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Abbot Suger and the Nuns of Argenteuil

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 July 2016

Thomas G. Waldman
Thomas G. Waldman*
Affiliation:
University of Pennsylvania
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Extract

In the early spring of 1129, the priory of Notre-Dame at Argenteuil, a house for women some thirteen kilometers northwest of Paris on the Seine, was ‘restored’ to the abbey of Saint-Denis. This restitution took place at a council held by the papal legate in France, Matthew, cardinal bishop of Albano, at the Parisian abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The nuns of Argenteuil, accused of scandalous living, were replaced by monks of Saint-Denis. Abbot Suger of Saint-Denis (1122–51) considered the recovery of Argenteuil one of his foremost achievements.

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Traditio , Volume 41 , 1985 , pp. 239 - 272
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Copyright © Fordham University Press 

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References

1 I want to thank the American Philosophical Society for a summer research grant in 1982 and the University of Pennsylvania Research Foundation for a grant in 1983 that made possible much of the research for this article. Also, I wish to thank the staffs of the Archives Nationales, Bibliothèque Nationale, and the Institut de Recherche et d'Histoire des Textes, for their help; Professor Jean Dufour for permission to use his as yet unpublished edition of the charters of Louis VI; John F. Benton, Elizabeth A. R. Brown, Mary M. McGlaughlin, Edward M. Peters, Chrysogonus Waddell, and Grover Zinn for their suggestions and constant encouragement; and John Abercrombie for his help in preparing a computer analysis of the texts of Suger's works. Portions of this paper were presented at the University of Pennsylvania/Princeton University Medieval Studies Colloquium in April 1983, and at the Eighteenth International Medieval Studies Conference, Kalamazoo, in May 1983. The following abbreviations will be used throughout this paper: A.N.: Paris, Archives Nationales; B.L.: London, British Library; B.N.: Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale.; Maz.: Paris, Bibliothèque Mazarine.Google Scholar

2 Félibien, M., Histoire de l'abbaye royale de Saint-Denys en France (Paris 1706) 163.Google Scholar

3 ‘Suger … établit ses prétentions sur deux raisons fondamentales: la première, que le monastere d'Argenteuil avoit esté donné originairement à son abbaye; et qu'en ayant esté démembré, Louis le Débonnaire dont il montroit la charte, avoit ordonné qu'il seroit remis au pouvoir de l'abbaye de Saint-Denys aprés la mort de la princesse Theodrade sa sœur. La seconde raison qui ne sembloit pas moins forte que la premiere, estoit le scandale que causoient dans le monde les religieuses d'Argenteuil par leur mauvaise conduite’: ibid. All translations are my own.Google Scholar

4 Printed in Suger, Œuvres complètes (ed. Lecoy de la Marche, A.; Société de l'Histoire de France, Publications 139; Paris 1867; hereafter Œuvres) 338.Google Scholar

6 Vie de Louis VI le Gros (ed. and trans Waquet, H.; Paris, 1964; hereafter Vie de Louis VI) 216–18.Google Scholar

8 Printed in Œuvres 160–61; hereafter cited as De admin. Google Scholar

7 Suger is probably counting either from the death of Louis the Pious in 840, or from the death of Charlemagne's daughter Theodrada, who died sometime before 853. Cf. infra n. 104.Google Scholar

8 ‘… Argentoilum, quem locum per multa tempora trecentorum fere annorum ab ecclesia ista alienatum, et monacharum ex[tra]ordinaria levitate pene prostratum, labore nostro, praesidente et privilegio firmante summo Pontifice bonae memoriae Honorio, regnante et concedente inclito rege Ludovico, restitui elaboravimus.’ Google Scholar

9 ‘… papa Honorius, vir gravis et Severus. Qui, cum justiciam nostram de monasterio Argentoilensi, puellarum miserrima conversacione infamato, tum legati sui Mathei, Albanensis episcopi, tum domini Carnotensis, Parisiensis, Suessionis, domini etiam archiepiscopi Remensis Rainaldi et multorum virorum testimonio cognovisset, precepta regum antiquorum Pipini, Karoli Magni, Ludovici Pii et aliorum de jure loci prefati nunciis nostris oblata perlegisset, curie tocius persuasione, tam pro nostra justicia quam pro earum fetida enormitate, beato Dyonisio et restituit et confirmavit.’ Google Scholar

