Geoffrey and Serlo

ON BB. GEOFFREY AND SERLO, ABBOTS, WILLIAM, NOVICE, AND ADELINA, ABBESS, AT SAVIGNY IN NORMANDY,

IN THE TWELFTH CENTURY.

HISTORICAL COMMENTARY.

Geoffrey, abbot, at Savigny in Normandy. (Bl.)

Serlo, abbot, at Savigny in Normandy. (Bl.)

William, novice, at Savigny in Normandy. (Bl.)

Adelina, abbess, at Savigny in Normandy. (S.)

V. D. B.

§ I. The twofold translation of the Saints of Savigny; little becomes known of St. Adelina and William; the birth of Bl. Geoffrey, his mastership, his monastic life at Cerisy and at Savigny; what he did while he was abbot of Savigny.

The elevation of Bl. Vitalis, Bl. Geoffrey, Bl. William, Bl. Peter and Bl. Haymo of Savigny, [The Saints of Savigny, of whom memory has quite often been made among the Passed Over,] from Ménard, Henriquez and du Saussay, was recorded by Henschenius among the passed over at the 1st day of May. To which commemoration the most learned hagiographer subjoined: "Of these we have given the Acts of Bl. Vitalis on the 7th of May; William, to whom Geoffrey can be joined, is reported by Henriquez on the 20th of October. Peter, whose manuscript Acts we have, is commemorated by the same on the 24th of December; Haymo, as we said among the passed over on the 30th of April, is indicated in the Calendar printed at Dijon on the 26th of September." According to the judgment of Henschenius, therefore, on the present day we must treat of BB. William and Geoffrey; to whom we join also St. Adelina, raised from the earth with them; nay we add also Bl. Serlo, both because his deeds are somewhat entwined with the deeds of Bl. Geoffrey, and because our predecessors passed him over at the 9th or 10th day of September, although he was most certainly venerated at Savigny. At the 26th day of September they omitted also Bl. Haymo, whose deeds and cult were illustrated by the Reverend Lord Tresvaux Vies des Saints de Bretagne, volume II, p. 410. Of him it could be spoken at the 24th of December, since his deeds cohere altogether with the life of Bl. Peter. But before all things let us place beyond controversy the cult of the Saints of Savigny, as they are called.

[2] [in the year 1243, on the 1st day of May, they were translated from the chapel of St. Catherine into the greater church;] Étienne Baluze published the Chronicle of Savigny, which is manifestly twofold; so that the former part or first Chronicle begins from the year 1112 and ends at the year 1244; while the latter part or second Chronicle takes its beginning from the year 1122 and is ended at the year 1303; to which a third writer added a little note in the year 1378: which things we note for this reason, because it helps to have several ancient witnesses of cult. The former, then, treating of Stephen of Lexington, 17th abbot of Savigny, wrote these things in his praise and about the translation of the five Saints of Savigny Baluze, Miscellanea, volume I, p. 327, Mansi's edition: "In the year of the Lord 1229, on the day of the Ascension of the Lord … there was elected the venerable father the Lord Stephen of Lexington, abbot of Stanley" (in England), "a man endowed with doctrine and knowledge. He did many good things both in this house and in the whole generation, roused the fervour of religion there more fully, increased the convent of Savigny up to forty monks and more, decorated the abbey itself with many buildings. This good man, circumspect on every side, the Holy Spirit teaching him, carried back with much honour the bodies of the Saints of the present monastery from the chapel of Blessed Catherine, where they had rested for a long time, to the greater church. On which occasion the Lord deigned to show many and frequent miracles. And the carrying back of the Saints of Savigny was made on the first day of the month of May in the year of grace 1243. And to the same abbot it was granted by the general chapter, at the same time in which he ruled the said abbey, that a light should burn continually before the bodies of the said Saints from the offerings of the faithful." Over this translation presided Geoffrey de Mayet, bishop of Séez Gallia Christiana, volume XI, columns 548 and 694, and that in memory of its solemnity a procession was made every year in the same convent on the Kalends of May Ménard is witness Martyrologium SS. Ordinis S. Benedicti, Observations, book II, p. 562.

[3] the anniversary day of which translation was very solemn; How festal this day was is evident from the second chronographer writing thus at the year 1303 Baluze, Miscellanea, volume I, p. 329: "In the year of the Lord 1303, on the first day of May, on the feast of the Blessed Apostles Philip and James, on which day the heads * of the Saints of Savigny were raised and placed again about the high altar, there being present an innumerable multitude of laymen, of clerics and

prelates: in reverence and honour of which Saints brother William, called Corteis, made a great light, and was professed, and received the habit of holy religion with great devotion. Which aforesaid William from the beginning of his early youth was faithful and irreproachable and also for the business of this house exposed himself to huge perils and crossed the sea to the parts of England several times. Who for two days fully and in the week successively made us two pittances and on the other days fitting improvements." It seems, therefore, that this solemnity lasted through a whole week. Yet I would not dare to assert that the Office and Mass of these Saints (except of St. Vitalis) were celebrated; but daily a memorial was made of all, and indeed by name, in the sacred Office Tresvaux, in Dom Lobineau, Vies des Saints de Bretagne, volume II, p. 419.

[4] [but less solemn was the anniversary of the earlier translation, made in the year 1182.] But from the monuments cited up to here it does not yet appear of which Saints these bodies were. This we know from the new Gallia Christiana, to whose authors excellent documents were furnished; namely the history of the convent, accurately put together by William Liegard, at that time prior there, and innumerable other notices. Further, there we read of Simon, abbot of Savigny from the year 1179 to 1189 Compare Gallia Christiana nova, volume XI, column 547: "He caused the basilica of St. Catherine to be dedicated by Richard, prelate of Avranches, on the fifth day before the Kalends of June 1181. He translated into it, on the 30th of March, the Tuesday of Easter, 1182, the bodies of the Saints of Savigny, Vitalis and Geoffrey, abbots, Hamo and Peter, monks, William, novice, and Adelina, sister of St. Vitalis, prioress of Mortain." And this translation, because it was not celebrated yearly with an anniversary festivity, either escaped both chronographers or did not seem worth noting. But it did not escape the Reverend Lord Tresvaux Vies des Saints de Bretagne, volume II, p. 419, who reports also several circumstances, namely that at this former translation there were present the bishops of Avranches, Rennes and Le Mans, namely Richard III, who sat at Avranches from 1171 to the fourth day before the Kalends of August of the year 1182 Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 482, Philip, who occupied the see of Rennes from the year 1197 to the 8th day of April 1182 Vies des Saints de Bretagne, volume VI, p. 18, and William, who according to Papebroch's calculation Chronology of the bishops of Le Mans, volume III of June, p. 868 ruled the church of Le Mans from the year 1143 to 1186. Ménard Martyrologium Benedictinum, book II, Observations, p. 564 declares that these bishops were present at the translation of the year 1243; but we said above at no. 2 that it was made by the bishop of Séez.

[5] [Among these Saints come St. Adelina, sister of St. Vitalis, and St. William, who was not abbot,] St. Adelina, whom I find indicated in no Martyrology or Menology, was the first abbess, not prioress, of Mortain Gallia Christiana nova, volume XI, column 555 B; and the writers of the Gallia Christiana testify that her name is found in the Charters of Savigny at the year 1120 and that she died about the year 1125 Ibid., place cited, D. More about her does not seem to become known. That St. William was abbot of Savigny was believed by Ménard Martyrologium Benedictinum, Observations, book II, p. 564, Philippe Seguin and from them Henriquez Menologium Cisterciense at the 20th of October, Bucelin Menologium Benedictinum at the 20th of October, Manrique [Annales Cistercienses at the year 1148, chapter VII, volume II, p. 104 and following], Henschenius Acta Sanctorum, volume I of May, p. 5 and others. But what Ménard and Seguin relate cannot stand at all, although they received documents from the monks of Savigny. For what Ménard says, that he was the third abbot, fights with the certain chronology which is in the Gallia Christiana and in both Chronicles of Savigny. The first William comes only in the fifth place among the abbots; and so far is he from being venerated as a Saint that he was omitted by both chronographers, and perhaps unknown. The second William, abbot, called of Toulouse, a native of Caen, was abbot of Savigny first about the year 1162 and then in the year 1178 Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 546. Further, Seguin and those who followed him understood that this William, abbot of Savigny, was venerated: for while today they praise the Saint of whom we must treat, they ascribe to the latter the deeds of the former in his novitiate, which are known from the Life of St. Haymo Tresvaux, volume cited, p. 416. But that William of Toulouse was neither venerated nor translated at Savigny is clear even from this, that in the year 1179 he was elected abbot of Cîteaux and died at Cîteaux.

[6] but a novice of Savigny. And since the Cistercian Annals and the Catalogue of abbots in the Gallia Christiana Volume IV, column 989 are altogether dislocated for these times, it pleases me to demonstrate this by certain testimonies. First of all the former Chronicle of Savigny has these things Baluze, Miscellanea, volume I, p. 327: "In the year of the Lord 1178 … there was elected and promoted as abbot" (of Savigny) "a man of venerable life and eminent learning, William of Toulouse, sprung from the town of Caen. And in the year of the Lord 1179 the same William was elected abbot of Cîteaux, where he closed his last day." Similarly Peregrinus, abbot of St. Mary of Fontenay, an author altogether contemporary and an eyewitness, declares these things In d'Achery, volume II of the Spicilegium in folio, p. 575: "Alexander, abbot of Fontenay, when he saw himself weak and less sufficient, sent and summoned the abbot of Savigny, namely the lord William of Toulouse, a man certainly of pious memory, who presided a second time over Savigny and afterwards died abbot of Cîteaux." Moreover the Chronicle of Melrose published by Fell and the Annals of Waverley assign the very year of his death; but since that of Melrose was written up from those of Waverley, it will be enough to have cited the Annals themselves, most highly praised for Cistercian matters; and they have at the year 1181 [Gale, Anglicanae Historiae Scriptores XV, volume II, p. 129; Dom Bouquet, volume XVIII, p. 188]: "There died William of Toulouse, abbot of Cîteaux, of pious memory, although he denied mercy to those asking it." For the rest, it is not a new opinion that this William was abbot of Cîteaux and met his last day there. Long ago this was noted by the brothers of Sainte-Marthe Gallia Christiana, volume IV, abbots of Gaul, p. 816, Huet, bishop of Avranches Origines de Caen, p. 329, the continuators of the Gallia Christiana Volume XI, column 547, Dom Bouquet Recueil, volume XIV, p. 497 and others. Wherefore one must altogether adhere to the statements of the new Gallia Christiana, by which it is related that St. William, venerated by the monks of Savigny, was a novice; and indeed long before the Maurists had learned this from the monks of Savigny, Manrique had been admonished of it by the same, on that account retracting his statements in an appendix Annales Cistercienses, volume IV, p. 550; and the Cistercians had inserted similar things into the Cistercian Calendar, or Martyrology of the Cistercian Order, accommodated to the Roman rubrics and published in the year 1689, at the 30th day of April, at which in the auctarium is read: "At Savigny in Neustria, of Bl. Aymo, monk, and the translation of his body and of the Saints Vitalis and Gaudefred, abbots, Peter, monk, and William, novice." More about this William I have not been able to find.

