, roi d'Angleterre et duc de Normandie, ed. L. Delisle and E. Berger, Paris 1916–27, i, no. cccv.

81 Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, 57, no. 34.

82 The rules of poverty and common ownership observed by Augustinian canons would have served greatly to reduce the mobility of the archdeacons of Sées, since possessions such as a horse, vital to the carrying out of visitational duties, were to be held in common. Those later attempting to bypass such restrictions were ordered not to do so: Regestrum visitationum archiepiscopi Rothomagensis; Journal des visites pastorales d'Eude Rigaud, archevêque de Rouen, ed. T. Bonnin, Rouen 1852, 80–1. The career of Archdeacon John, who not only accompanied his uncle on both sides of the Channel, but also served as a royal representative to Rome during the Becket controversy provides a good example of the sort of itinerant life an archdeacon was expected to live: Correspondence of Thomas Becket, ii. 1052, no. 243.

83 ‘Preterea provinciam nostram frequentibus monasteriis, ipsisque nobilibus, certum est habundare, canonicas regulares paucas habet, ipsasque pauperrimas, adeo ut ad querendum ordinem illum plerumque nostrates oporteat ad regiones extraneas demigrare’: Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, 85, no. 47.

84 Henry can still be seen occupying the two posts at the beginning of Froger's reign: Cartulaire de Tiron, ii. 86, no. cccxiii.

85 Spear, Personnel, 276.

86 John appears in only nine of Froger's acts, that is, in less than 20% of those with a witness list.

87 Between 1161, the apparent date of his replacement as prior, and 1169, his last known appearance in the historical record, Henry appears among the witnesses of eleven of Froger's acts. He is also named among the witnesses in a mention of a lost act for the abbey of Saint-Martin de Sées (ADO, 31 J 50, p. 1151) and among those of an act of the abbot of Troarn, which records a donation made in Froger's presence (ADO, H 1995).

88 BES, ms non coté, fos 83v–84r (cartulary of the cathedral chapter of Sées, known as the Livre Rouge). Saint-Sauveur-de-Carrouges, Orne, cant. Carrouges; Pertheville-Ners, Calvados, cant. Falaise-Sud; Pussou, Orne, cant. Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe, com. Bursard.

89 ADC, 2 D 1035 (act of Froger, dated Jan. 1161 and given ‘apud Floreium in domo a me empta’). Marie Casset, unaware of this act, attributed the acquisition of the residence to Bishop Ivo de Bellême: Les Évêques aux champs: châteaux et manoirs des évêques normands au moyen âge, Caen 2007, 294–6.

90 ‘Froger, du consentement des chanoines, donna l'an 1180 l'eglise de Notre Dame de Belfond, celle de Saint Hillaire de Vieux Pont, avec les dixmes et ce qui en dependoit, et la terre Bretonne mouvante du fief de Hugues de Canai, et dix sols de rente a prendre sur le moulin d'Escures au prieur de l'hopital de Sainte Croix de Sées et aux religieux qui y demeuroient: procuratori hospitalis Sanctae Crucis Sagiensis ejusque fratribus communem vitam professis. Ex tit. cap. Sag.’: ADO, 31 J 18, fo. 253v. Belfonds, Orne, cant. Sées; Vieux-Pont, Orne, cant. Écouché.

91 Chronique de Robert de Torigni, ii. 130. This statement is in part confirmed by an analysis of the chapter's possessions: Bidou, ‘Réforme de Sées’, 23–6.

92 Obituaires de Sens, i/1, p. 584.

93 Desportes, Foucher, Loddé and Vallière, Diocèse de Sées, 28.

94 The chanter appears thirty-seven times in the acts of the bishops of Coutances during the ducal period, while at Avranches they appear frequently (fifty-three attestations), often at the head of the witness list (twenty-one examples under Bishops Richard l'Évêque and William i Burel): Allen, R., ‘Les Actes des évêques d'Avranches, ca. 990–1253: esquisse d'un premier bilan’, Tabularia ‘Études‘ xii (2012), 63–106 at p. 87Google Scholar.