10 ‘Cum etate docibili adolescentie mee antiquas armarii possessionum revolverem cartas, et immunitum biblos propter multorum calumpniatorum improbitates frequentarem, crebo manibus occurebat de cenobio Argentoilensi fundationis carta ab Hermenrico et conjuge ejus Numma, in qua continebatur quod a tempore Pipini regis Beati Dyonisii abbatia extiterat. Sed quadam occasione contractus incommodi in tempore Karoli magni filii ejus, alienata fuerat. Prefatus enim imperator ut quandam filiam suam, matrimonium humanum recusantem, ibidem abbatissam sanctimonialium constitueret, eo pacto ut post mortem ejus in usum ecclesie reverteretur, ab abbate et fratribus obtinuerat. Sed turbatione regni filiorum filii ejus, videlicet Ludovici Pii altercatione, quoadusque supervixerat, perfici non potuit. Unde cum antecessores nostri sepius super hoc laborantes parum profecissent, communicato cum fratribus nostris consilio, nuncios nostros et cartas antiquas fundationis et donationis et confirmationum privilegia bone memorie Honorio Romam delegavimus; postulantes ut justitiam nostram canonico investigaret et restitueret scrutinio. Qui, ut erat vir concilii et justicie tutor tam pro nostra justitia quam pro enormitate monacharum ibidem male viventium, eundem nobis locum cum appendiciis suis, ut reformaretur ibi religionis ordo, restituit. Rex vero Ludovicus Philippi, charissimus dominus et amicus noster, eandam restitutionem confirmavit; et quecumque regalia habebat, auctoritate regie majestatis, ecclesie precepto firmavit. Cujus quidem recuperationis tenorem si quis plenius nosse voluerit, in cartis regum et privilegiis apostolicorum enucleatius poterit repperire. Cujus scilicet abbatie et appendiciorum ejus, que sunt Trappe, Herencurtis, Chaneniacus, Burdeniacus, Cerisiacus, et terra de Monte Meliano et Bunziaco, sive de Mosteriolo quod est prope Milidunum, et aliorum incrementum quanti constet, qui sapienter illa tractabunt pro magno prelati cognoscere poterunt. De antiquo censu Argentoili, qui ad abbatiam non pertinet, incrementum est viginti librarum; quia, cum olim non haberemus nisi viginti libras, modo XL redduntur. De annona prius sex modios, modo XV recipimus.’ Google Scholar

11 Chronique de Guillaume de Nangis de 1113 à 1300 et les continuations de cette chronique de 1300 à 1368 (éd. H. Géraud; Société de l'Histoire de France, Publications 33, 35; Paris 1843; hereafter Chronique) I 19–20.Google Scholar

12 This is MS F in Waquet's edition of the Vita Ludovici VI. Most of the additions can be explained as elaborations on a received tradition; they were printed by Molinier, A., Vie de Louis le Gros par Suger, suivie de l'Histoire du roi Louis VII (Paris 1887) 132–46.Google Scholar

13 Chronique I 19–20.Google Scholar

14 Molinier, , Vie de Louis le Gros 145.Google Scholar

15 Cf. infra n. 62.Google Scholar

16 Félibien, , Histoire, pièces justificatives, xcvi.Google Scholar

17 Abelard, P., Historia calamitatum (ed. Monfrin, J.; Paris 1967) 100.Google Scholar

18 There has been much debate in recent years regarding the authenticity of Abelard's correspondence, and even Heloise's presence at Argenteuil was questioned. See particularly Benton, John F., ‘Fraud, Fiction and Borrowing in the Correspondence of Abelard and Heloise,’ in Pierre Abélard–Pierre le Vénérable (Colloques internationaux du C.N.R.S. 546; Cluny 1972: Paris 1975) 469–506, and Monfrin, J., ‘Le problème de l'authenticité de la correspondence d'Abélard et d'Héloise,’ ibid. 409–24. But most recently there is a consensus that the correspondence is on the whole genuine. See Luscombe, D. E., ‘The Letters of Heloise and Abelard since “Cluny 1972”,’ in Petrus Abaelardus (1079–1142): Person, Werk und Wirkung (Trierer Theologische Studien 38; Trier 1980) 19–38; Benton, J. F., ‘A Reconsideration of the Authenticity of the Correspondence of Abelard and Heloise,’ ibid. 41–52; and von Moos, P., ‘Post Festum,’ ibid. 75–100. Chrysogonus Waddell (who has kindly lent me his notes on the subject) has convincingly argued that Abelard's views as found in the Historia calamitatum and Letter XI on the identification of Denis the Areopagite with St. Denis the patron of the abbey are not only consistent but, in fact, reinforce the arguments for the authenticity of the correspondence. See also Benton, , ‘Reconsideration’ 47; and Jeauneau, E., ‘Pierre Abélard à Saint-Denis,’ in Abélard et son temps (Actes du colloque international organisé à l'occasion du 8e centenaire de la naissance de Pierre Abélard; Paris 1981) 161–73.Google Scholar