[7] [There comes also among them Bl. Geoffrey, whose life has been written in compendium by several.] Hence we turn aside to Bl. Geoffrey, or Godfrey, second abbot of Savigny; whom we said above was referred to this day by Henschenius. That a manuscript Life of Bl. Geoffrey formerly existed at Savigny, which came to the continuators of the Gallia Christiana, they themselves testify in two places Gallia Christiana, volume XI, columns 541 and 544; and similarly long before them Ménard spoke of the same Martyrologium Benedictinum, book II, Observations, p. 563. Arthur du Monstier inserted it into his collection, to which the name Neustria pia is given, and which was formerly preserved among the Friars Minor of the Observance, or Recollects, both of Paris and of Rouen Compare Hermant, Histoire du diocèse de Bayeux, p. 188. And that all these are lacking to us there is scarcely need to advise the reader. Yet there is at hand for us a threefold compendium of the Life of Bl. Geoffrey: the first, drawn from that manuscript Life, is read in Ménard and hence in Henriquez Menologium Cisterciense, among the omitted, at the 3rd of June, at the end and Manrique Annales Cistercienses at the year 1148, chapter VII, no. 3, volume II, p. 104, another in the new Gallia Christiana Volume XI, column 544, and the third finally in Hermant in the History of the diocese of Bayeux Histoire du diocèse de Bayeux, p. 186 and following. There are also other sources, which we shall indicate as the occasion arises.

[8] He was born at Bayeux of a noble house; Ménard, the Gallia Christiana and Hermant have Bl. Geoffrey born at Bayeux, and so in the former Chronicle of Savigny and by Orderic Vitalis Historia ecclesiastica Normanniae, book VIII, in Duchesne, p. 715 he is called "of Bayeux." At the beginning of the eighteenth century the place where his parents had dwelt was still known at Bayeux, as is clear from Hermant, who narrates that their house was near the castle of the city, and that it existed for a long time, but was afterwards destroyed, and no traces any longer survived in his time. The people of Bayeux had preserved another monument also in memory of the birth of Bl. Geoffrey, namely in the suburb of St. John near the grain market a chapel called of St. Geoffrey, but afterwards of St. Louis, until it was destroyed. The name of the mother seems to be hidden, but the father was called Alan, a knight by profession Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 544; and father and mother are related to have been noble by birth Ménard, Hermant, place cited, and increased with five children, who all, except Geoffrey, the youngest, put on military arms Hermant, place cited. They relate also that the father was set over the castle of Bayeux; but I think this arose because they confused Alan with Gunher of Aunay, by whom Orderic Vitalis relates [Historia ecclesiastica, book XI, in Duchesne, p. 818; and in Bouquet, volume XII, p. 698] that the city of Bayeux was preserved, or rather guarded, when Henry I, king of England, besieged and burned it.

[9] [a little-certain miracle is narrated to have happened in the fire of Bayeux before his birth.] Wonders about the birth of Bl. Geoffrey are narrated by Ménard and Hermant, following the manuscript Life. "When he was still in his mother's womb," says Ménard, "the church of St. Mary Magdalen at Bayeux was burned, and a certain pyx, in which some particles of the relics of St. Mary Magdalen, St. George and certain Martyrs were laid up, from the church itself into the bosom of the mother of Blessed Geoffrey not without miracle

fell. Which was an indication of the future sanctity in the boy." Hermant has it that this was done when William II (rather Henry I), king of England, was waging war with his brother Robert, and in the year 1106 had burned Bayeux. And indeed he indicates the occasion accurately, namely when the mother of Bl. Geoffrey, fleeing from the suburb of St. John into the suburb of St. Patrick, was passing the burning church of St. Mary Magdalen. But how did this reliquary pyx come into the street? how did it fly into the bosom of the fleeing woman? Great miracles certainly, but which agree little with the chronological order. For these two things must be held: first, that this fire happened in the year 1106, as we know from Orderic Vitalis Ibid., place cited and from very many others, whom I would cite in vain in a most manifest matter. It will help, however, to have excerpted from Serlo, whose poems on the capture of the city of Bayeux were at length printed in this century [Notices et extraits des manuscrits de la bibliothèque du roi, volume XI, part II, p. 169 and following; Dom Bouquet, volume XXII, preface, p. XC and following; Pluquet, Essai historique sur la ville de Bayeux, chapter XXII, Caen 1829], two verses on the burning of the churches, namely 160 and 161. And they sound thus:

"On this day the sacred hall of the Virgin Mary was burned, And twice five temples perished in like ruin."

What is moreover no less certain, Bl. Geoffrey in the year 1113, after he had already led the monastic life for some time in the monastery of Cerisy, submitted himself to the discipline of St. Vitalis; and in the year 1122 was made abbot of Savigny: whence at seven years old he would have changed his monastery for the sake of greater perfection, and at fifteen or sixteen years old would have ruled the monastery, and a good many others subject to Savigny. That fables are here being sold is therefore clear, and accordingly that the authority of the manuscript Life, of which it has been spoken above, wholly totters. Yet I would believe that something of truth underlies these fables; namely that Bl. Geoffrey, perhaps fifteen years old, took refuge with his mother in the church of St. Mary Magdalen (for it is established from the praised Serlo, an eyewitness, that men everywhere took refuge in the temples Compare verses 43 and following; 160 and following; 184 and following); that the citizens tried to withdraw the sacred things from the plundering of the enemies and from the flames; and that thus the relics of SS. George, Mary Magdalen and others came into the keeping of Bl. Geoffrey; which Ménard is witness, relying on the manuscript Life, that he carried with him to Savigny and worked many miracles by their touch Martyrologium Benedictinum, Observations, book II, p. 563.

[10] With Bl. Serlo, formerly his disciple, But enough of these things. Hermant declares that Bl. Geoffrey was born in the suburb of St. Patrick, and that his mother took care with singular solicitude that he should be imbued from his tender years with the fear of God. "He first put on the monk," says Ménard, "at Cerisy, an abbey of the order of St. Benedict in the territory of Bayeux." But that before this he taught in the world and had disciples is established from the Chronographer of Savigny, who here draws his statements partly from Robert of Mont-Saint-Michel [Tractatus de immutatione Ordinis Monachorum, in d'Achery, after Guibert of Nogent, p. 811, and Bouquet, volume XIV, p. 381]; further, what the Chronologer inserted into Robert we shall enclose in brackets: "Blessed Vitalis…," he has [Baluze, Miscellanea, volume I, page 326, "in the year of the Lord 1122 gloriously passed to the Lord.] To him succeeded Blessed Geoffrey, a monk of Bayeux, a man thoroughly lettered and fervent in religion, strong in nobility of birth, but excelling in holiness of life. He built many monasteries, and imposed on the monks of Savigny customs stricter than the former. [Who presided over the abbey of Savigny 16 years and in the year of the Lord 1138 gave back his spirit to the Lord.] To whom, after Evan the Englishman, who presided over the same monastery for a short time, succeeded the venerable Serlo of Vaubadon near Bayeux, who had been the disciple of the aforesaid Geoffrey in the world and had taken the monastic state first with him in the monastery of Cerisy; but, that monastery being left, he had sought Savigny for the sake of greater religion." From which it is established that Bl. Geoffrey gave attention to letters in the world, made great progress in them, and thus had disciples also, among whom Bl. Serlo. Nay, the Gallia Christiana openly relates that he completed his course of studies at Paris Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 544. And from these the little fable about the relics is again overthrown.

[11] [he put on the monastic habit at Cerisy, and then passed with him to Savigny, whose customs] Bl. Geoffrey's monastic state at Cerasium (commonly Cerisy, it was distant four leagues to the west from Bayeux Ibid., column 408) is established also by the testimony of Orderic Vitalis: "He" (Vitalis) "being dead," he says Historia ecclesiastica, book VIII, in Duchesne, p. 715, "Goisfred of Bayeux, a monk of Cerisy, succeeded, who himself also was zealous for immoderate inventions, and heaped a hard yoke on the necks of his disciples." So he, who was wont to carp at the new institutes of Savigny, of Cîteaux and others. At Cerisy the rule of St. Benedict was observed, as it was then commonly the law of monks in Gaul. St. Vitalis, when in the year 1105, or even sooner [Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 541; Biographie universelle, under St. Vital, volume XLIX, p. 280], he began the monastery of Savigny on the border of Normandy, Brittany and Maine, gave indeed the same rule to his disciples; but he added some other institutes, similar to those of Cîteaux [Compare Gallia Christiana, volume XI, columns 541 and 543; and the Utica codex of Orderic Vitalis in Dom Bouquet, volume XII, p. 700, note a]; among which comes a grey habit, but not the snowy or white one of the Cistercians: for although on the Mortuary Roll sent round through the monasteries and episcopal sees after the death of Bl. Vitalis, and still preserved at Paris, Hugh, bishop of Avranches, inscribed Biographie universelle, place cited:

"Here he had clothed himself and his faithful subjects In snowy garments, token of a chaste breast";

yet in the manuscript Life Bl. Geoffrey was said, coming from Cerisy to Savigny, to have put on the grey habit and changed his usages Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 541; and what is most important, when the monks of Savigny passed over to the Cistercians, they are openly said to have exchanged their grey habit for white. For in the History of the foundation of Furness in England the grey colour is noted as made antiquated through the Cistercian usages received Monasticon Anglicanum, new edition, volume V, p. 246, and in the historical Poems on the same foundation is read Ibid., place cited:

"In Tulket we were placed as GREY monks; Here we are WHITE in our present covering: we know it."

And by these surely one must stand rather than by the testimonies of Yperius Chronicon S. Bertini, Martène, Anecdota, volume III, column 603, writing after the middle of the fourteenth century, and of Adrian de But Chronicon Dunense, p. 5, Bruges 1839 at the end of the fifteenth century; of whom the former makes the habit of the monks of Savigny black, the latter almost similar to the black habits.

[12] [were similar to those of the Cistercians; there in the year 1122 he is created abbot,] But the usages of Savigny, from Orderic, from the Chronicle of Savigny, from Robert of Mont-Saint-Michel [Tractatus de immutatione Ordinis Monachorum, in d'Achery, after Guibert of Nogent, page 811, and Dom Bouquet, volume XIV, p. 382], and from the union with Cîteaux which followed a little after, seem to have been sufficiently severe, nor do I doubt that at the beginning they had many things in common with hermit manners. Delighted with this kind of life, Bl. Geoffrey left the monks of Cerisy, and passed to Savinejum, or Savigny, in the year 1113 Gallia Christiana, volume XI, column 544, namely one year after Radulf of Fougères had given in perpetuity the forest in which Bl. Vitalis had long been dwelling with his disciples Compare Biographie universelle, volume XLIX, p. 280. And they were a hundred and forty in number Ibid., place cited. The Gallia Christiana declares Volume and place cited that Bl. Geoffrey was given to them as prior, yet adding no note of time. And when on the 16th day of September of the year 1122 Bl. Vitalis had met death, Bl. Geoffrey was substituted for him as abbot by the common vow of the monks, as may be understood from Orderic, from both Chronicles of Savigny, from Robert of Mont-Saint-Michel In Bouquet, volume XIV, p. 382 and from the Auctarium to the Chronicles of the same Robert In Pertz, volume VI, pp. 487 and 493.