95 BN, ms Latin 11055, fos 123v–124r, nos 255–6 (witnessed by the canons William des Aspres and William de la Chapelle); ADC, 2 H 153/1 (witnessed by the canon Herbert de Bérus); BN, ms Latin 12681, fo. 209v (witnessed by the canon William). Froger appears among the witnesses of a notice for the priory of Saint-Vigor de Perrières, the only known and badly damaged copy of which also includes the attestation of an individual whose name might be reconstituted as W(i)ll(elmus) de L[onr]eio (ADC, 1 J 117, fo. 14). This is perhaps the canon William de Lonrai mentioned in the act of 1153 noted at n. 62 above.

96 Herbert, Henry and Roger are all named among the witnesses of a lost act: ADO, 31 J 50, p. 1151. Henry also appears in one act just as prior (BN, ms Latin 11055, fo. 127v, no. 268) and in another as prior and archdeacon: Cartulaire de Tiron, ii. 86, no. cccxiii.

97 John's last precisely datable mentions are from August 1190: C. Haskins, Norman institutions, Cambridge, Ma 1918, appendix J, nos 18, 19.

98 The last precisely datable mention of Roger is from 1168: Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Notre-Dame de la Trappe, ed. M. le comte de Charency, Alençon 1889, 194–5, no. xv. That of Henry is from 1169: Cartulaire des abbayes de Saint-Pierre de la Couture et de Saint-Pierre de Solesmes, ed. Bénédictins de Solesmes, Le Mans 1881, 87, no. xcviii.

99 ADC, H 6550.

100 ADO, H 1957.

101 ADSM, 16 H 29.

102 Corbon was the smallest of the Sées archdeaconries. Only one church in the archdeaconry belonged to the chapter: Bidou, ‘Réforme de Sées’, 30.

103 It would not be unreasonable to suggest that Herbert was the ‘little nephew’ (‘nepotulus’) whom Arnulf of Lisieux claimed that Froger was trying to appoint to an archdeaconry vacant in 1161: Letters of Arnulf of Lisieux, 62, no. 35.

104 G. Bry, Histoire des pays, et comté du Perche et duché d'Alençon, Paris 1620, 199. Of Herbert's other appearances, all but five took place alongside the archdeacons Roger and Henry, that is, before their apparent deaths towards the end of the 1160s.

105 The next mention of an archdeacon of Bellême dates from the reign of Bishop Lisiard: ADC, H 6551 (21).

106 Of the forty-seven of Froger's acts with a witness list, around 60% (twenty-eight acts) include the attestation of one of these six men.

107 Allen, R., ‘Episcopal acta in Normandy, 911–1204: the charters of the bishops of Avranches, Coutances and Sées’, ANS xxxvii (2015), 25–51Google Scholar.

108 See, for example, the households of the archbishops of Canterbury, or those of the bishops of Norwich and Durham: A. Saltman, Theobald, archbishop of Canterbury, London 1956, 214–16; English Episcopal Acta, II: Canterbury, 1162–1190, ed. C. R. Cheney and B. Jones, Oxford 1991, pp. xxiii–xxix; English Episcopal Acta, VI: Norwich, 1070–1214, ed. C. Harper-Bill, Oxford 1990, pp. xliii–xlv; English Episcopal Acta, XXIV: Durham, 1153–1195, ed. M. G. Snape, Oxford 2002, pp. xxxix–li.

109 M. Arnoux and C. Maneuvrier, Deux Abbayes de Basse-Normandie: Notre–Dame du Val et Le Val-Richer (XIIe–XIIIe siècles), Flers 2001, 27–8, no. 4; ADC, H 4102; H 6550; ADO, H 1433; 31 J 50, p. 1151; 31 J 76/2, pp. 615–16.

110 Chartes de l'Abbaye de Jumièges (v. 825 à 1204) conservées aux archives de la Seine-Inférieure, ed. J.-J. Vernier, Rouen 1916, i, no. lxxxii; ADC, H 6550; Archives départementales d'Eure-et-Loir, H 56. Daniel also appears alongside Froger among the witnesses of acts of Gilbert, abbot of Troarn (1149–c. 1178) and Simon, abbot of Saint-André-en-Gouffern (1171–9): ADC, H 6593; H 7840.

111 For Froger's acts in favour of Sainte-Barbe see ADC, 2 D 66; 2 D 1035; ADO, H 2081.

112 The manor of Beckford (formerly Gloucestershire, now Worcestershire) was given to the priory of Sainte-Barbe by Rable le Chambrier at the moment of its foundation. For its early history see Clarke, H. B., ‘Evesham J and Evesham L: two early twelfth-century manorial surveys’, ANS xxx (2007), 62–84 at pp. 73–8Google Scholar, and Barrow, J., ‘Way-stations on English episcopal itineraries’, EHR cxxvii (2012), 549–65 at pp. 559, 562Google Scholar.