19 Hist, calam. 79.Google Scholar

20 Ibid. 79.Google Scholar

21 Ibid. 80–81.Google Scholar

22 Ibid. 100.Google Scholar

23 Abelard, , Opera (Paris 1616) 1187; Bourgain, P., ‘Héloise,’ in Abélard et son temps 217.Google Scholar

24 Chronique I 13; I am indebted to Chrysogonus Waddell for his suggestion on this point.Google Scholar

25 Depoin, J., Une élégie latine d'Héloise (Pontoise 1897) believed that Heloise wrote the Latin elegy in the mortuary roll of Abbot Vital largely because he could think of no other candidate. The entry is reproduced in facsimile in Rouleau mortuaire du B. Vital, abbé de Savigni (ed. Delisle, L.; Paris 1909) pl. 10.Google Scholar

26 See Waquet, , Vie de Louis VI, 215; Cartellieri, O., Abt Suger von Saint-Denis (Historische Studien 11; Berlin 1898) 85.Google Scholar

27 Dutilleux, M., ‘Héloise à Argenteuil: Comment Suger, abbé de Saint-Denis récupera le monastère d'Argenteuil,’ Revue de l'histoire de Versailles et de Seine-et-Oise (1902) 241–60; DGHE IV 25.Google Scholar

28 Charrier, C., Héloise dans l'histoire et dans la légende (Paris 1933) 169.Google Scholar

29 Professor Bautier connected Abelard's quarrels with the abbots of Saint-Denis and Suger's appropriation of Argenteuil in ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard,’ in Abélard et son temps 69–71, and more explicitly related these events to Suger's enmity with Heloise's family in a paper at California Institute of Technology in December 1982. There he states ‘C’était surtout pour Saint-Denis le moyen, à la fois, de se debarrasser, grâce au souvenir encore récent du scandale, de la personalité d'Abélard (toujours moine de l'abbaye), et de s'approprier un important prieuré et des biens.’ I am grateful to M. Bautier for giving me a copy of his paper.Google Scholar

30 Bautier, , ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 71.Google Scholar

31 See R. W. Southern's comment on this subject in ‘The Letters of Abelard and Heloise,’ in Medieval Humanism (Oxford 1970) 86–104.Google Scholar

32 DHGE IV 25.Google Scholar

33 Ed. Muckle, J. T., Mediaeval Studies 17 (1955) 241–53, and esp. 242–43, 252–53.Google Scholar

34 Ed. Muckle, J. T., Mediaeval Studies 15 (1953) 88.Google Scholar

35 The Letters of Peter the Venerable (ed. Constable, G.; Cambridge, Mass. 1967) I 303, 307–8.Google Scholar

36 For his career see Berlière, U., ‘Le cardinal Matthieu d'Albano,’ Revue Bénédictine 13 (1901) 113–40, 280–303; and for the legation Schieffer, T., Die päpstlichen Legaten in Frankreich vom Vertrage vom Meersen (870) bis zum Schisma von 1130 (Historische Studien 267; Berlin 1935) 229–33; Bautier, , ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 67–71, discusses the party opposed to Abelard and the chancellor Étienne de Garlande, which included the legate, Suger, and the bishop of Paris. Significantly, the archbishop of Sens, a partisan of Abelard, was absent from the Council at Saint-Germain-des-Prés.Google Scholar

37 Schieffer, , Die päpstlichen Legaten 230; Mansi XXI 373–74.Google Scholar

38 Luchaire, A., Louis VI le Gros (Paris 1890) no. 410; Gallia Christiana X inst. 192; hereafter cited as G.C. Google Scholar

39 Verdon, J., ‘Recherches sur les monastères féminins dans la France du nord aux ixe–xie siècles,’ Revue Mabillon 59 (1976) 66–67.Google Scholar

40 G.C. X inst. 193; Also see Hermann of Laon, De miraculis B. Mariae III xxii, cited in PL 182.155–56: ‘In diebus vero praefati domni Bartholomaei episcopi, Laudunensis scilicet, antiqua religio non parum in eodem monasterio refriguerat, exteriores quoque possessiones paulatim diminutae erant, sed et nonnulla sinistrae famae de eisdem virginibus dicebantur.’ Google Scholar