[13] [he founds many monasteries; completes the church of Savigny; institutes an annual chapter; obtains a bull from Honorius II;] From the time that the pastoral staff of Savigny was entrusted to Bl. Geoffrey, he strove most of all to send out colonies of monks in every direction; of which matter we shall speak in one continuous account when we have explained the deeds of Bl. Serlo: and from this the reader will understand that in Bl. Geoffrey's time the congregation of Savigny did not grow by eighteen monasteries, as Ménard has it Martyrologium Benedictinum, Observations, book II, p. 564, nor by twenty-nine, as the Gallia Christiana relates Volume XI, column 544, but by twenty-four convents of men in all. That in government he pursued severity has been evident not from Orderic only but also from the Chronicle of Savigny and from Robert de Monte; and he established monks in England in such poverty that in Bl. Serlo's time complaints came to Savigny, as will be said below. Of his cares in completing and dedicating the church of Savigny we read these things at the beginning of the year 1124 in the Auctarium to Robert de Monte In Pertz, volume VI, p. 487: "The church of Savigny was dedicated on the Kalends of June in honour of the Holy Trinity, begun by Abbot Vitalis and completed as far as behind the choir, then perfected by Abbot Geoffrey. At this dedication there were present five bishops, Curgisus (rather Turgisius) and Richard of Coutances and Richard of Bayeux and John of Séez and Hildebert of Le Mans." The same is related by the Gallia Christiana of the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbatiae, p. 816 and of the Maurists Volume XI, column 544, and also by Hermant Histoire du diocèse de Bayeux, p. 187, yet with this difference, that they affirm that the church was erected by Bl. Vitalis as far as the choir and that the dedication was made on the sixth day before the Ides of May. I prefer to adhere to the Auctarium of Savigny, both because it is an upright and old testimony, and because the Kalends of June, and not the sixth day before the Ides of May, fell on a Sunday in the year 1124; on which day these solemnities were commonly celebrated. He instituted visitations and a general chapter of the abbots of the whole congregation at Savigny for three days every year on the feast of the Holy Trinity in the year 1132, as the new Gallia Christiana Volume XI, column 544 and Hermant History, etc., place cited relate. And truly that these things had already prevailed in the year 1132 will be gathered below from Peregrinus, abbot of Fontenay. He obtained a bull from Honorius II at the prayers of Thurstan, archbishop of York, on the fifth day before the Ides of December. In it are confirmed the goods granted and to be granted to the monastery of Savigny,

saving, to be sure, the right and the reverence of the diocesan bishop Martène, Anecd., vol. I, col. 361.. This restriction seems strange, since in the charter of foundation we read Ibid., col. 333.: "Which quiet and tranquillity Turgisius, bishop of the see of Avranches, granted to be possessed, ratified and inviolable, free from every exaction of episcopal customs."

[14] he wished letters to be among his own. Blessed Geoffrey too, himself a learned and erudite man, knew how much it matters that literary discipline should not be neglected in monasteries and that there should be some men present adorned with outstanding learning. We have this from the letter of John of Coutances to Geoffrey the abbot, Richard the prior, and the monks of the monastery of Savigny, or the preface to his book on the ecclesiastical computus; in which he addresses them thus Ibid., col. 362.: "But you, my lords, blessed and true philosophers, whose true philosophy in things human and divine is already spread far and wide, if you see anything useless in this little work, correct it, or notify me that it is to be corrected; for I know that your holy and venerable college has many honourable and learned men, who, had it pleased you, could sufficiently have completed this little work, and where there is need, the same will be able to emend it." There was also at Savigny a certain physician enjoying no common fame, named Peter of Quincy, who (as you may somewhat wonder) for some time lived at the court of Alan, count of Brittany. But of this matter at num. 33, and where we treat of the beginnings of the monastery of Jervaulx.

[15] He upholds the side of Innocent II; Now when in the year 1130 the unhappy schism had arisen on account of the almost simultaneous election of Innocent II and Anacletus II, Blessed Geoffrey with his monks of Savigny stood on the side of Innocent II, as we have from the 126th letter of St. Bernard, given to the bishops of Aquitaine in the year (as it seems) 1131; in which the abbot of Clairvaux, reviewing the most devout congregations of monks which held Innocent to be the true and Anacletus the false pontiff, speaks in this manner Works of St. Bernard, vol. I, col. 136.: "Accordingly the Camaldolese, the Vallombrosans, the Carthusians, the Cluniacs, and those who are of Marmoutier, and my own Cistercians too, those of Caen, of Tiron and of Savigny, in short the whole body and unanimity of the brethren, clerics as well as monks of regular life and approved conduct, following their bishops as flocks follow their shepherds, adhere firmly to Innocent, favour him sincerely, obey him humbly, and faithfully acknowledge him as the true successor of the Apostles." Here you see the monks of Savigny reckoned by Blessed Bernard among the best monks of that time. More concerning the deeds of the monks of Savigny in the midst of this dissension we do not know; on which the new Gallia Christiana Vol. II, col. 1000 and following. especially deserves to be read, where it sets out the acts of Gerard of Angoulême.

[16] He does not seem to have withdrawn to Clairvaux; Hermant relates Hist. de Bayeux, p. 188. that Blessed Geoffrey, after he had rightly established discipline among his own, withdrew to Clairvaux, in order there, unknown to men, to spend all his strength in worshipping God alone; and that he then returned to Savigny and there lived thereafter for eight or ten years, zealous in mortifying himself; whence this journey and withdrawal would belong to about the year 1130. But Hermant does not indicate whence he drew these things; nor do the other writers, whether old or more recent, whom I have come across, have a single word about this withdrawal. Hence we judge these things to be in the highest degree doubtful, nay rather to have arisen from a confusion with Blessed Serlo.

[17] He dies on the 8th of July 1138; Now of the blessed man's death. In the Ms. Life Blessed Geoffrey is read to have died on the eighth day before the Ides, that is, on the 8th of July, of the year 1139 Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 544., and, on the testimony of Hermant Hist. de Bayeux, p. 188., the monks of Savigny in his time contended that this year was to be held. But of greater weight seems to me the Savigny Auctarium to the Chronicle of Robert of Torigni (de Monte), belonging to the thirteenth century, in which at the year 1138 is read Pertz, Monument., vol. VI, p. 493.: "Geoffrey, second abbot of Savigny, died"; likewise the earlier Savigny Chronicle, in which (as we have seen) he is said to have died in the year MCXXXVIII; and lastly the other, in which you have Baluze, Miscell., vol. I, p. 327.: "In the year of the Lord MCXXXVIII died the lord Geoffrey, second abbot of this place, on the eighth day before the Ides of July." Nor is there anything in what we know of his successor why we should depart from this opinion. In truth Evanus is read to have presided over Savigny for a short time Ibid., p. 326.; but since he seems to have died in the year 1140 Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 544., no one would say that the space of two years is not a short time.

[18] He is twice translated and works miracles. Blessed Geoffrey was buried in a stone tomb Ibid., loc. cit.; thence he was raised in the year 1182 See above, n. 4. and translated into the new church of St. Catherine; from which in the year 1243 he was carried into the major church See above, n. 2. and placed before the altar of St. Nicholas Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 544.. Ménard adds Martyrol. Bened. book II, Obs., p. 564.: "He was renowned after death for many miracles, which are even almost daily, especially towards those suffering from fever." A century later Hermant reported the same things Hist. de Bayeux, p. 188..

* bodies?

* Chron. altiores

* Chron. Enavum

§ II. The cult of Blessed Serlo; his schooling under Blessed Geoffrey; his monastic life at Cerisy and Savigny; his deeds while he presided over Savigny; his withdrawal to Clairvaux; his death.

Blessed Serlo is not, on account of the translation made at Clairvaux, That Blessed Serlo is to be enrolled among the Saints on the ground of the translation made by the monks of Clairvaux, Manrique tries to prove Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1157, chap. II, n. 1, vol. II, p. 293.. But since this translation was made not by reason of cult but of necessity, as will be seen elsewhere, this argument is rather weak for establishing the antiquity of his cult; I would say the same of his elevation, or of his burial above the ground Ibid., loc. cit.; which, since it was made in the cloister and not in the church, is of even less weight. The association, however, with holy men, which Manrique urges in the third place Ibid., loc. cit., would certainly have force if it were established that these men had in fact been venerated as saints; but in truth, whenever these men have come up in our work, they have generally seemed fit to be placed among those passed over. Wherefore on this head I would not dare to say that Blessed Serlo was honoured with ecclesiastical cult. For the rest, we shall give at length below what pertains to Blessed Serlo's burial. Nor can his cult be established from the Martyrologies and liturgical Calendars, since there are none that show his name; and that Menologies and other books of that kind do not pertain here, no one is unaware.

[20] [but on account of relics carried to Savigny and venerated, he is to be held among the Saints.] Wherefore, to claim ecclesiastical honours for him, there is available only the testimony of the Gallia Christiana, which, after narrating his death, says Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 546.: "Two of whose fingers and some teeth Peter, abbot of Clairvaux, brought to Savigny in the year 1184, which are reverently preserved there in the greater reliquary." And according to the teaching of Benedict XIV De Canonizat. SS., book II, chap. XXIII, n. IX and passim elsewhere. these things are enough for someone to be held Blessed (though not Saint), or for an argument for immemorial cult to be drawn thence. And hence the very writers of the Gallia Christiana, than whom few have been more difficult in assigning to the servants of God the title of Saints and Blessed, nevertheless call Serlo Blessed; with which title he is also adorned by Hermant in the History of the diocese of Bayeux Hist. du dioc. de Bayeux, p. 189.. I pass over the Cistercians themselves. Further, since Peter, abbot of Clairvaux, brought these relics to Savigny, the suspicion arises that some beginning of public cult had obtained at Clairvaux too in the year 1184. However that may be, the cult at Savigny is established enough and more than enough.

[21] A summary From what we have discussed concerning Blessed Geoffrey, it has already become known that Blessed Serlo was a native of Vaubadon *, two leagues distant from Bayeux; that in the world he lived under the literary discipline of Blessed Geoffrey; that with him he put on the monk at Cerisy, and for the sake of greater perfection passed over to the monks of Savigny. The rest of his deeds are contained in a few words in the encomium which Henriquez published from the Book of the Sepulchres of Clairvaux Fasciculus SS. Ord. Cist., book II, dist. XXVI, vol. II, p. 305., and which we set down here first, intending then to add the rest in chronological order: "At Clairvaux, Blessed Serlo, a monk of most holy conversation. He, having embraced regular discipline among the Benedictines, so earnestly cultivated meditation on heavenly things and the integrity of all Christian perfection that he surpassed all his fellow soldiers by many degrees in virtue. And though he there applied himself to fasts, vigils, readings, sermons and other exercises useful to himself and to others, yet the fervour of contemplation never diminished in him; but rather it increased day by day, the desire growing in him of ever striving after higher things.

[22] of his life. "He advanced so far that, by the plainly common vote of all, being held better and worthier than the other monks, he was elected abbot of the monastery of Savigny before all the rest. The monastery of Savigny was the head of a reformed Benedictine congregation, containing under it various monasteries in Gaul as well as in England and Flanders, all of which the blessed archimandrite ruled with singular zeal, until, desiring a more perfect life, he thought of subjecting himself to the Cistercian institutes. With this intention, in the general chapter of our order, in the presence of the supreme pontiff Eugene III, he submitted Savigny with thirty abbeys of the same institute to the most holy abbot Bernard. Some years having passed, he gave up even the abbatial dignity and lived most holily at Clairvaux. After the death of Blessed Bernard he showed himself an inseparable companion to Blessed Robert, and frequently gave sermons to the monks with great fruit. For he was renowned not only for integrity of morals but also for the praise of learning, and he excelled in wonderful eloquence. When, however, the aforesaid Robert had ended his day most holily, and in his place Blessed Fastred, prelate of Cambron, had first been substituted, the blessed servant of Christ Serlo, adorned with various titles of virtue, entered the way of all flesh on the fourth day before the Ides of September."

