Table Of ContentDay 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