41 Ibid, insts. 193–94.Google Scholar

42 According to Bautier, ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 71, ‘Ainsi la réforme dite gregorienne se traduisit en large partie en France par des collusions entre ordres nouveaux, épiscopat ultramontain et papauté politique, qui permirent l'expropriation pure et simple des abbayes d'antique fondation.’ But G. Constable in ‘Suger's Monastic Administration,’ a paper delivered at the Suger Symposium, New York 1981, concludes that ‘There is no reason to doubt the sincerity of Suger's desire to introduce here [in other houses] as in his own abbey, a more withdrawn and liturgically-oriented type of religious life.’ I thank Prof. Constable for his permission to cite this unpublished paper. For the purposes of this paper it is the vocabulary which Suger himself used to describe these reforms that is most important.Google Scholar

43 See Southern, R. W., Western Society and the Church in the Middle Ages (Harmondsworth 1970) 310–11.Google Scholar

44 Prou, M., Recueil des actes de Philippe Ier roi de France (1059–1108) (Paris 1908) no. clxi.Google Scholar

45 Hunt, N., Cluny under Saint Hugh, 1049–1109 (London 1967) 188–89.Google Scholar

46 Ibid. 188; Southern, , Western Society 311.Google Scholar

47 B.N, MS lat 12661, cited in DHGE IV 26.Google Scholar

48 Though the Monasticon states that Hugh, the first abbot of Argenteuil, introduced this strict observance and that Suger would have been censured for permitting a lax life at Argenteuil — for that was the reason that Argenteuil had been returned to Saint-Denis — the documents cited all come from the late twelfth and early thirteenth century, although it is likely that the reforms were introduced at an earlier time.Google Scholar

49 Knowles, D., Christian Monasticism (New York 1969) 118. It is interesting that these regulations are much stricter than those Abelard suggested for the nuns of the Paraclete: see McGlaughlin, T. P., ‘Abelard's Rule for Religious Women,’ Mediaeval Studies 18 (1956) 279.Google Scholar

60 Hist, calam. 81–82; Bernard of Clairvaux, Letter 78 in Opera VII (edd. Leclercq, J. and Richais, H.; Rome 1974) 201–10.Google Scholar

51 The Letters of St. Bernard of Clairvaux (trans. James, B. S.; London 1953) 112–13.Google Scholar

52 Chronique 113.Google Scholar

53 De consecratione (hereafter cited as De cons.); testament; and charters of 1130, 1138, 1140 in Œuvres 222–38, 326–31, 333–41, 344–60.Google Scholar

54 La chronique de Morigny (La chronique de Morigny) (ed. Mirot, L.; Paris 1909) 44–74; Luchaire, , Louis VI no. 437; Bautier, , ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 71, sees this as an example of new monasteries seizing priories from ancient monasteries or cathedral chapters, but in fact Philip I had already granted Saint-Martin to Morigny in 1106, cf. Prou, , Recueil no. cliv and Luchaire, Louis VI nos. 37–38.Google Scholar

55 Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Saint-Corneille de Compiègne (ed. Morel, Chanoine; Montdidier 1904) I 114–31.Google Scholar

56 Saint-Corneille (ibid. 116) super eo negotio, quod vestre celsitudini et nostre parvitati apostolica commisit auctoritas, de statuenda religione in ecclesia Compendiensi, omnipotenti Deo immensas gratiarum actiones referamus, quod tanto, tam glorioso operi, tam bonum principium largiri dignatus est; de misericordia ejus confidentes, quia qui cepit opus bonum, ipse perfecit in manu forti et brachio extento. Habemus enim ad tuitionem negotii nostri evangelii responsi auctoritatem [Matt. 21.3]. Audientes igitur et scientes, injuncto nobis negotio viriliter insistamus, et castra diaboli que, peccatis hominum exigentibus, in prefato loco constructa erant, funditus evertamus; castraque dei omnipotentis ibidem erigamus, et erecta cum omni diligentia foveamus et manuteneamus.Google Scholar

57 See De admin. 118, 156–57, 166, 196, 200.Google Scholar

58 PL 179.93–95; the central portion from which this citation is taken was drafted at Saint-Denis.Google Scholar

59 ‘Omni religione irradiatum,’ Doublet, J., Histoire de l'abbaye de S. Denys en France (Paris 1625) 48.Google Scholar