[23] [He becomes abbot of Savigny in the year 1140, as seems to be gathered from the charters.] Since these things are to be submitted to examination, in the first place it must be inquired in what year Blessed Serlo obtained the abbatial staff. All the writers agree with the Savigny Chronicle that Evanus, the successor of Blessed Geoffrey, presided for a short time. But some dissent from the same document where it reports that Serlo was given as successor to Evanus, and so Hermant Hist. de Bayeux, p. 189. inserts a William between Evanus and Serlo; and, what is worthy of notice, the day of death of that William accurately

designates, as if he had had trustworthy records in his hands: for he writes that he died on the 20th of October of the year 1143. But in truth we are here dealing in fables. For, to pass over the Savigny Chronicle praised above, Robert of Torigni (de Monte) Tractat. de immutat. Ord. Monach. in Bouquet, vol. XIV, p. 382, a contemporary author, setting out the succession of the first abbots of Savigny, knows nothing whatever of this William; and similarly the History of the Foundation of Furness Monast. Anglic. nov., vol. V, p. 246. calls Serlo the fourth abbot of Savigny. But what is of much greater weight, we have not only a charter of the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October of the year 1143 (such as is the one which is cited in the first place concerning Serlo in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 544.), but from the almost contemporary History of the foundation of Byland Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 350. it plainly becomes known that Serlo was abbot of Savigny and held a general chapter at the feast of St. John the Baptist, or rather from the 14th of June (which was then sacred to the Holy Trinity), of the year 1142. Moreover, Dom Morice has published Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. de Bretagne, vol. I, col. 585. a charter by which Henry of Fougères confirms to the church of the Holy Trinity of Savigny and to Serlo the abbot and the monks of this place the demesne land which Paganus Sanseline had given them. This charter is said to have been made in the summer of the year MCLXI; but Morice advises that MCXLII should be read, which he perhaps knew from the order in which that charter came in the Cartulary of Savigny, now preserved in the archive of the prefecture of La Manche [Rapport au roi sur les archives départementales, in Quantin, Diction. de diplom., col. 911.]. And by these that fictitious William is wholly excluded from the catalogue of the abbots of Savigny, and every obstacle is removed to our giving credence to the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, p. 544., which reports that Blessed Serlo succeeded Evanus in the year 1140.

[24] [He writes to Lucius III, from whom he obtains several letters for the defence and security of his congregation;] While, therefore, Blessed Serlo held the abbatial staff of Savigny, he wrote to Pope Lucius III, who sat from the 13th of March of the year 1144 to the 25th of February 1145 Novaës, Elementi di storia pontif., vol. III, p. 64 and following; and he informed him that many benefits had been conferred on Savigny by Henry of Fougères and Juhel of Mayenne, asking him to exhort them to continue in what they had well begun; which the pontiff performed by a letter given at the Lateran on the seventh day before the Ides of December of the year 1144 Martène, Anecdota, vol. I, col. 396.. He further entreated that he would take the monastery of Savigny and its goods under the protection of the apostolic see and confirm them by privilege; which was granted to him by a solemn bull, given on the Nones of December of the year 1144 and subscribed not by the pontiff only but also by eight cardinals, besides the chancellor Martène, Ampliss. Collect., vol. I, col. 775 and following.. He asked moreover that the laws of the congregation of Savigny should be confirmed, namely: that they were to live according to the rule of St. Benedict and the institutes appropriate to the rule; that the right of correcting any abbots, monks and lay brothers whatsoever should rest with the abbot of Savigny, and so too of deposing abbots who were incorrigible after a second or third admonition; that no abbot could make a schism in the order, or hand over the abbey committed to him or any other place into the jurisdiction of another without common assent; that at the blessing of abbots the exaction of a cope, a vestment, a meal or any earthly gain should be forbidden; and that it should not be lawful for bishops to summon the abbots of Savigny to a synod, except in an evident cause of religion or a manifest fault, nor to receive lay brothers, who are not monks, without the abbots' leave; which things Pope Lucius granted by another bull, clothed with the same solemnity, on the same Nones [Peregrinus, Hist. prælat. de Fontanis, part II, in d'Achery, Spicileg., vol. II, p. 578].

[25] His name occurs in other charters; In the year 1145, when John of Dol gave to the abbey of Vieuville, a daughter of Savigny, the Hermitage of the wood of Borgoth, it is noted in the charter Morice, Mémoires pour servir à l'hist. de Bretagne, vol. I, col. 597. that this was done on the day on which Robert the abbot was blessed, in the presence of the lord Serlo, abbot of Savigny. Before the year 1447 (as is clear from the presence of Peter, abbot of Montebourg Cf. Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 927.), he subscribed with Algar, bishop of Coutances, and others the charter of Engelger de Bohun, giving a certain land in the Isle of Wight to the monks of Quarr Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 317.; and likewise he is mentioned in a charter of Alan, bishop of Rennes, who sat from the year 1141 to 1156 Tresvaux, Église de Bretagne, p. 16., by which he declares that in the presence of the abbot of Clairvaux and two archdeacons he invested Serlo the abbot and the monks of Savigny with the gift which Dodo and Adam de Muscon and six others had bestowed on them: which Dom Morice seems rightly to refer to the year 1149 Mémoires pour l'hist. de Bretagne, vol. I, col. 604.. Savigny received many other donations while Blessed Serlo was abbot; but since his name does not appear therein, I omit them. Similarly in this place I pass over the disputes which he had with the abbot of Furness concerning Byland and Jervaulx, the union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians, and the monasteries founded by him; all of which will be set out below. Wherefore I pass to the last deeds of Blessed Serlo.

[26] In the year 1152 he wishes to lay down his authority and remain at Clairvaux, In the Savigny Auctarium to the chronicle of Robert of Torigni these things are added at the year 1151 or 1152 Pertz, Monum. German., vol. VI, p. 500, and Dom Bouquet, vol. XIV, p. 295.: "In this year it was established in the Cistercian chapter that they should not build any new abbey without greater counsel, because the number of those which had been built of that order had advanced to almost five hundred abbeys. After this year's chapter the lord Serlo, abbot of Savigny, remained at Clairvaux, wishing to leave the care of his abbey, thinking by this to take counsel for himself and for the church. And because he had so long desired and sought this, being a lover of holiness and quiet, that he might flee disquiet and vain exaltations, it seemed good to Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, to assent to his petition, provided, however, that the monks of Savigny consented. He therefore sent Philip his prior, who urged them to elect another abbot. But they said that they wished to have the counsel of the abbots who had gone out from that house and were on this side of the sea concerning this. The abbots, therefore, coming together, took counsel that they were unwilling to let the lord Serlo go. And yet, because they had doubts of his return, they elected two other venerable persons, so that they might have at least one of them. But both refused. Abbot Bernard, therefore, unwilling that the monks of Savigny should be altogether desolate, sent the lord Serlo back to them, that he might keep the house until he himself should come there, and that they might take counsel both for him and for the house."

[27] which in the year 1153 after Pentecost he at length accomplished; Blessed Serlo therefore returned to Clairvaux, not in the year 1152 but in the following one; and not when St. Bernard came to Savigny, but when Gotsuinus, fifth abbot of Cîteaux, came; and not after the death of St. Bernard, as most hold [Manrique, Ann. Cist. at the year 1153, chap. XV, vol. II, p. 246; Hist. litter. de France, vol. XII, p. 522; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 545; etc.], but after Pentecost. All of which must be backed with their testimonies. The earlier Savigny Chronicle has this Miscell. Baluzii, vol. I, p. 326.: "But the said abbot Serlo, desiring the quiet of contemplation, after the conversion of the house of Savigny was abbot for only five years, and in the year of the Lord MCLIII he withdrew and remained at Clairvaux." Similarly the Necrology of Clairvaux Ann. Cist. loc. cit., and Hermant, Hist. de Bayeux, p. 190. relates that Blessed Serlo laid down his office and passed over to Clairvaux in the same year in which St. Bernard departed from this life, namely on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of September of the year 1153 Act. SS., vol. IV of August, p. 324.; and the Savigny Auctarium to the Chronicle of Robert of Torigni: "In the present year (1153)," it says Pertz, Monum. Germ., vol. VI, p. 502., "after Pentecost the lord Gotsuinus, abbot of Cîteaux, came to Savigny, and took the lord Serlo back with him." And then there was created abbot of Savigny, not Richard de Courcy, as the same Auctarium and the Savigny Chronicle go on to say, but William I, as Philip of Byland teaches Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 573. and as the Gallia Christiana rightly shows Vol. XI, col. 546., since this is established from the charter of William himself Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 573., in which he confirms the abbey of Jervaulx to the church of Byland after the example of his predecessor Dom Serlo, and from the charter of Richard his successor Ibid., loc. cit. and 576., confirming the same matter after his predecessors the abbots Serlo and William; but that William, since he did not hold the abbatial see even for a year, was consigned to oblivion by the monks of Savigny.

[28] At Clairvaux he gives sermons, some of which survive; While Blessed Serlo was living at Clairvaux, St. Bernard died. The lord Robert, previously abbot of Les Dunes in Flanders, happily succeeded him, by the Lord's disposing; to whom Blessed Serlo (leading a private life at Clairvaux) showed himself an inseparable companion and dutiful in all things. "In the work of holy preaching, for the edification of the brethren, during the whole time that he presided, he laboured continually at his command. For he imposed that office on him; whom long exercise and gracious kindness had made most ready for this very thing." So the Necrology of Clairvaux, as recited by Manrique Ann. Cist. at the year 1153, chap. XV, vol. II, p. 246. and Hermant Hist. du dioc. de Bayeux, p. 190.. Some sermons which Blessed Serlo gave either at Savigny or at Clairvaux Dom Bertrand Tissier found in a Ms. codex of Ourscamp, with some of his sayings and sentences; all of which he published in the sixth volume of the Library of the Cistercian Fathers in the year 1664 P. 107 to 130.. You have there, accordingly, five sermons of his on the feast of Pentecost; then two on the feast of St. John the Baptist; one on the feast of SS. Peter and Paul; two on the feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary; two on the feast of her Nativity; four on the feast of All Saints; two on the Dedication of a church; one on the Advent of the Lord, another on his Nativity, a third on the Lord's Annunciation, a fourth on the Sacrament of the Altar; and lastly seven places of sacred scripture mystically explained: which "Sayings of Dom Serlo, abbot of Savigny, that is, his sentences on certain passages of Scripture

" are so called by Dom Bertrand Tissier and had been found by him mixed in with the sermons. These, however, seem to the writers of the Literary History of France Hist. litt. de France, vol. XII, p. 523. to be so many fragments of lost Sermons; which opinion is certainly most likely. In all these Blessed Serlo holds to the manner of St. Bernard.

[29] Other writings too are attributed to him. The same writers record that in the royal Library of Paris Num. 2795., in that of Saint-Germain, in that of St. Benedict's at Cambridge Cat. Mss. Angl., part III, n. 1631. 8., in that of Aulne Sanderus, Mss. Belg., part II, p. 252. and elsewhere there is preserved an unpublished moral explanation of the Lord's Prayer by Blessed Serlo, clear, solid, full of unction, yet brief and little adorned. Nevertheless I do not know whether the same writers did not speak too boldly when without any hesitation they ascribe this commentary to Blessed Serlo. Oudin Comment. de Scriptt. eccles., vol. II, col. 1427., who read it in the Colbert Library, codex 5207, and noted its first words, "Protector noster Dominus Jesus," proceeds more prudently, adding: "This Commentary on the Lord's Prayer, further, Charles du Fresne attributes to Serlo, abbot of L'Aumône of the Cistercian order in Brabant, and he cites Ms. codex 563 of the Library of Saint-Germain of Paris in the Index of authors from whom he composed his Glossary to the writers of middle and low latinity, page or col. 147." Thus he. Others, however, attribute it to other Serlos: Tanner Bibliot. Brit. Hib., p. 662. to Serlo, abbot of Gloucester; Leland Ibid., note g. and Selden Preface to the Ten Writers edited by Twysden, vol. I, p. XXVII. to Serlo the Grammarian, who from a canon of York became a monk of Fountains in England. And indeed Boston of Bury, in Ms., who died at the beginning of the fifteenth century, attributes to the same Serlo a treatise on the Lord's Prayer, and a book on Disyllabic Words; moreover, among the Ms. codices of the College of St. Benedict at Cambridge, num. 1631, 8, it comes under the title: "Exposition of master Serlo on the Lord's Prayer"; where the word master most probably pertains to Serlo the grammarian, and certainly not to Blessed Serlo the abbot. Nor let it be said that they are perhaps different treatises: for the one which Leland read and ascribed to Serlo the grammarian begins with the same words as the one which Oudin read at Paris. For the rest, in the Indices of the Catalogues of French and English Mss. other works too may be seen, written both in prose and in verse, which are ascribed to Blessed Serlo, although it is clear enough that they are the offspring of other Serlos. Among the first, Blessed Serlo wrote a History of the Cistercian order, which Mabillon had in his hands and from which he recited a passage [Réflexions sur la rép. de l'abbé de la Trappe au traité des études monast., p. 193.]; but where it now was the writers of the Literary History of France were formerly unable to find Vol. XII, p. 523.. Philip of Byland, moreover, preserved Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 570. a charter of Blessed Serlo, which on account of the witnesses I judge to have been given in England, and by which he assigned Jervaulx to Byland. Other writings of his are unknown to me.