113 BN, ms Latin 9212, fo. 4, no. 31.

114 For discussion see Allen, ‘Episcopal acta in Normandy’, 48.

115 Peltzer, Canon law, 123. Lisiard was not, as David Spear claims, the provost of the church of Saint-Pierre-Aigle: Personnel, 274. This is Lisiard, bishop of Soissons (d. c. 1126).

116 Peltzer, Canon law, 124 n. 246.

117 Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 2.

118 BES, ms non coté, fos 63r–65r, 76r (Livre Rouge).

119 Bidou, ‘Réforme de Sées’, 26.

120 BES, ms non coté, fo. 78r (Livre Rouge).

121 The earliest mentions of this event are found in manuscripts dating to the eighteenth century: ‘Liziard, évêque de Séez, revêtit en 1194 les frères qui gouvernaient cette léproserie de l'habit de St Augustin auxquels il donna pour prieur Robert de Linière, tiré apparemment du corps des chanoines de la cathédrale’: Th. Calimas, Mémoires pour servir à l'histoire du diocèse de Séez, Archives diocésaines de Sées, ms non coté, 196; ‘L'année suivante [1194] l'evêque de Sées donne l'habit regulier de S. Augustin a Livicus prieur et aux religieux de la leproserie de Chatrage [sic]’: ADO, 31 J 43, p. 143. The source of this information, which is repeated as much by antiquarians as modern scholars, is unfortunately unclear: L.–J. Fret, Antiquités et chroniques percheronnes: ou recherches sur l'histoire civile, religieuse, monumentale, politique et littéraire de l'ancienne province du Perche, et pays limitrophes, Mortagne 1838–40, iii. 36; H. Marais, Essai historique sur la cathédrale et le chapitre de Séez, Alençon 1876, 76; Loddé, ‘Histoire d'un chapitre’, 243; Desportes, Foucher, Loddé and Vallière, Diocèse de Sées, 5.

122 Members of the Le Mans chapter occasionally appear among the witnesses of the bishop's acts: ADC, H 6551 (11), (18). Lisiard also established an income for celebrating the anniversary of William de Passavant, bishop of Le Mans (1143–87), in the cathedral of Sées: BES, ms non coté, fo. 78r (Livre Rouge).

123 The earliest mention of this possession dates from the reign of Lisiard's successor: Cartulaire du prieuré de Saint-Hippolyte de Vivoin et de ses annexes, ed. L.–J. Denis, Paris 1894, 86, no. lxxii.

124 Of the forty-three of Lisiard's acts to survive with a witness list, only four contain the attestation of a member of the chapter: Archives départementales de l'Eure, H 70 (witnessed by Prior John); BN, ms Latin 11055, fos 119r–120r, no. 242 (witnessed by Prior William); ADC, H 6510, fos 28v–29r, no. 117 (witnessed by the canon William de la Chapelle), 38r–v, no. 148 (witnessed by the canon Benedict). The canon Andreas, whom David Spear identified as a member of the Sées chapter (Personnel, 286), was most likely a canon of the Premonstratensian abbey of Saint-Jean de Falaise, next to whose abbot he appears in the witness list: ADC, H 6551 (19).

125 The archdeacons appear in only twelve of the forty-three of Lisiard's acts with a witness list (that is, 28%), compared to almost 85% of those of his two predecessors (50 of 59 acts).

126 To cite but one example, the episcopal acta of Coutances show almost exactly the same pattern as those of Sées for a corresponding period. Here, the archdeacons feature in only 25% of the acts of Bishop William de Tournebu (c. 1183–1200/1), compared to almost 85% of those of his predecessor, Richard de Bohon (c. 1151–79). For further discussion see Les Actes des évêques de Coutances de 1048 à 1208, ed. R. Allen, in Corpus des actes épiscopaux normands, forthcoming.