60 De admin. 155–85.Google Scholar

61 Vie de Louis VI 212.Google Scholar

62 Matthew of Albano Quoniam ad nostre dignitatis potestatem pertinere constat circa ecclesiastice cultum religionis summa sollicitudine fideliter elaborare, inmunda cuncta eliminare utilia queque studiose subplantare … nuper in presentia domini et serenissimi regis Francorum Hludovici … aliisque quam plurimis de sacri ordinis reformatione per diversa Galliarum in quibus tepuerat monasteria, Parisius ageremus, subito in communi audientia conclamatum est super enormitate et infamia cuiusdam monasterii sanctimonialium quod dicitur Argentoylum in quo pauce moniales multiplici infamia ad ignominiam sui ordinis degentes, multo tempore spurca et infami conversatione omnem eiusdem loci affinitatem federaverant. Cumque omnes qui aderant illarum expulsioni insisterent. Venerabilis abbas sancti dyonisii Suggerius emunitatibus suis apostolorum confirmatione certissimis in medium ostensis prefatum monasterium ad ius ecclesie sue pertinere, satis evidenter ostendit…. illud venerabile beati dyonisii cenobium potissimum in suis temporibus inter alia Gallie totius monasteria dei misericordia, et sanctorum martyrum intercessione, omni religione irradiatum vidimus…. ibidem monachos suos qui deo religiose deserviant substitueret, et ut hec nostre restitutionis concessio, tam sibi quam posteris firmissima in perpetuum habeatur … in sempiternum confirmamus.Google Scholar

68 For a discussion of Saint-Denis' papal privileges, cf. Hessel, A., ‘Les plus anciennes bulles en faveur de l'abbaye de Saint-Denis’ Le Moyen Age 14 (1901) 373–400; Levillain, L., ‘Etudes sur l'abbaye de St. Denis à l'époque mérovingienne III: Privilegium et immunitates ou St. Denis dans l'église et dans l'état,’ Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes 87 (1926) 20–97, 245–346; Stocklet, A., ‘Fulrad de St. Denis (v. 710–784), abbé et archiprêtre de monastères “exempt,”’ Le Moyen Age 88 (1982) 205–33.Google Scholar

84 PL 179.93–95.Google Scholar

66 See, for example, that of Alexander II (1065), PL 146.1308, ‘ne quis episcopus Parisiacae sedis haec eis deneget [i.e., chrisma, tabulas, benedictiones, consecrationes, ordines …] vel res eorum invadere conetur.’ Google Scholar

68 ‘Hoc idem Parisiensi episcopo Stephano in cuius parrochia est primum faciente et confirmante.’ Google Scholar

87 A good summary of the quarrel is given in DHGE 4.25–26; concurrently the nuns at Malnouë (who had been transferred there from Argenteuil) tried to reassert their claims to Argenteuil.Google Scholar

68 The details are in DHGE, loc. cit. It was at this time that the inspeximus of the charter of Robert the Pious was given, see infra n. 97.Google Scholar

69 See Vie de Louis VI 4.Google Scholar

70 De admin. 160.Google Scholar

71 Tessier, G., Diplomatique royale française (Paris 1962) 72–101.Google Scholar

72 Ibid. 86–87.Google Scholar

73 Ibid. 44.Google Scholar

74 Tardif, J., Monuments historiques. Cartons des rois (Paris 1886) no. 117; I would suggest that a reason that the names Fridugisus and Durandus were used is that a charter of Louis the Pious for Argenteuil is dated in the same year (ibid. no. 118).Google Scholar

75 Tardif nos. 119, 120, 135.Google Scholar

76 No single extant charter for Saint-Denis has all the elements of the charter for Argenteuil. None of the three extant originals (A.N., K 9, no. 1, K 9, no. 31, and K 9, no. 4) granted by Louis the Pious and Lothair has the imperial monogram, although several charters issued by Louis and Lothair individually include a monogram. Of the extant originals reproduced in Diplomata Karolinorum (edd. Lot, F. and Lauer, P.; Toulouse and Paris 1946) II no. 23, undated, for Saint-Maur-des-Fossés has both monograms. The only extant charter for Argenteuil (Tardif no. 118) is dated 824; another original for Saint-Denis dated in the same year (Tardif no. 117) has the names of Durandus and Fridugisus; this may have been the model Suger used.Google Scholar

77 Les diplômes originaux des Mérovingiens (edd. Lauer, P. and Samaran, C.; Paris 1908; hereafter Lauer and Samaran) pl. 28.Google Scholar

78 Mühlbacher, E., Die Urkunden Pippins, Karlmanns und Karl des Grossen (MGH Dipl. Karol. I; Hanover 1906; hereafter Mühlbacher) no. 28.Google Scholar

79 Ibid. no. 49.Google Scholar

80 de Fleury, Helgaud, Vie de Robert le Pieux (edd. Bautier, R.-H. and Labory, G.; Paris 1965) 82–83.Google Scholar

81 Newman, W. M., Catalogue des actes de Robert II roi de France (Paris 1937) no. 19.Google Scholar

82 Lines 67–68, 64.Google Scholar

88 See supra p. 242.Google Scholar

84 See Le villain, L., ‘Études mérovingiennes: La charte de Clotilde (10 mars 673),’ Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes 105 (1944) 5–63; Chartae Latini Antiquiores, part xiii, France I (edd. Atsma, H. and Vezin, J.; Zurich 1981) no. 564.Google Scholar