[30] He dies on the 10th of September of the year 1158; Concerning the time of his death it has been possible to gather these things: "But in the year of the Lord MCLVIII," says the earlier chronographer of Savigny Baluze, Miscell., vol. I, p. 327., "the lord Serlo, formerly abbot of Savigny, closed his last day at Clairvaux." The Necrology of Clairvaux [Hermant, Hist. du dioc. de Bayeux, p. 190; Henriquez, Menolog. at the 10th of Sept., p. 308.]: "But when Dom Robert had died (on the third day before the Kalends of May of the year 1158 [Cf. Manrique, Annal. Cist., at the year 1157, chap. I, n. 2, vol. II, p. 291, and Gallia Christ., vol. IV, col. 800; Henriquez, Menolog., p. 142, and compare with the paschal table.]) and Dom Fastred had been promoted abbot of Clairvaux, the same venerable Serlo, departing from this life on the fourth day before the Ides of September, followed Dom Robert, his father." Manrique Ibid., chap. II, n. 1, vol. II, p. 293. wrote the fourth day before the Ides of December, but by a manifest error of the pen or of the typesetter, since a few lines below he writes that he died on the 10th of September, or the fourth day before the Ides; with a lesser error the fifth day before the Ides of September is written in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, p. 546..

[31] [He is said to have been buried first in the chapter-house, then in the great cloister with other pious men.] That he was first buried in the chapter-house, and afterwards in the same cloister, is clear from what follows: "Under the second stone arch," so the book of the sepulchres Henriquez, Menolog., at the 29th of April, p. 142., "in the same cloister, are the bones of several persons buried in the former chapter-house, translated on account of the building of the dormitory which now stands and of the new chapter-house: for the diligent reader will find there also the first letters of the names of each, carved in the stones. The middle place, however, more eminent than the rest, is held by the lord Robert of Bruges, second abbot of Clairvaux… In the great cloister Ibid., at the 10th of Sept., p. 308., under the second stone arch, the lord Serlo holds the middle place together with the lord Robert of Bruges, etc." In what year the bodies of Robert, Blessed Serlo and others were translated from the chapter-house into the cloister, or when the dormitory and the new chapter-house were built, Manrique promises Ann. Cist. at the year 1157, chap. I, vol. II, p. 291. that he will say elsewhere; but I have searched in vain for where he made good his words. Hermant Hist. du dioc. de Bayeux, p. 190. refers this translation to the year 1238; but that cannot stand. For the Chronicle of Clairvaux, which, taking its beginning from the year 1147, ends in the year 1192, already has Blessed Serlo lying beside Robert: "In his (abbot Fastred's) first year," it says Dom Bouquet, vol. XII, p. 311., "there died at Clairvaux the abbot Berlo *, formerly of Savigny, who came to the order with thirty abbeys and gave himself up to Blessed Bernard. He it is who rests beside abbot Robert with other persons." The Great Exordium of Cîteaux, which Conrad of Eberbach wrote between the years 1193 and 1213 [Cf. Fabricius, Biblioth. latina med. et inf. æt., under Cistercium and Conradus, vol. I, p. 382 and 411, Mansi's edition; but above all Hist. littér. de France, vol. XVII, p. 363 and following.], relates these things much more clearly In Tissier, Bibliot. Cisterc., vol. I, p. 62.: "The remains of his (Robert's) body were laid in a monument which was built in the wall of the cloister of Clairvaux, near the door of the church: where other perfect monks, truly worthy of God, also rest." Nor do these pious bodies seem afterwards to have been moved from this place, since Andrew de But Supplementum Chron. de Dunis, p. 31., who, as we have already said, wrote at the end of the fifteenth century, reports these words of the Great Exordium with nothing added. And the Gallia Christiana Gallia Christ., vol. IV, col. 800. does not even raise any discussion of the earlier burial, but relates that Robert rests in the cloister under a stone arch with Saints Serlo, Humbert, Odo and Gerard, the first pupils of St. Bernard, where this inscription is read: "Here lie the venerable and blessed fathers, whose names are designated by first letters carved in the stone, and whose acts are described more fully in the record-book." At present, however, that these monuments are held in no religious regard any longer no one will be unaware who knows that the abbey once most celebrated in all France has now been made one of the general prisons. What was done with the relics of Blessed Serlo at Savigny, however, is unknown to us.

* Vau-Badon

* Serlo

§ III. The spread of the Order of Savigny and its union with the filiation of Clairvaux.

[On account of the multitude of the monks of Savigny, and perhaps on account of want, Blessed Geoffrey founds new monasteries, very poor ones;] I would not believe that other monasteries of men were instituted by St. Vitalis besides the abbey of Savigny and the priory of Dompierre. But since the number of his monks had grown much more than the wealth of the abbey, he had to struggle very much with poverty; so much so that he was compelled to reclaim from the abbot of Caen the alms of Mortain, which he himself had formerly received from Count William, but before the beginning of Savigny had given to the monks of Caen, with the consent indeed of King Henry, but without the consent of the bishop of Avranches: which defect of consent seems to have been the chief ground afterwards put forward by him himself for rescinding the donation Cf. Gallia Christ., vol. XI, instr. p. III and following.. He obtained similarly from Calixtus II a bull, given at Angers on the fifth day before the Ides of September of the year 1119, to the bishops of Avranches and Le Mans, to the count of Mortain and to the lords of Fougères, Mayenne and Saint-Hilaire, that they should be roused to bring help to the monastery Martène, Ampliss. Collect., vol. I, col. 659.. But Blessed Geoffrey and Serlo entered upon another way of relieving the burdens of Savigny. They sent out, namely, colonies in every direction: by which indeed the want of Savigny was lessened, but the colonies themselves were pressed by excessive poverty. Hence, when Peter of Quincy, a monk of Savigny, had made the beginning of the abbey which afterwards became Jervaulx, and had often begged Blessed Serlo by letters to send a convent there with an abbot, "the abbot of Savigny, turning over in his mind the dangers, labours and privations which his monks had endured, who had been sent elsewhere into England, to various places, from Savigny for beginning and building abbeys, and by whom he was quite often urged to call them back home, in his audience-room, before many, with great indignation, swore by the power of the supreme Trinity, in whose honour the church of Savigny had been founded, that he would never send a convent there" Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 569.. For the rest, St. Bernard may be seen at times experiencing the same difficulties arising from the colonies sent out.

[33] and he permits monks to wander outside the cloisters; To the same excessive poverty perhaps is to be attributed the very beginning of this business of Jervaulx, by which Blessed Serlo was so much troubled. For at the beginning of the History of Jervaulx we read the following things of that Peter of Quincy, very subtle and well experienced in the art of medicine, and of two other monks of Savigny Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 568.: "But how or for what reasons the same brother Peter with his other companions came from Savigny into England is held uncertain, except that, as is believed, they made a stay at the court of Alan, count of Brittany and of Richmond, on the pretext of the art of healing infirmities and wounds, or in order to collect the alms of the court and distribute them to the needy," or rather, as is clear from the very sequence of events, to obtain them for their own order. Similarly from Furness

there meets us a colony wandering for some time through England without a fixed seat. For of those who founded first Calder, then Byland, and who had gone out from Furness Ibid., p. 349., one may read these things: "Since they were few in number and poor, and were seeking a suitable place where by God's favour they might dwell with some fruit, the noble man Roger de Mowbray … giving it, they received at first a narrow place." In not a few of the monks of Savigny there appears everywhere such poverty that it would easily surpass that of the Cistercians (however much it was proclaimed). To which also are to be attributed so many translations of abbeys from one place to another, so easily undertaken: since a few wagons would easily take all their goods.

[34] yet his congregation spreads everywhere the good odour of Christ, In the midst of this want they spread everywhere, no less than the Cistercians, the good odour of Christ. For when Richard, prior of York, was rousing his companions to renew their life, he spoke these things among many others (as Thurstan, archbishop of York, wrote to William, archbishop of Canterbury Ibid., p. 294.): "If the gospel," he said, "seem dead and impossible in us, let us look at the monks of Savigny and of Clairvaux, who have lately come to us; how clearly the gospel has shone forth in them, so that, if it is lawful to say so, it is more profitable to imitate them than to recite the gospel; when indeed their holy conversation is seen, the gospel is judged as it were to come to life again in them. They alone do not seek back their own; they alone possess nothing whereby they might strive to set themselves before their neighbours; they alone are those who do not covet their neighbours' loss; they are content with a little tillage of the land and the use of cattle; and they desire to have even these only so long as God wills; because when God wills these things to be taken away, they would not desire what is not lawful. To them (unless I am mistaken) it belongs to say: 'The world is crucified to us and we to the world.' To them it belongs to say: 'Forgive us our debts as we also forgive our debtors,' who have no debtor from whom they would wish to exact anything. Happy race of men, whose habit, food, and the whole manner of their conversation savours of the gospel! Their portion is God alone. They are recognized to fulfil, fully so far as is in human power, the charity of God and of neighbour, because, cleaving to God alone, they have so plainly abandoned all temporal things except a scanty and contemptible habit that they covet nothing whereby a neighbour might think fit to be angry with them." "Let it not therefore, O father," he adds, addressing Geoffrey the abbot, "ever seem impossible to keep the rule of Blessed Benedict, since God has furnished us with such examples, who have gone before us in holy virtues, that we may follow them. But if on account of the nearness and the din of the peoples we cannot altogether follow their purity, let us at least attend to the manner of life and of profession according to our rule, because we are not monks but dead men." Thus he.

[35] Not otherwise William of Newburgh, treating of the spread of the Cistercians and of the monks of Savigny through England, it grows chiefly through England, and in the turbulent time of King Stephen; exclaims Ibid., p. 346.: "But what is to be thought of these and other religious places, which in the days of King Stephen began to be built and to flourish more abundantly, except that these are the camps of God, in which against the spiritual forces of wickedness the soldiers of Christ the king keep watch and the recruits are trained?" Nor does it seem unworthy of notice that in the turbulent time of King Stephen, amid the very vicissitudes and calamities of wars, monasteries were founded everywhere, and that equally by men who stood on the side of King Stephen and by those who stood on the side of the Empress Matilda: in such veneration, namely, were these excellent monks held by the whole nation of the English! Nor is it right to pass over the piety of those who spent part of their goods on these pious works, judging nothing better than to share with God and the church the demesne lands which had fallen to their fathers when they occupied England with William the Conqueror. For, as the reader himself will notice, most of the founders drew their origin from Normandy. To these praises of the monks of Savigny dwelling in England and also in Ireland could be added the bishoprics and other offices of that kind entrusted to them; but measure must be kept by us.