127 The absence of canons from among the witness lists means that it is often difficult to identify members of the chapter during this period. When information does survive, however, it invariably points to very local origins. Thus, Martin Blandin, who was one of the canons involved in the disputed election of Bishop Silvester (Peltzer, Canon law, 125), was a member of a burgess family of Sées. His relatives Durand and Roger Blandin appear among the witnesses of the episcopal acta from 1153 onwards: Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 2, no. 6; ADO, 31 J 50, p. 1151; H 963; ADSM, 16 H 373. For Roger see also BES, ms non coté, fos 144r–v [124r–v], 147r [127r], 148v [128] (Livre Blanc), while another, Nicholas, is described in 1193 as being the mayor (‘maior’) of Sévilly (Orne, cant. and com. Sées: fo. 19v [13v]). Another still, Ralph, granted a house that he owned in Sées to the abbey of Saint-André-en-Gouffern in 1220: ADC, H 6683. See also n. 141 below.

128 For discussion see Allen, ‘Mémoire et diplomatique’, 104.

129 Sées is the only Norman diocese not to have a magister among its archdeacons. As for England, only the chapter at Carlisle, which was also Augustinian, seems not to have had an archdeacon with the title of magister before 1220: D. E. Greenway, Fasti Ecclesiae Anglicanae, 1066–1300, II: Monastic cathedrals (northern and southern provinces), London 1971, 23–5.

130 The archdeacons of the diocese are known to have been delegated on only six occasions: Päpstliche Delegationsgerichtsbarkeit in der Normandie: 12. und frühes 13. Jahrhundert, ed. H. Müller, Bonn 1997, ii, nos 80 (Archdeacon Silvester of Sées), 87 (Archdeacon Silvester of Sées), 224 (the archdeacon of Corbon); Liber controversiarum sancti Vincentii Cenomannensis, ou Second Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Vincent du Mans, ed. A. Chedeville, Paris 1968, no. 130 (Archdeacon Silvester of Sées and Archdeacon John); Archives départementales d'Eure-et-Loir, H 4005 (Archdeacon William of Corbon); BES, ms non coté, fos 148r–v [128r–v] (Livre Blanc) (Archdeacon William of Corbon). This is to be compared with the archdeacons of Coutances, a number of whom bore the title of magister, who were frequently delegated: Päpstliche Delegationsgerichtsbarkeit, ii. 63, no. 297b; 64, no. 304; 65, no. 305 and nos 83, 86, 126, 135, 150, 156, 217, 243; Liber controversiarum, no. 256; Cartulaire de La Luzerne, ed. F. Dubosc, Saint-Lô 1878, 46, no. liii.

131 Not only are archidiaconal acta extremely rare for this period (only six examples, plus one act issued by Auvray, abbot of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, in conjunction with John, archdeacon of Eraines/Exmes: ADC, 2 D 107), but the archdeacons also seldom appear among the witnesses of acts independently of the bishops. The rules of poverty and common ownership observed by the chapter must have greatly hampered the archdeacons' abilities to fulfil their visitational duties: see n. 82 above.

132 The most striking examples come from the two largest archdeaconries of the diocese, namely Sées and Houlme. No archdeacon of the former can be identified between 1202 and 1295, while the occupants of the latter are unknown between 1194/5 and 1278: Desportes, Foucher, Loddé and Vallière, Diocèse de Sées, 68–9.

133 For the careers of these individuals see Allen, ‘Episcopal acta in Normandy', 49. Saint-Loyer-des-Champs, Orne, cant. Mortrée.

134 This is Geoffrey, the bishop's nephew, who was instituted in the church of Sarceaux (Orne, cant. Argentan-Ouest), a possession of the abbey of Saint-Wandrille: ADSM, 16 H 373. Some of the bishop's other acta do concern the institution to benefices, including those belonging to the cathedral chapter (see, for example, ADO, 31 J 33, p. 180), but none of these individuals can be linked to Lisiard's ecclesiastical household in any way. For the suggestion that M. Geoffrey de Lamnay (Sarthe, cant. Montmirail), whose possession of a prebend was confirmed by the same bishop, was perhaps a member of his household see n. 172 below.

135 Spear, D., ‘Power, patronage, and personality in the Norman cathedral chapters’, ANS xx (1998), 205–21Google Scholar; Barrow, J., ‘Origins and careers of cathedral canons in twelfth-century England’, Medieval Prosopography xxi (2000), 23–40Google Scholar; Allen, ‘Episcopal acta in Normandy’, 48–50.