85 Levillain, , Clotilde 10.Google Scholar

86 Ibid. 15–17.Google Scholar

87 Ibid. 17–25.Google Scholar

88 Ibid. n. 3 gives this connection between Argenteuil and Saint-Denis as one of two other examples of the association of houses of women with houses of men.Google Scholar

89 Ibid. 23.Google Scholar

90 Ibid. 43; CLA xiii, France I no. 564.Google Scholar

91 De admin. 160.Google Scholar

92 ‘Tunc ubique habundantia atque laetitia, nunc ubique poenuria atque miseria,’, Nithard Historia (ed. Pertz, G., MGH SS II; Hanover 1829) 672.Google Scholar

93 De admin. 183.Google Scholar

94 Cf. Parisse, M., ‘Saint-Denis et ses biens en Lorraine et en Alsace,’ Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Bulletin philologique et historique (Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques. Bulletin philologique et historique) (1967) 250–51; Suger's charter is printed in Œuvres 323–24; the charter of the count of Morsperg is in Tardif no. 397.Google Scholar

95 Parisse, , op. cit. 240. It was around this time that the monks of Saint-Mihiel in Lorraine themselves forged a charter of Louis the Pious which granted Salonnes to them. Cf. Lesort, A., Chronique et chartes de l'abbaye de Saint-Mihiel (Mettensia 6; Paris 1909–12) 60–62.Google Scholar

96 Before 697, when its existence is mentioned in a diploma of Childebert III (Lauer, and Samaran, 28).Google Scholar

97 Newman, , Robert II no. 19; the original charter has disappeared; the text is preserved in an inspeximus of 1207 in A.N. l 837, and in the Saint-Denis cartularies; see also Helgaud, , Vie de Robert le Pieux 82–83 for a description of the gifts of Queen Adele.Google Scholar

98 De admin. 161. Most of these possessions had been granted by Robert the Pious (see A.N. l 837).Google Scholar

99 Lebel, G., Histoire administrative, économique et financière de l'abbaye de Saint-Denis (Paris 1935) 129–31.Google Scholar

100 Ibid. 187.Google Scholar

101 Félibien, , Histoire, pièces justificatives ccxxxiii.Google Scholar

102 Letter of Matthew of Albano, ‘pauce moniales multiplici infamia … degentes,’ printed in Doublet, , Histoire de l'Abbaye de S. Denys 48.Google Scholar

103 Tardif no. 118.Google Scholar

104 Einhard, , Vita Karoli Magni (ed. Waitz, G., MGH SS; Hanover 1911) 22. The evidence relating to Charlemagne's daughter Theodrada is summarized in Brandenburg, E., Die Nachkommen Karls des Grossen, I.–XIV. Generation (Stamm- und Ahnentafelwerk der Zentralstelle für deutsche Personen- und Familiengeschichte 11; Leipzig 1935) Tafel I (2) and 85, and by Werner, K. F., ‘Die Nachkommen Karls des Grossen bis um das Jahr 1000,’ in Karl der Grosse, Lebenswerk und Nachleben IV (Düsseldorf 1967) 445. Several questions yet remain. She was very likely placed in a nunnery by her brother Louis the Pious (there seems no question that she was placed there by her father): cf. Einhard 23–25, and Wemple, S. F., Women in Frankish Society: Marriage and the Cloister, 500 to 900 (Philadelphia 1981) 79. On the one hand, she is not described as abbess of Argenteuil in the diplomas of Louis the German which mention her: Die Urkunden der deutschen Karolinger (ed. Kehr, P., MGH Dipl. I; Berlin 1934) nos. 34, 79. On the other, Theodrada is not mentioned in the later obituary of Argenteuil. Yet there seems no doubt that Abbess Theodrada and Charlemagne's daughter were the same person, since the epithets nobilissima and praecellentissima (used in Louis the Pious' charter of 824) were reserved for members of the royal family. Dr. Werner has graciously discussed this point with me. But it must be noted that the only two explicit references naming Abbess Theodrada as Charlemagne's daughter come from Saint-Denis between ca. 1129 and ca. 1156. The first is in the false charter discussed in this article. The second is found in a description by Abbot Odo of Deuil of the ostension at Argenteuil of the seamless Holy Tunic of Christ mentioned in John 19.23 and how Charlemagne brought it from Constantinople and gave it to Abbess Theodrada. Odo of Deuil's text is in Oxford, Queen's College MS 348, and Elizabeth A. R. Brown and I are currently preparing an edition and commentary on it.Google Scholar