[36] [On account of the distance of the places and for other less honourable reasons, the English abbots delay to come to the chapter:] But in truth with all human affairs whatsoever something less right is always mixed. For since in going to the annual chapter and returning almost half a year had to be spent by some abbots of England, the bonds by which the daughter houses were joined to the mother were little by little made looser. And that this was the cause why Blessed Serlo handed over himself and all his own to the Cistercians we have testimonies beyond all exception. For the Savigny Chronicle Baluze, Miscell., vol. I, p. 326. and Robert of Torigni Dom Bouquet, vol. XIV, p. 382., a contemporary writer and a neighbour of Savigny, have these things: "He (Serlo), because the monasteries subject to him did not obey him according to his will, by the authority of Eugene, the Roman pontiff, subjected himself and all his monasteries to the Cistercian Order." Somewhat more explicitly Peregrinus, seventh abbot of Fountains, narrates these things in the History of the prelates of the monastery of Fountains, being excellently informed of the matter: "In those days," he says Spicileg. Dacherii, vol. II, p. 575, folio edition., "there presided in the house of Savigny a venerable man, named Serlo, very learned, and whose eloquence was acceptable to his hearers above honey and the honeycomb. He therefore, since he was just, and had little by little begun to understand that some of his fellow abbots were striving to shake their necks free of subjection to Savigny, and were coming to the chapter more tardily and more lukewarmly than they used to, supported by divine counsel and aid, having obtained the leave and authority of the supreme pontiff, handed over and subjected his monastery with all the others belonging to it to the Cistercian Order, into the hand of Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, the authority of whose life and religion was fragrant everywhere. For he was a man mighty in deed and word before God and all the people, who at once gave to the abbey of Savigny as prior and instructor in the Cistercian Order a venerable man, named Theobald; who, being a monk and infirmarian of Saint-Denis, and having by chance seen St. Bernard, leaving all things, followed him. This Theobald was, moreover, noble of birth and born in the Perche." It has pleased me to recite these things entire, because nowhere is this change in the affairs of Savigny set forth with more attendant circumstances, and because by it is overturned what Jongelinus Notitia Abb. Ord. Cist. in Gallia, p. 37 and following, Henriquez Menologium, at the 2nd of July, p. 226. and others have concerning Alberic of Clairvaux, as though he had urged this accession and had been given as the first master to the monks of Savigny.

[37] so that at the chapter of the year 1147, as Philip of Byland has it, Not all the abbots, however, are assailed by those accusations, but only most of the English. For this is clear enough from what Philip of Byland narrates in the History of Jervaulx concerning the chapter of the year 1146, nay, of the year 1147: and since it will be of use elsewhere, it will be worth while to show that this writer's Chronology departs from the true one by a whole year. For he relates that in this chapter there was discussion of the council to be held at Reims by Eugene III; and yet this council was most probably not convoked before the year 1147, and certainly could not have been convoked before the feast of the Holy Trinity, or the 26th of May of the year 1146, on which the chapters of Savigny began, since Eugene III, a fugitive from Rome, reached Sutri only on the 25th of March of the year 1146, and Viterbo on the 24th of July, and Gaul at the beginning of the year 1147; so that at the end of March he was received at Dijon by King Louis VII [Cf. Novaës, Elem. di Storia Pontif., vol. III, p. 70; Pagi, Critic. at the year 1147, n. VIII and following; Dom Bouquet, vol. XII, p. 89, in the note.]; before which time assuredly nothing could have been decided about holding a council at Reims. And not only in the time of the chapter's being held does that historian depart by a whole year from the right chronology, but likewise in the time of the council of Reims, which in two works Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 352 and 570. he refers to the year 1147; whereas nothing is more certain than that it was begun on the Monday after the fourth Sunday of Lent, or the 22nd of March of the year 1148 Cf. Pagi, in Crit. at the year 1148, n. 5; and passim elsewhere., prayers having been publicly poured out on the day before, according to custom.

[38] only three were present; But from this chronological digression let us return to the men themselves who were present at the chapter of the year 1147. Further, on the testimony of Philip of Byland Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 569., "at that general chapter there were of abbots from England only those of Quarr and of Neath"; to whom, however, Roger of Byland, who seems to have been there only a few days Ibid., p. 570., can be added; while thirteen French abbots were present besides Blessed Serlo Ibid., p. 569.. For the rest, from the difficulties which arose after the union with the Cistercians had been entered into, it is equally clear that the abbots of England alone aimed at liberty. And, since the discussion is of this chapter, who would doubt that counsel was taken there about entering into this union? Otherwise by what right would Blessed Serlo have undertaken so great a change, and how would the French abbots afterwards have so easily consented to it?

[39] therefore Blessed Serlo, in the Cistercian chapter of the year 1147, The causes of this union having thus been set forth, the time, the place and the other circumstances are to be investigated. Mabillon, in the Bernardine Chronology Page IX. which he added at the end of the first volume of the works of Blessed Bernard, and which our Pinius received into the Acts of St. Bernard Vol. IV of August, p. 242, and long before, Manrique Annal. Cist. at the year 1148, chap. VII, vol. II, p. 104 and following and others relate that this was done in the Cistercian chapter of the year 1148, with Pope Eugene III presiding. But the abbot of Byland, Philip, quite otherwise: "In the same year," he says Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 352., wrongly understanding the year 1147 for 1148, "in the Council of Reims, Pope Eugene presiding, the church of Savigny with thirty daughter abbeys subjected itself to the church of Clairvaux and to the order of Cîteaux"; and elsewhere he sets out the same things more fully Ibid., p. 570.. Thirdly, lastly, the writers of the Gallia Christiana Vol. XIII, col. 542. commend the Savigny papers and those of Vaux-de-Cernay, in which this union is marked at the year 1147; which opinion, no differently from Dom Bouquet Vol. XII, p. 89, in the note., they embrace against Mabillon and establish with good arguments. We, however, shall unfold this controversy in such a way as to reconcile the old documents with one another. Geoffrey, formerly of Clairvaux and of St. Bernard

's notary, relates these things in the Life of this Saint Book IV, chap. V, Act. SS. Aug., vol. IV, p. 316.: "When our most reverend pope Eugene III … had entered Gaul, the holy man went with him… In the same year, the abbots having been assembled at Cîteaux according to custom, the aforesaid venerable pope was present, not so much presiding by apostolic authority as sitting among them in brotherly charity as one of them." Whoever reads these things will not doubt that Eugene III was present at the Cistercian chapter in the same year in which he entered Gaul, namely 1147; and yet Baronius Annal. Eccl. at the year 1148, n. 34., Manrique Annal. Cist. at the year 1148, chap. VII, vol. II, p. 105., Pagi Critice, at the year 1148, n. 12., who otherwise deserved excellently of the Eugenian chronology, Mabillon Loc. sup. cit., Pinius Vol. IV of August, p. 316 and others refer these things to the following year; not noticing that it could not have happened that Eugene III in the following year was present at the Cistercian chapter, which was held on the Ides of September [Cf. the Collection of St. Rainard, chap. LXXVIII, in Manrique, at the year 1134, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 281.], since Baronius At the year 1148, n. 48. has shown that in the month of October of this year he was already staying at Rome or near Rome, Pagi Critice, at the year 1148, n. 13. has demonstrated that he gave a letter to Suger at Vercelli on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of July, and Ughelli Italia sacra, vol. IV, col. 604, Coleti's edition. has published a charter "given at Crema, by the hand of Guido, deacon cardinal and chancellor of the Holy Roman church, on the Nones of July, indiction II, in the year of the Lord's incarnation 1148, and in the fourth year of the pontificate of Pope Eugene III." In the month of September of the year 1148, therefore, Eugene had long since left Gaul.

[40] about the middle of the month of September, Pope Eugene III being present, Just as, therefore, he could not have been present at the Cistercian chapter in the year 1148, so it is plain that he was most certainly present in the year 1147 from the charter which, while staying then at Cîteaux, he granted to the monastery of Yergua (afterwards translated to Fitero on the borders of Navarre and Castile), and which, subscribed by eight cardinals, Oihenart published in the Notitia of both Vasconias Book I, chap. III, in Pagi, at the year 1147, n. 10., and of which this is the closing clause: "Given at Cîteaux by the hand of Hugh, presbyter cardinal, acting in the stead of the lord Guido, deacon cardinal and chancellor of the H. R. C., on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of October, indiction X, in the year of the Lord's incarnation MCXLVIII, and in the third year of the pontificate of the lord Pope Eugene III." Pagi holds the indiction to be corrupt, thinking that only the Constantinopolitan indiction was used by Eugene; but it is now admitted that he quite often used the Roman Victor de Wailly, Éléments de paléographie, vol. I, p. 293.; and indeed I scarcely cast my eyes on the volumes of Ughelli when there meet me two bulls given at Pisa, the one Italia sac., vol. II, col. 215. on the fourth day before the Nones, the other on the third day before the Nones of November, indiction XII, in the year 1149. Now if Eugene III was most certainly at Cîteaux on the fifteenth day before the Kalends of October, or the 17th of September of the year 1147, which is next to the Ides, or the 13th day of September (on which the chapter began), it is clear enough that to this must be referred what we received above from Geoffrey concerning Eugene III presiding at the Cistercian chapter.

[41] he subjects his thirty monasteries to Clairvaux; Further, that in this chapter Savigny and twenty-nine other daughter abbeys were subjected by Blessed Serlo to Clairvaux, and hence to Cîteaux, is narrated not only in the book of the sepulchres of Clairvaux, whose words we gave above at num. 22, but also in the History of the foundation of Furness, where these things are read Ibid., vol. I, col. 846.: "In the time of this abbot (namely Peter of York, fourth abbot of Furness), Serlo, fourth abbot of Savigny, which is the mother house of Furness, at Cîteaux, in the general chapter, gave back his house of Savigny with its daughters in the Tironensian order" (the order of Savigny is often confused with this order) "to the Cistercian order, into the hands of Blessed Bernard, then abbot of Clairvaux." Not in these writings only, but also above at num. 31, in the Chronicle of Clairvaux, thirty abbeys are related to have been handed over by Blessed Serlo to Clairvaux. Nevertheless Souchet Vita S. Bern. Tiron., p. 280., advised by Dom Barbarel, narrates that only twenty-seven were assigned by Eugene III to the laws of the Cistercians; but that the number thirty is to be retained everyone will gather from the series itself, unfolded more fully below. For when that change was made, the order of Savigny comprised the following monasteries of men: Savigny; Furness with its daughters Rushen, Swineshead and Calder; Inis or Carrick; Beaubec with its daughter Briostel; Vaux-de-Cernay, with its daughter Breuil-Benoît and granddaughter La Trappe; Chaloché; Foucarmont; Neath; Saint-André-en-Gouffern; La Boissière; Aunay; Quarr; Fontaine-Blanche; Basingwerk; Combermere; Byland; Longvilliers; Stratford; Buildwas with its daughter St. Mary's of Dublin; Buckfast; Coggeshall; Vieuville; and Barbery. The nunneries seem to have been reckoned among the appendages of the monasteries of men.