136 The claim made by Everett Crosby that Bishop Lisiard endowed a canonry for his nephew Geoffrey is not substantiated by the source cited by this author: King's bishops, 251. It is perhaps based on Spear's fasti of personnel, which lists Geoffrey as a probable canon: Personnel, 288. No evidence survives, however, to suggest that he was ever a member of the chapter.

137 Harper-Bill, C., ‘The struggle for benefices in twelfth-century East Anglia’, ANS xi (1989), 112–32Google Scholar at pp. 130–1; Barrow, ‘Origins and careers’, 39.

138 Such circumstances are perhaps illustrated by the attempts of Lisiard's successor to institute Nicholas Berout, his chaplain, in the church of Cerisé (Orne, cant. Alençon-3) against the wishes of the monks of Saint-Martin de Sées, who wanted to insert their own candidate there. Unfortunately, only mentions of this act, a copy of which seems to have once been found in the lost Livre Rouge of Saint-Martin, now remain: ADO, 31 J 18, fo. 339; 31 J 47, p. 219.

139 The circumstances surrounding the election are meticulously reconstructed and analysed in Peltzer, Canon law, 123–33.

140 Silvester's earliest dated appearance is from 1186: BES, ms non coté, fo. 51v [42bis v] (Livre Blanc). He appears among the witnesses of an act of Bishop Froger concerning the abbeys of Le Val and Saint-Martin de Sées: Arnoux and Maneuvrier, Deux Abbayes, 27–8, no. 4. The editors of the Gallia Christiana claim that Silvester established the anniversary of his uncle in the abbey of Tiron: Gallia Christiana, xi. 691–2.

141 An act of the bishop concerning the church of Aunou-sur-Orne (Orne, cant. Sées) reveals that he was the cousin (‘consanguineus’) of John de Perron (Le Grand Perron, Orne, cant. Sées, com. Aunou-sur-Orne): BES, ms non coté, fo. 28 [21] (Livre Blanc). The canon, Ralph de Merula, came either from Le Merlerault (Orne, chef-lieu de cant.) or Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe (Orne, chef-lieu de cant.). For Martin Blandin, who was also among those initially nominated to be bishop, see n. 127 above. Another canon involved in the dispute, V. des Aspres (Orne, cant. Moulins-la-Marche), also had local roots.

142 Die Register Innocenz' III, ed. O. Hageneder and others, Rome 1964–2004, v. 125, no. 68.

143 PL ccxvi. 620, no. 110.

144 The demise of the witness list in Normandy, which had begun before 1200, was probably hastened by the end of Angevin rule there: Arnoux, M., ‘Essor et déclin d'un type diplomatique: les actes passés coram parrochia en Normandie (xiie–xiiie siècles)’, Bibliothèque de l'École des chartes cliv (1996), 323–57 at pp. 338–9Google Scholar.

145 Bibliothèque municipale d'Alençon, ms 177, fo. 448; BES, ms non coté, fo. 77v (Livre Rouge); ADO, 31 J 15, fo. 6v.

146 ADO, 31 J 76/5, pp. 64–5. Bursard, Orne, cant. Le Mêle-sur-Sarthe.

147 ADO, 31 J 76/4, pp. 1009–10. Valframbert, Orne, cant. Alençon–3.

148 ADO, H 6, fos [12v–13r] (the only copy of this act incorrectly renders the name of the prior as Garinus).

149 It is possible, however, that Silvester created a large clerical household to assist him in his administrations. At least seven of his acts concern the institution of individuals referred to by the bishop as ‘our clerk’ (‘clericus noster’), among whom is William Acarin (Charters and custumals of the Abbey of Holy Trinity Caen, ed. M. Chibnall and J. Walmsley, Oxford 1982–94, ii, no. 8), later scribe of the Exchequer, although it is impossible to determine to what extent, if at all, these men were ever working members of the episcopal household. It also seems that Prior John had been replaced as official by 1217: BN, ms Nouvelles Acquisitions Françaises 21659, p. 176.

150 He attended the Council of Rouen in February 1214 and the Fourth Lateran Council in November 1215: Concilia Rotomagensis Provinciae, ed. G. Bessin, Rouen 1717, 110; Werner, J., ‘Nachlese aus Zürcher Handschriften, I: Die Teilnehmerliste des Laterankonzils v. J. 1215’, Neues Archiv der Gesellschaft für ältere deutsche Geschichtskunde xxxi (1906), 575–94Google Scholar at p. 587. On 20 April 1208 he convened a diocesan synod at Sées, where the constitutions of the cardinal Galon were repromulgated: Concilia Rotomagensis, pt ii, 429.