105 Two ninth-century manuscripts of Dungal's letters were written at Saint-Denis: B.L. MS Harley 208, and B.N. MS nouv. acq. lat. 1096. The first was in England before the twelfth century, but the second was likely still at Saint-Denis in Suger's time, although the manuscript later belonged to Maurice, abbot of Saint-Leger of Soissons.Google Scholar

106 Dungal writes in Letter VII (MGH Epist. IV 581): ‘contempto habitu seculari, sacrum Christi velamen induere voluistis.’ Compare Suger's description of Theodrada (De admin. 160): ‘matrimonium humanum recusantem, ibidem abbatissam sanctimonialium constitueret.’ Google Scholar

107 Mühlbacher no. 190.Google Scholar

108 The harenga of Charlemagne's privilege is similar to others found in charters of Clovis III, Chilperic II, and Pippin, as well as other charters of Charlemagne himself (Mühlbacher nos. 57, 59, 75).Google Scholar

109 Mühlbacher no. 49; B.N. MS nouv. acq. lat. 2222 (A).Google Scholar

110 Lauer, and Samaran, 28.Google Scholar

111 Diplomatum Imperii (ed. Pertz, G., MGH Dipl. I; Hanover 1872) no. 19, hereafter Pertz; Lauer and Samaran 6–7; CLA xiii, France 136–41.Google Scholar

112 CLA no. 564; cf. ll. 140–48.Google Scholar

113 Tardif nos. 119–20, 135.Google Scholar

114 Ibid. no. 135: 'notum … quia nostre suggessit … ideoque petiit, ut ob Dei amorem et sanctorum illic quiescentium reverentiam … et omnimodis jubemus ut nec nostro, nec ullo umquam successorum nostrorum tempore.Google Scholar

115 Lauer, and Samaran, , pl. 24.Google Scholar

116 Ebling, H., Prosopographie der Amtsträger des Merowingerreichs (Munich 1974) 143–45.Google Scholar

117 The most important examples are: Louis the Pious Suger Si ea que a deum timentibus hominibus (ll. 5–6) ad loca divino cultui dedicata (l. 7) sicut timentibus deum nichil deest (Vie de Louis VI 214) locellumque ilium divino cultui adaptare (De admin. 178) postea qualibet occasione … abstracta (l. 9) sed quadam occasione … alienata (De admin. 160) vel occasione aliqua … diminuerentur (Charter, ca. 1130, Œuvres 329) ne quacumque occasione … destituatur (Charter, ca. 1140, Œuvres, 356) ad statum suum revocamus (l. 12) in jus revocari precipimus (Charter, 1125, ad statum pristinum … revocari fecissemus (l. 40) Œuvres 321) ad viam veritatis revocatus (Charter, ca. ad potestatem Sancti Dyonisii … revocare (l. 77) 1125, OEuvres, 323) per beneficium domni et genitoris nostri Karoli serenissimi imperatoris (ll. 30–31) ad remedium anime domni et serenissimi augusti Karoli (Charter, ca. 1140, Œuvres 355) post … ab hac luce discessum (l. 44) post … ab hac vita discessum (l. 84) post nostrum dicessum (De admin. 156) post decessum hujus vite (Charter, ca. 1130, Œuvres 329) in comparatione pro ipso (l. 45) ob dei amorem et ipsorum sanctorum (ll. 87–88) ad comparationem illorum (De admin. 199) ob amorem et reverentiam sancte religionis (Charter, ca. 1140, Œuvres 351) ob amorem et reverentiam Jesu Christi (ibid. 358) absque ullius persone contradictione (l. 92) pro voluntate nostra absque contradictione (De admin. 166) absque ulla contradictione (1. 105) sine aliqua contradictione (Charter, 1138, Œuvres 346) pro commutatione alterius monasterii (l.102) commutationis etiam cujusdam formam (De admin. 182) anuli nostri impressione (l. 146) quasi pro commutatione (De admin. 183) anuli ejus impressionem (Charter, ca. 1140, Œuvres 354) Google Scholar

118 See Gasparri, F., L'écriture des actes de Louis VI, Louis VII and Philippe Auguste (École pratique des hautes études, 4e section V, Hautes études médiévales et modernes 20; Paris 1973) 17–18, 21, 25; and note the use of in Dei nomine feliciter, Amen, and the presence of only two members of the royal household.Google Scholar