[42] which are received as though they had been born in the Cistercian order, The conditions of this accession are not all known, but only some. In the Savigny Chronicle, after the handing over has been narrated, it is written Baluze, Misc., vol. I, p. 326.: "And forthwith the priority over all the abbots of the Order was granted to him (Blessed Serlo) by the lord of Cîteaux and the four first abbots." More clearly in the Savigny Auctarium to the Chronicles of Robert of Torigni, where, after the first hand had written at the year 1146 in place of 1147 Pertz, Monum. Germ., vol. VI, p. 497.: "In this year the lord Serlo, abbot of Savigny, gave himself to the Cistercian order, with all the abbeys belonging to him, and he did this into the hand of the lord Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, in the presence of the venerable pope Eugene and of all the abbots of the Cistercian chapter"; another hand added in the margin Ibid., loc. cit.: "And the priority over all the other abbots after the lord of Cîteaux and the four first abbots was granted to him and his successors. And from that time it obtained that continually, without any interruption, every year the abbot of Savigny was one of the definitors. And in this possession was the abbot of Savigny in the year of the Lord 1243, namely for ninety-six years continuously. Nor is it a wonder if in this the abbey of Savigny was honoured by the consent of the chapter, which by its conversion, increasing the Cistercian order, at that time slender in substance, with a multitude of many abbeys, honoured it in the Lord very greatly; while, through zeal for religion, it left its customs and its general chapter, which it was accustomed to celebrate at Savigny, in order to take up in humility and holy service the institutes of the Cistercian order. Wherefore both the abbot of Savigny and the whole congregation ought to take good care in future that the church of Savigny be not defrauded of these its rights, to its own grave prejudice, etc." Somewhat otherwise the Gallia Christiana Vol. XIII, col. 541., relating that on account of so notable an accession it was granted to the abbot of Savigny that he should sit in the assemblies of the order first after the four first fathers and the abbot of Preuilly, who refused to yield the place due to him.

[43] which was not a new custom; But not so much the consideration of honour as of age seems to have been had; so that Savigny, the head of all, and the rest mingled with the other daughters of Clairvaux, were all reckoned as though born in Cîteaux Manrique, Annal. Cist. at the year 1148, chap. VII, vol. II, p. 106., with this condition, however, that although Savigny could contend in antiquity with the four principal daughters of Cîteaux, it should nevertheless come after them; or that not only should Cîteaux precede it, inscribed in the tables at the year 1098, but also La Ferté, marked at the year 1113, Pontigny at 1114, Clairvaux and Morimond at 1115. But afterwards other abbeys begrudged Savigny the precedence, as is sufficiently understood from the Savigny Auctarium just recited; and indeed Preuilly, La Cour-Dieu and Bonneval of the line of Cîteaux, inscribed in the catalogue at the year 1118, at some time prevailed, as the catalogue of Jongelinus makes manifest [Cf. the Chronological Index arranged in the order which those of Cîteaux are accustomed to observe in the general chapter.]. From the assertion of the Gallia Christiana it follows indeed that in the eighteenth century Preuilly still held its seat in the chapter before Savigny; but that matters were so arranged from the beginning cannot be admitted without rejecting the Savigny Chronicle and Auctarium. For the rest, a similar fight over precedence arose in England between Furness and Waverley; of which matter it will be said at num. 75. That condition concerning the place of sitting Manrique carps at here and there Annal. Cist. loc. cit., writing among other things: "This had never hitherto been practised with others; from the time it once began, it was granted to several: to almost all who, having left looser rules, were reformed to the norm of Cistercian rigour. Not because the reason was the same: who would doubt it? or who would compare a single monastery, whatever it be, with a numerous congregation of many? but because such is the condition of precedents that for the first we indeed require causes; in the rest, to have once done it stands for a cause. Nor is it far from this, that things which at first were a scandal, because never done, are afterwards proposed as an example to be done. Certainly what was granted to Savigny could not, in the same chapter (not to send the matter further afield to be sought), be denied to Obazine." Golden words indeed! For who does not see that through dispensations laws little by little become empty, and that the authority of the one dispensing, which they proclaim shines out through them, avails scarcely for anything else than for ruining discipline of whatever kind? But what laws the Cistercians then violated, on Manrique's authority, I find none, and not even fixed and stable customs. For the monastery of Fountains in England, of which I have already spoken in passing above, was not at the beginning under Cistercian discipline, when on the sixth day before the Kalends of January of the year 1132 its first abbot was blessed; but only in the following year, after the winter, was it subjected to the abbot of Clairvaux, and yet it is inscribed in the Cistercian Chronography on the sixth day before the Kalends of January of the year 1132, and in the Chronological Index of Jongelinus, according to the seats in the chapter, it is marked at the year 1132. And indeed I do not find certain examples by which it would be established that monasteries, abbeys in the true sense, to which the Cistercians sent only masters, and not an abbot with a colony, and which took up the Cistercian laws, were inscribed in the tables outside the order of antiquity, unless perhaps they would have had to be placed before the five heads of the order themselves.

[44] the things concluded in the chapter of Savigny are held firm by the Cistercians; Among the same conditions is to be reckoned that all things which had been ordained and established in the chapter of Savigny ought not in the Cistercian chapter to be in any way reconsidered, but were always to remain ratified and firm, although not yet brought to execution

: just as St. Bernard answered in the year 1149, about the middle of the month of August, in the affair of Jervaulx Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 571.. Nor is it to be doubted that the monks of Savigny were dealt with with the same indulgence as the monks of Obazine; in whose favour the chapter approved the promise of St. Rainard, abbot of Cîteaux, that all things contrary to the order should be abolished little by little, lest the house, still new, should be unable to bear a sudden change [Life of Blessed Stephen of Obazine, book II, n. 12, in Baluze, Misc., vol. I, p. 161.].

[45] [The union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians is confirmed by Eugene III on the 19th of September,] Just as Blessed Stephen of Obazine first approached Eugene III, so that he, interposing his authority, might see to it that his monasteries were admitted Ibid., p. 160.; so in all likelihood did Blessed Serlo. However these things were finally carried through, Eugene III confirmed this joining by a bull given at Saint-Seine on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October, or the 19th of September, when the Cistercian chapter had scarcely, or not even scarcely, been finished. Here is the bull Martène, Ampliss. Collect., vol. I, col. 807.: "Eugene, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved sons, the convent of Savigny and the abbots of the monasteries belonging to the same monastery, and to their brethren, greeting and apostolic benediction. The peace of the church, the concord of brethren, the vigour of religion, and the standing of monasteries are preserved by the bond of unity. In consideration of this reason our beloved sons Serlo of Savigny and Osmund of Beaubec * , abbots, coming to the Cistercian chapter, humbly requested in our presence that both they and your whole body should be received, through our most dear son Bernard, abbot of Clairvaux, into the unity of the Cistercian congregation and order. Commending therefore their religious devotion in the Lord, we have rejoiced with them, as the duty of fatherly charity requires; knowing that it is written: A brother helping a brother, both shall be comforted. Wherefore, according to their desire, pleasing to God and praiseworthy, associating both them and you with that holy college, we decree by apostolic authority that this lovable and joyful fellowship be inviolably observed in times to come. We have therefore commanded you to show filial obedience, according to the institutes of the same order, to our aforesaid son S., abbot of Savigny, the more readily as he is known to labour the more attentively for your salvation. But if anyone knowingly attempt to go against the page of this our confirmation, let him know that he will incur the indignation of almighty God and of his blessed apostles Peter and Paul. Given at Saint-Seine on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of October." Eugene had betaken himself to the neighbouring abbey of Saint-Seine (Sanctus Sequanus), commonly St Seine, in the diocese of Langres, doubtless in order to celebrate the feast of St. Sequanus, which falls on the 19th of September.

[46] and when some English resisted, But it did not please everyone in England that his monasteries had been handed over by Blessed Serlo to Clairvaux: "for from this surrender," says the author of the History of the foundation of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 246., "Peter of York, at that time abbot of Furness, with his convent, appealed to the supreme pontiff and the holy apostolic see: going to which see in person, he obtained from the lord Pope Eugene the third a confirmation that his house of Furness should remain for ever of the same order of which it had first been founded, notwithstanding the aforesaid surrender: but on his return from the Roman curia" (then staying in Gaul) "he was seized on the journey by monks of Savigny and led to Savigny. There he gave up the abbatial office and was made there a most approved monk, learning the Cistercian order; and thence he was taken to be the fifth abbot of Quarr. To this Peter there succeeded in Furness as fifth abbot Richard of Bayeux, doctor in theology, formerly a monk of Savigny. He governed for a short time, and by his diligence and counsel the monastery of Furness itself was restored to its mother Savigny and to the Cistercian order." And all these things were done before the end of the year 1148.

[47] by another, more solemn bull Since, therefore, these and other similar difficulties were being raised against that accession by some English, Eugene III gave at the time of the council of Reims another, much more solemn bull, by which the resistance of the English might be beaten back, and which is of this form Thesaurus novus Anecdot., vol. I, col. 404 and following.: "Eugene, bishop, servant of the servants of God, to his beloved son Serlo, abbot of Savigny, and to his successors to be regularly promoted, in perpetuity. The authority of the apostolic see, over which by divine grace we preside, admonishes us to establish religion well-pleasing to God and, once established, to preserve it with exact diligence. Wherefore, beloved son in the Lord, Serlo the abbot, we graciously assent to your just requests, and fortify the monastery of Savigny, over which you are recognized to preside, with the patronage of our writings: decreeing that the monastic order according to the institution of the Cistercian brethren be inviolably preserved in times to come, both in the aforesaid monastery and in those which are under its power, and that the abbeys which are known to belong to the right of your monastery remain in the obedience and subjection of you and your successors: whose names we have thought fit to express: the abbey of Furum (that is, Furness); the abbey of Bufert (that is, Buckfast); the abbey of Biluwas (that is, Buildwas); the abbey of Noth (that is, of Neath); the abbey of Carreja (that is, Quarr); the abbey of Stafort (that is, Stratford); the abbey of Cogherhala (that is, Coggeshall); the abbey of Basingwer (that is, Basingwerk); the abbey of Combermere; the abbey of Behelonda (that is, Byland); the abbey of Suineshenad (that is, Swineshead or Holland); the abbey del Caldrei (that is, Calder); and the abbey of the island of Man (that is, Rushen).

[48] given in the Council of Reims on the 10th of April of the year 1148; "These abbeys, therefore, with all their appurtenances we confirm to you and your successors in perpetuity. Let it therefore be lawful for no man to disturb your monastery concerning this our constitution, or to bring any opposition against it on that ground, but let all things be kept unimpaired for ever, just as is known to be established by the sanction of the present writing. If anyone, indeed, knowingly attempt rashly to go against this page of our privilege, being admonished a second or third time, unless he make fitting satisfaction, let him be deprived of the dignity of his power and honour, and let him know that he stands guilty before the divine judgment for the iniquity committed, and let him become a stranger to the most sacred body and blood of our God and Lord Jesus Christ, and at the last examination let him be subject to strict vengeance. But let those who preserve to the same place what is its own obtain from God, the rewarder of all good things, through the intervening merits of the Blessed Peter and Paul, the rewards of eternal life. Amen. Amen. Amen.

† Make with me a sign for good. St. Peter. St. Paul. Eugene, pope III.

† I, Eugene, bishop of the catholic church, have subscribed.

† I, Linarus *, bishop of Tusculum, have subscribed.

† I, Odo, deacon cardinal of St. George at the Velum Aureum, have subscribed.

† I, Octavian, deacon cardinal of St. Nicholas in Carcere Tulliano, have subscribed.

† I, John Paparo, deacon cardinal of St. Mary Nova, have subscribed.

† I, Guido, deacon cardinal of St. Mary in Porticu, have subscribed.

† I, Jacintus, deacon cardinal of St. Mary in Cosmedin, have subscribed.

† I, Frubaldus, presbyter cardinal of the title of SS. John and Paul, have subscribed.

