Day of Reckoning: Power and Accountability in Medieval France PDF
Preview Day of Reckoning: Power and Accountability in Medieval France
Day of Reckoning THE MIDDLE AGES SERIES Ruth Mazo Karras, Series Editor Edward Peters, Founding Editor A complete list of books in the series is available from the publisher. Day ofR eckoning Power and Accountability in Medieval France Robert F. Berkhofer III PENN UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA PRESS Philadelphia Publication of this book has been aided by a grant from the Medieval Academy of America Copyright© 2004 University of Pennsylvania Press All rights reserved Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper 109876 4 2 Published by University of Pennsylvania Press Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19I04·40II Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Berkhofer, Robert F., I966- Day of reckoning : power and accountability in medieval France I Robert F. Berkhofer III. p. em. (The Middle Ages Series) ISBN o-8122-3796-X ( alk. paper) Includes bibliographical references and index. r. Benedictine monasteries-France-History-Sources. 2. France-History Medieval period, 987-1515-Sources. 3· France-Church history-987-1515-Sources. 4· France-Politics and government-987-1328-Sources. 5. France-Social conditions- 987-1515-Sources. I. Title. II. Series DC83 .B47 2004 944'.02 22-dC22 2004041492 Contents INTRODUCTION I. A FRAGMENTARY PAST? MONASTIC HISTORY, MEMORY, AND PATRIMONY I 0 2. WRITTEN COMPREHENSION OF LAND AND SIGNS OF AN ADMINISTRATIVE MENTALITY 53 3. MINISTERING AND ADMINISTERING: ABBOTS AS CATALYSTS OF CHANGE 9 0 4-. DISCIPLINE AND SERVICE INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE CLOISTER I 2 3 CONCLUSION: ACCOUNTABILITY, WRITING, AND RULE BY I200 I 59 APPENDIX A: THE CARTULARIES OF SAINT-BERTIN I 7 I APPENDIX B: THE CARTULARY OF THREE CROSSES I 7 5 APPENDIX C: ENUMERATIONS IN PAPAL CONFIRMATIONS I 7 9 APPENDIX D: ABBATIAL AND MONASTIC ACTS: SAINT-VAAST, SAINT-BERTIN, AND SAINT-DENIS I 9 3 LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS I 9 7 NOTES I99 VI Contents BIBLIOGRAPHY 2 4 5 INDEX 261 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 2 6 9 Introduction SINCE ENDINGS ARE OFTEN AS IMPORTANT as beginnings, let me begin with a story from near the year rzoo, the end of the period covered by this book. This story concerns the Abbot Hugh of the monastery of Saint Germain-des-Pres and the troubled career of one of his men, named Guy. Abbot Hugh was stirring up a lot of trouble. The new abbot of Saint Germain-des-Pres was the fifth to use the name Hugh, but the first to be so insistent about his lordship. At least, that was how it must have seemed to Guy, the mayor of the monastery's estate at Suresnes on the opposite bank of the Seine. Abbot Hugh was asking Guy to renew his oath of loy alty and acknowledge his dependent status as a serf. At first, Guy refused to do so, according to a note that recorded the affair.1 Why did he refuse? Guy was an important man, charged with running the considerable estate at Suresnes (essentially a small village) and had power equivalent to that of many knights. To be reminded of his dependence and his low origins would have been uncomfortable and publicly humiliating at the least. But Abbot Hugh was not interested in refusals. He exercised his abbatial authority through his court, formally summoning Mayor Guy and his re lations to appear. The matter had now grown very serious. Guy knew he would be defending not just himself but his whole family at the court. In con sequence, he brought fifty of his relations with him when he finally appeared.2 Abbot Hugh was not alone either. He had gathered his monks and his other servitors. The names of forty witnesses were recorded, thirty-eight on the Abbot's side and two on Guy's. In addition to the officers of the monastery and simple brother monks, Hugh's witnesses included knights, artisans, and other mayors. It was a large, public assem bly consisting of the most important members of the community. Thus, the stage was set for a showdown between Hugh and Guy. In the end, Abbot Hugh forced Mayor Guy to submit to his author ity. Guy was confronted with both verbal and written proof of his status. 2 Introduction Guy's own peers affirmed that he was a dependent man (homo de corpore) of the abbot, just as they were. 3 Abbot Hugh also had a secret weapon: an extensive written genealogy of Guy's family, tracing his descent from homines de corpore.4 Although Guy was reluctant, he had little choice but to reaffirm his homage and fidelity as a homo de corpore. As a final piece of insurance, Abbot Hugh also made sure that the whole matter was writ ten down in detail (from his perspective, naturally) so that his successors would remember his victory. The submission of Guy of Suresnes to Abbot Hugh V of Saint Germain-des-PnSs was recorded in unusual detail. But how unusual was their meeting? The records surviving from Hugh V's abbacy (n62-82) indicate that Guy was not the only mayor to be summoned to renew his oath of loyalty and acknowledge his dependence. Such meetings were becoming more frequent at the monastery. 5 Hugh V was beginning to check up on all of his men-both his monks and his lay servitors. More important, he was not the only twelfth-century abbot to do so. His peers also felt the need to exercise better control over their men to insure that they behaved responsibly. They had found ways of making their men accountable to them. What was new about this late twelfth-century event was that it combined several hitherto separate behaviors with some new ones. There are two important aspects of the story: ( r) holding an agent personally responsible, or accountable, for his actions in performing the duties of an office, and (2) using written records created in monastic archives to make, justifY, and record the case. Less obvious but also significant are (3) the use of records to manage the secular side of monastic estates, (+) in creased attention of the religious to how the administration of monastic estates was conducted, (5) Hugh's active administration of the patrimony as part of a broader notion of ministering to his brothers, and ( 6) the fact that custom was no longer sufficient to manage monastic lands and mcome. The humbling of Guy of Suresnes, therefore, was a complex affair, the end result of long-term strands, which had diverse centuries-old be ginnings. This book explores those strands and how they became woven together toward the end of the twelfth century. The argument of the book is divided into four chapters. The first chapter looks at the period before the rise of routine practices of accountability, from Carolingian times to the mid-eleventh century, tracing strands of monastic thought and behav ior in regard to reform, land, and archives. This chapter is the essential
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