119 Lauer, and Samaran, pl. 25.Google Scholar

120 Luchaire, , Louis VI no. 289.Google Scholar

121 Luchaire, , Louis VI no. 348.Google Scholar

122 Pertz nos. 16, 25, 34, 37, 38, 41.Google Scholar

123 Particularly Pertz nos. 22, 26, 27, 34, 36–38.Google Scholar

124 Particularly Tardif no. 347, Google Scholar

125 Newman, , Robert II no. 120; Tardif no. 249. Robert's charter includes all the words Contestamur … temerare, with nullo modo in place of nec per se, and the words Ut vero … jussimus except for the change in proper names, and prole et regni nostri stabilitate, substituted for pro omni imperio nostro. The phrase regni nostri stabilitate is found commonly in the false Dagobert charters, and is in Tardif, no. 347, which confirms no. 249, Robert the Pious' grant of immunity to the abbey. The word prolis is found in many charters for Saint-Denis, as well as on Suger's altar panel (De admin. 198).Google Scholar

126 No such charter of Louis the Pious is known; the other three charters are false. Robert's charter is Tardif no. 347; see Levillain, , ‘Études … III’ 90–95, and ‘Essai sur les origines du Lendit,’ Revue Historique 155 (1927) 250 n. 3 where the charter is dated 1101 because of the conflict in that year between Bouchard IV de Montmorency and Abbot Adam.Google Scholar

127 Levillain, , ‘Lendit’ 246–47.Google Scholar

128 Ibid. 250.Google Scholar

129 Compare ‘de altaris beatorum martyrum … in feodum … suscipimus,’ from the charter of 1124.Google Scholar

130 Cf. Vitalis, Orderic, Ecclesiastical History (ed. and trans. Chibnall, M.; Oxford 1978) VI 156–57: ‘At that time Matthew count of Beaumont and Burchard of Montmorency pillaged the lands of St. Denis the martyr, and resisted the royal command to desist from fire and rapine and slaughter.’ Google Scholar

131 Luchaire, , Louis VI no. 97.Google Scholar

132 Bautier, , ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 76; and perhaps Heloise was also a member of the same family, ibid. Google Scholar

133 See Luchaire, , Louis VI no. 419, for a charter of Louis VI and Matthew of Albano; the latter is printed in Tardif no, 405.Google Scholar

134 Louis VI's coronation had taken place at Sens to the great displeasure of the archbishop of Reims, Vie de Louis VI 86. Also see Letter 189 of Yvo of Chartres, PL 162.193–96.Google Scholar

135 Vie de Louis VI 84–86.Google Scholar

136 See supra p. 257.Google Scholar

137 Cf. Lewis, A. W., Royal Succession in Capetian France: Studies in Familial Order and the State (Cambridge, Mass. 1981) 52; Bautier, , ‘Paris au temps d'Abélard’ 68–71.Google Scholar

138 Nithard, Compare, Historia, the early chapters demonstrating how the sons of Louis the Pious destroy the Carolingian peace; see also Halphen, L., Charlemagne et l'empire carolingien (Paris 1949) 236–37.Google Scholar

139 Ibid. 28–32.Google Scholar

140 The additions to the Revelatio Stephani Papae II, which come from Fleury, Sens, and Saint-Germain-des-Prés manuscripts and are printed in PL 89.1023–24, describe the royal anointing thus: ‘unxit in reges Francorum,’ ‘unctione sacratissima consecrare.’ Google Scholar

141 Halphen, , Charlemagne 30–32.Google Scholar

142 As, for example, Pertz no. 26: ‘… ut honor et reverentia sanctae matris ecclesiae, ubi domnus et patronus noster sanctissimus Dionysius requiescit, in omnibus conservetur, sicut Romae ecclesia beatorum apostolorum Petri et Pauli per Privilegium Constantini imperatoris obtenere dignoscitur.’ The earliest Saint-Denis cartulary written ca. 1061–65, B.N. MS nouv. acq. lat. 326, begins with the Donation of Constantine, and the oldest manuscript of the Donation of Constantine (B.N. MS lat. 2777) comes from Saint-Denis. See Das Constitutum Constantini (ed. Fuhrmann, H.; Hanover 1968) 20–21.Google Scholar

143 See Brooke, C. N. L., ‘Approaches to Medieval Forgery,’ in Medieval Church and Society (New York 1972) 100–20; and Levison, W., England and the Continent in the Eighth Century (Oxford 1946) 207–10, who analyzes the forged charters of Saint-Ouen, Rouen, and St. Augustine's, Canterbury.Google Scholar

144 Suger made a similar point when he described the main altar: ‘… opus quod solis patet litteratis quod allegoriarum jocundarum jubare resplendet, apicibus litterarum mandari fecimus,’ De admin, 197.Google Scholar