151 Peltzer, Canon law, 133.

152 Becquet, ‘Réforme des chapitres’, 40.

153 U. Vones-Liebenstein, ‘L'Expansion des chanoines réguliers dans la péninsule ibérique au xiie siècle’, in Parisse, Chanoines réguliers, 429–54 at p. 441.

154 Henry, C. and Morin, S., ‘Saint Jean, dit de la Grille, abbé de Sainte-Croix de Guingampet, puis évêque de Saint-Malo (1144–1163)’, Mémoires de la Société d'histoire et d'archéologie de Bretagne lxxxix (2011), 39–58 at pp. 44–52Google Scholar.

155 The chapter's foundation charter is addressed to ‘Alberto archidiacono et priori’: C. Henry, ‘Les Actes des évêques bretons (début du xie siècle–milieu du xiie siècle): étude diplomatique et édition critique’, unpubl. dissertation, École des chartes, Paris 2010, iii, no. A37. I am extremely grateful to the author for sending me a copy of his thesis.

156 For Albert's predecessors, whose last appearances date to 1136/7, see ibid. i. 395. For an alternative, though unlikely, explanation of his origins see Henry and Morin, ‘Saint Jean, dit de la Grille’, 48.

157 Only five of John's acts are known: Henry, ‘Actes des évêques bretons’, iii, nos A35–A39. Those for the period after 1163, which are currently scattered across the archives of three modern French departments (Côtes-d'Armor, Ille-et-Vilaine and Le Morbihan), are in the process of being collected and edited by Cyprien Henry.

158 John was succeeded by Albert (1163–84), former archdeacon and prior. His successor, Peter (1184–1213), had previously been a canon at the cathedral of Rennes: Gallia Christiana, xiv. 1002–4.

159 Henry and Morin, ‘Saint Jean, dit de la Grille’, 47.

160 By the fourteenth century, the diocese of Sées included 493 parishes, a figure three times that of Saint-Malo (162 parishes). The relative poverty of those southern dioceses with reformed chapters has been seen as an element in their success, a factor that may have also contributed to the apparently smooth implementation of the reform at Saint-Malo: Becquet, ‘Réforme des chapitres’, 40. For poverty and the reform of cathedral chapters in the Iberian peninsula see n. 153 above.

161 For discussion see Becquet, J., ‘L'Évolution des chapitres cathédraux: régularisations et sécularisations’, Cahiers de Fanjeaux xxiv (1989), 19–39Google Scholar; Veyrenche, Y., ‘Chanoines et réformes canoniales dans les pays rhodaniens’, Cahiers de Fanjeaux xlviii (2013), 419–43 at pp. 423–6Google Scholar; and B. Meijns, ‘Les Chanoines réguliers dans l'espace flamand’, in Parisse, Chanoines réguliers, 455–76 at pp. 468–71.

162 Spear, ‘Power, patronage’, 205–21; Barrow, ‘Origins and careers’, 35–6. It was not unknown, however, for members of a bishop's family to remain in Sées following the death of the prelate. Thus, Guy, another nephew of Bishop Lisiard, was granted land by the abbot of Saint-Martin de Sées in 1213: BES, ms non coté, fo. 158v [138v] (Livre Blanc).

163 For discussion see C. Fonge, ‘Patriarchy and patrimony: investing in the medieval college’, in P. Hoskin, C. Brooke and B. Dobson (eds), The foundations of medieval English ecclesiastical history: studies presented to David Smith, Woodbridge 2005, 77–93.

164 Bernhard von Clairvaux: Sämtliche Werke, ed. G. Winkler and others, Innsbruck 1990–9, iii. 142, no. ccxlviii.

165 ‘Chronique de Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge’, in Arnoux, Clercs de la réforme, appendix 1, 283. For discussion of the conflicting evidence concerning Gerard's relationship with the reforming prelate Hugh of Amiens, archbishop of Rouen, see Combalbert, ‘Formation et déclin’, 35–7.

166 Archdeacon Hubert, for example, whose status as a secular is confirmed by the papal account of the disputed election of Bishop Silvester (Die Register Innocenz' III, v. 130, no. 68), served as royal proctor in Rome in 1216: Spear, D., ‘Additions and corrections to David S. Spear, The personnel of the Norman cathedrals during the ducal period, 911–1204, London 2006’, Tabularia ‘Etudes’ xiv (2015), 151–94Google Scholar at p. 187. He is also one of the few archdeacons for whom the text of one his acta survives: BN, ms Latin lat. 11055, fos 181v–182r no. 538.

167 Neveux, ‘Ville de Sées’, 145.

168 M. Dosdat, ‘Les Évêques de la province de Rouen et la vie intellectuelle au xie siècle’, in Bouet and Neveux, Les Évêques normands, 223–52 at pp. 231–3.

169 Desportes, Foucher, Loddé and Vallière, Diocèse de Sées, 21.

170 Eighteen people only are attributed the title of magister in the list of Sées personnel compiled by David Spear (Personnel, 271–98), of whom only two can be definitively linked to the cathedral, namely M. Aimarius, who is to be identified with Aimarius, clerk of Bishop Lisiard (ADSM, 16 H 373), a connection unknown to Spear, and M. Garin of Coutances. At least two others probably never had any association with Sées (M. Nicholas de l'Aigle and M. Hugh Nereth), while M. Ranulf de Falaise was not a canon of the cathedral, but of the Premonstratensian abbey of Saint-Jean de Falaise (he witnesses in all instances as ‘Master Ranulf canon of Falaise’: ADC, H 6551 [7], [16]; H 6510, fos 39v–40r, no. 156a). Although the corpus of episcopal acta contains the names of a number of magistri unknown to Spear, only one, namely M. Jordan, chaplain of Bishop John, can be associated with the cathedral: AN, S 2238, no. 35. This stands in stark contrast to circumstances in neighbouring dioceses such as Bayeux and Coutances, where the number of magistri among the canons alone is, respectively, twenty-two and fourteen.

171 None of the priors of Carlisle identified for the period up to 1300 bears the title of magister: Greenway, Fasti, II: Monastic cathedrals, 21–3. The same is true for those few canons who can be found in the episcopal acta or elsewhere: English Episcopal Acta, XXX: Carlisle, 1133–1292, ed. D. Smith, Oxford 2005, nos 31, 169n; The Lanercost cartulary (Cumbria County Record Office MS DZ/1), ed. J. M. Todd, Gateshead 1997, nos 54, 298. Members of the chapter of Holy Trinity, Dublin, are identified by name in a number of the cathedral's calendared deeds, including a document that gives the names of the prior and eleven canons, but none are ever accorded the title magister: Christ Church deeds, ed. M. J. McEnery and R. Refaussé, Dublin 2001, nos 8, 9, 15, 24, 64, 90, 96, 103, 105, 113, 137, 164, 468, 480–1, 483, 486, 489. This is despite the fact that recruitment to this chapter seems to have extended well beyond the confines of Ireland: S. Kinsella, ‘From Hiberno-Norse to Anglo-Norman, c. 1030–1300’, in K. Milne (ed.), Christ Church cathedral, Dublin: a history, Dublin 2000, 25–52 at pp. 47–52. John of Sandford, who was elected archbishop of Dublin in 1284, is known to have acquired a master's degree (probably at Oxford), but he was not chosen from among the canons, ascending to the episcopate instead from the deanery of St Patrick's: Christ Church deeds, no. 139. As for Whithorn, very little documentary evidence survives for this diocese, but the names of the prior and twenty canons are recorded in an act of 1235, and none of them bear the title of magister: J. Raine, The historians of the church of York and its archbishops, London 1879–94, iii. 146–8. Finally, of the more than forty members of the St Andrews chapter catalogued in the People of medieval Scotland, 1093–1314 (PoMS) database, only the prior Henry of Norham (fl. 1227/8–1236) is known to have been called magister: PoMS, no. 3786: http://db.poms.ac.uk/record/person/3786/, accessed 8 July 2014.

172 For the magistri among the household of the bishops of St Andrews see Shead, N., ‘Compassed about with so great a cloud: the witnesses of Scottish episcopal acta before ca 1250’, Scottish Historical Review lxxxvi (2007), 159–75 at p. 167CrossRefGoogle Scholar. The archdeacons of the diocese, who were seculars, also counted graduates among their ranks, as did the chapter's Culdee community, whose members were later developed into a collegiate body: G. W. S. Barrow, ‘The cathedral chapter of St Andrews and the Culdees in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries’, this Journal iii (1952), 23–39 at pp. 28–9, 34. For masters among the chapter of St Patrick's, Dublin, see Christ Church deeds, nos 30, 52, 136, 137, 150, 483. At Sées, the number of magistri among the witnesses increases across the period (20% of acts before 1187/8; 53% for the period 1187/8–1201), but only a handful, such as M. Aimarius, who served as Bishop Lisiard's clerk, can be linked to the episcopal entourage. Others, however, such as M. Ernald de Suré (Orne, cant. Pervenchères), who appears frequently among the witnesses of Froger's acts (ADC, H 6510, fo. 25, no. 104; ADO, H 2170, no. 37; 31 J 50, p. 1151; 31 J 76/2, pp. 615–16; Bry, Histoire du Perche, 199), or the subdeacon M. Geoffrey de Lamnay, who regularly attests those of Bishop Lisiard (ADC, H 6510, fo. 39v, no. 155; H 6551 [10], [14]; 2 H 159; BES, ms non coté, fo. 84v), perhaps served the bishops in some way, even if such a relationship is never made explicit. If this was the case, then M. Geoffrey is one of the few members of the episcopal household who can be linked with an act of patronage, since in 1190 Bishop Lisiard confirmed his possession of the prebend of Rouvres (Calvados, cant. Bretteville-sur-Laize), which he had been given by the prior of Sainte-Barbe-en-Auge: ADC, 2 D 1035. Lisiard had contested the initial grant of this prebend to Sainte-Barbe (Päpstliche Delegationsgerichtsbarkeit, ii, no. 82), which had been made by the archbishop of Rouen during the vacancy following Froger's death, and it is possible that he only relented on condition that he could present his own man to the prebend.

173 For discussion with regards to the later Middle Ages and with references to work carried out so far for the whole period see J. G. Clark, ‘Why men became monks in late medieval England’, in P. H. Cullum and K. J. Lewis (eds), Religious men and masculine identity in the Middle Ages, Woodbridge 2013, 160–83. For discussion of recruitment patterns at a specific Augustinian house see Mayr-Harting, Religion, politics and society, 175–6.

174 B.-M. Tock, ‘Quelle Diplomatique des chanoines réguliers au xiie siècle ?’, in Parisse, Chanoines réguliers, 345–58.

175 Flight, C., ‘John ii, bishop of Rochester, did not exist’, EHR cvi (1991), 921–31Google Scholar; M. Brett, ‘The church at Rochester, 604–1185’, in N. Yates (ed.) with P. A. Welsby, Faith and fabric: a history of Rochester Cathedral, 604–1994, Woodbridge 1996, 1–28 at p. 24.

176 Besides the act of reform itself, the texts of only three of John's acts have come down to us: Cartulaire pour le Perche, no. 25 (act for Marmoutier, dated 1128, n. st.); de Rencogne, G. Babinet and de Farcy, P., ‘Chartes saintongeaises de l'abbaye de La Couronne’, Archives historiques de la Saintonge et de l'Aunis vii (1880), 17–284 at pp. 32–4Google Scholar, no. iv (act for La Couronne, dated 1129); AN, S 2238, no. 35 (act for Saint–Denis, n.d., but probably before 1131). For the mention see n. 177 below.

177 ‘Jean, eveque de Sées, donna et confirma, a la priere de Hugon, archeveque de Rouen et [de] Rotrou, eveque d'Evreux, a Radulphe, abbé de St Leufroy et [à] ses successeurs, l'eglise de [St] Patern de Tournay, avec les dixmes et dependances, a l'exception de la chapelle de Guillaume, seigneur de Tournay, et ses dependances, et de la portion du dixme appartenante a l'eglise matrice. Temoins Guillaume de Asnes, archidiacre, et autres. Pilatre, t. 3. Ex tit. ejusdem abb.’: ADO, 31 J 87/2, fo. 71. The act is dated 2 July 1139x1144, that is, by the consecration of Rotrou, bishop of Évreux, and the death of Bishop John. The first precisely datable mention of Ralph, abbot of La Croix-Saint-Leufroy, comes from 1143: V. Gazeau, Normannia monastica (Xe–XIIe siècle), Caen 2007, ii. 88.