† I, Aribertus, presbyter cardinal of the title of St. Anastasia, have subscribed.

† I, Julius, presbyter cardinal of St. Marcellus, have subscribed.

† I, Guido, presbyter cardinal of the title of Pastor, have subscribed.

† I, Bernard, presbyter cardinal of the title of St. Clement, have subscribed.

"Given at Reims by the hand of Guido, deacon cardinal and chancellor of the H. R. C., on the fourth day before the Ides," or the 10th "of April, in the eleventh indiction, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MCXLVIII, and in the fourth year of the pontificate of the lord Pope Eugene III,"

[49] by whose authority and by the goodness of Blessed Serlo the unruly are overcome; Philip of Byland, after narrating the visitation of Byland and Jervaulx made about Easter of the year 1147 (rather 1148) by the abbot of Quarr in the name of Blessed Serlo, adds Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 570.: "After the circle of one year, according to the account of Amphred the prior, and according to the lord Walkelyn after two years" (rather in the very year 1148), "the abbot of Savigny" (Blessed Serlo) "sent letters with the lord Guido his prior to his whole generation in England, commanding by apostolic authority that all of the generation of Savigny, without delay, on receiving the mandate, should take up and keep the constitutions of the Cistercian order and its habit, as Pope Eugene had ordained in his general council held at Reims in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and forty-seven" (rather -eight). Since, therefore, it was not lawful to resist these commands without the crime of schism, the English submitted themselves. Hence in the year 1149 we see Roger, abbot of Byland, going to Cîteaux in the company of Blessed Serlo and of the abbots of Briostel and of Saint-André-en-Gouffern Ibid., p. 571.. The monks of Furness themselves were won over by the goodness of Blessed Serlo; for since they were pressed by the greatest want Ibid., p. 352., in order that the poverty of the mother might be relieved by the abundance of the daughters, the abbot of Savigny granted them the abbey of Carrick or Ynis in Ireland, as we have from certain testimony Ibid., p. 250.; and similarly the abbey of Swineshead or of Holland, so far as I can gather from the catalogue of the daughters of Furness; in which Swineshead, founded in the year 1134, is marked at the year 1148, no differently from Inislounaght at the year 1249 Ibid., loc. cit., since this monastery in the year 1249 passed from the filiation of Nenay to that of Furness, as will be said below in its place. There is scarcely need for me to say that the authority of the abbots of Savigny over the daughter abbeys was little diminished by these changes; on the contrary it was strengthened by the power of the abbots of Clairvaux and Cîteaux; and since the abbot of Savigny was supported by them, he was resisted with much greater difficulty.

[50] Six years after this Pope Anastasius IV confirms it again. The bull of Eugene III was confirmed by Anastasius IV in another bull, given at the Lateran on the 20th of April of the year 1154 to Richard, abbot of Savigny; in which first the abbeys of Gaul and then those of England and Ireland are enumerated with their appurtenances Martène, Thesaurus nov. Anecd., vol. I, col. 433 and following.: Belbreh or Beaubec with its daughter Briostel; Sarnago or Vaux-de-Cernay with its daughter Breuil and granddaughter La Trappe; Saint-André-en-Gouffern with its daughter Saint-Clément of Tyrunhel, or Tironneau; Falcardi or Fulcardi Mons (Foucarmont); Luncuiler or Longvilliers; Chaloché; Busseria or La Boissière; Fontes or Fontaine-Blanche; Vieuville; Aunay; Fuanesium or Furness, with its daughters Holanda or Swineshead, Calder, and that of Man or Rushen; Byland with its daughter Joreval; Combermere; Basinwerch; St. Mary of Durelina or Dublin, daughter of Buildwas; Pultuna or Dieulacres, daughter of Combermere; Bildwas (the names here seem moved from their place); Neth; Buffestren or Buckfast; Quarr with its daughter Drogo's Fount or Stanley; Straforth; and lastly Quoquosala or Coggeshall;

thirty-one in all besides Savigny. But that in this bull, no differently from that of Eugene III (which, however, according to its design ought to have comprised only the English ones), some abbeys are omitted which already existed at that time, the reader will gather from the catalogue of the abbeys of the filiation of Savigny; of which we must now speak.

* Of Beaubec.

* Ymarus

§ IV. The catalogue of the filiation of Savigny is explained; the confusion in the historical records arising from the reckoning of the years of the reign of Stephen, king of England.

THE FILIATION OF SAVIGNY.

THE FILIATION OF SAVIGNY CONTINUED.

PLACES ASSIGNED ON FALSE OR DOUBTFUL GROUNDS TO THE FILIATION OF SAVIGNY

1. Les Dunes, or Blessed Mary of the Dunes, in Flanders, 1107 – 1137; daughter of Clairvaux.

2. Roche, Rupes, in the Diocese and county of York, 30 July 1147; daughter of Newminster.

3. Vaudey, Vedeux? Vallis Dei, in the Diocese and county of Lincoln, 1147; daughter of Fountains.

4. Benedictio Dei, Athlone, Abbey of SS. Peter and Benedict, in the Diocese and county of Meath, 1150; daughter of Mellifont.

5. Drogo's Fount, Gruchna, Grenard; see Stanley and Granard, XXXVIII and LXVI.

6. Manuel, Mawmaniel, Emanuel, Mamma, a nunnery, in the Diocese of Dunblane, in Stirlingshire, c. 1159. Mother uncertain.

7. Bona Requies, Bon Repos, in the Diocese of Quimper, 1172; daughter of Boquen.

8. Arcloa, Innivermore, Arklow, in the Diocese of Glendalough, in Leinster, planned c. 1206, 1264 to the Friars Preachers.

9. Bellus Beccus, Beaubec, Belbeck, in the Diocese and county of Meath, a manor formerly of Beaubec in Normandy, then of Furness, beginning of the 13th century — 4 May 1333. Doubtful whether a cell.

The plan of the catalogue of the filiation of Savigny: Since in the time of Blessed Geoffrey and Blessed Serlo the institute of Savigny was spread through many provinces of Gaul, England and Ireland, it was altogether necessary to draw up a catalogue of the houses to which those distinguished men gave a beginning; but as soon as we undertook this little work, we understood that we were entangled in a labyrinth. Yet we did not desist from the journey, and now we present to the reader a catalogue, such as it is, or filiation of Savigny, of which this is the plan. First, we note in it by Roman numerals in what order (if antiquity be regarded) each monastery comes; secondly, by an Arabic numeral, of which other monastery it is the daughter; thirdly, all the abbeys or priories with their various names; and not only those which arose while Blessed Geoffrey and Blessed Serlo were abbots, but also the rest which were afterwards joined to them; fourthly, in what diocese, province, county or territory each was situated; fifthly, who was the founder; sixthly, what the title or patron; seventhly, at what time the foundation was made; eighthly, lastly, we add those places which either have not seemed to us to be cells, or never to have belonged to the filiation of Savigny, although some writers have ascribed them to the monks of Savigny.

[52] whence the genealogy of the monasteries is drawn; Of these, certain things are to be explained. For assigning each daughter monastery to its mother, there was available to us before all the catalogue of Savigny; which seems to have been drawn up when the monks of Savigny passed over to the Cistercians in the year 1147, with, however, Champagne added afterwards, and four other abbeys taken away, and one or another moved from its place. This was published by Manrique Annal. Cisterc., vol. II, p. 106. at the year 1148; and we often cite it under the name of the Catalogue of Savigny. In the second place, we have used the Notitiæ of the abbeys of Jongelinus, who very often marks the filiation of the monasteries. Thirdly, a Ms. genealogical catalogue of the abbeys of the Cistercian order, written out by an anonymous author, and formerly also used by our predecessors, will be of service; and similarly the Alphabetical Catalogue of some monasteries of the Cistercian order according to their lines and generations, which I shall often call the genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez, because it was printed at the end of the second volume of the Fasciculus of the Saints of the Cistercian order, published by this writer in the year 1631. And so, whenever we omit to indicate whence we have known mother and daughter, let the reader know now that we have drawn from one of these sources. A fifth catalogue was supplied to us by Souchet in his notes to the Life of St. Bernard of Tiron; very greatly confused indeed, and erring both by excess and by defect; useful, however, if it be compared with other records. Sixthly, one may very often find the mother in the very charters of foundation; for commonly, when an abbey is to be founded, the goods are first given to the mother, and afterwards confirmed to the daughter. Seventhly, lastly, there are other particular records, which we shall indicate as they come up.

[53] what manner was observed in indicating the dioceses, As regards the dioceses and provinces, so far as it lay with us, we have kept the ancient ones, since in many places the ruin of dioceses and of monasteries was the same. Of some, however, something must also be said more explicitly. The diocese of Lichfield, which on account of the various translations of the episcopal see was called now Chester, now Coventry, now Lichfield and Coventry, now simply Lichfield, I shall everywhere call Lichfield, although at times it bore another name while the monasteries were being founded. Similarly I have taken no account of the episcopal see erected in Cumbria by the Scots in the time of Paschal I (who also consecrated John as bishop) [Instrum. poss. eccl. Glascuensis c. 1118, in Pinkerton, Inquiry into the Hist. of Scotland, vol. I, p. 516.]: since most things concerning this bishopric are uncertain. To the diocese of York, therefore, I have referred the monasteries which were in old Cumbria: since these at least afterwards belonged there. Similar things would have to be noted for some places of Ireland. But from what has been said it is clear enough what plan we have followed. Further, in assigning the monasteries each to its own diocese, our guides were the charters, Jongelinus, the more recent maps of von Spruner and other documents of that kind.

[54] and as to the founders and titles. We have called founders those who gave the very site of the abbeys, or the places in which they were first built; with this rule, however, that we have mostly omitted the names of kings or others who afterwards confirmed the donations made; although they too are held founders by some (and indeed not undeservedly), since most donations were made of demesne lands; nay, they are even called principal founders by the primary founders themselves, for example in the charter of foundation of Combermere, in which Hugh de Malbanc, the founder, speaks thus Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 324.: "Therefore of my good will I freely grant that my lord Ranulf, earl of Chester, be the principal founder and defender of the said church, and that his heirs after him be partakers of all the good things which shall be done there for ever." In the charters, for the most part, the wife and sons of the father of the family are recorded as associates in the giving; which we have commonly omitted, unless the gift seemed to be made from the wife's patrimony. The titles or patrons are rather often more obscure; we have chosen them mostly from Jongelinus or from the charters. The same were often various at various times, especially after the monks of Savigny submitted themselves to the laws of the Cistercians, the twenty-first of which in the collection called that of St. Rainard, and made in the year 1134 Manrique, Ann. Cist. at the year 1134, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 272., runs thus Ibid., p. 275.: "Because our predecessors and fathers came first from the church of Molesme, which is in honour of Blessed Mary, to the place of Cîteaux, whence we too have sprung, we therefore decree that all our churches and those of our successors be founded and dedicated in memory of the same Queen of heaven and earth, St. Mary." Hence most of the monasteries of Savigny laid aside their ancient name; others, however, put the name of St. Mary before it, and fewer after it; very few indeed seem to have kept their original title, or at least to have taken it up again afterwards.

[55] The difficulty of determining in what year the abbeys were founded: But the time of the foundation is the most intricate matter of all. For in works of the best note this time is very often derived from the charter of foundation, without attending to whether the charter was issued when the abbey was still to be founded, or at the very foundation, or lastly long after the foundation had been made: and if all these are mixed together, it is easily understood how enormous that reckoning is. Difficulties also arise from elsewhere. For the beginnings of some monastery may be more or less slender, so that first you have a station of a few monks, and then a convent of twelve monks with an abbot; which number was the lawful one for an abbey among the monks of Savigny equally as among the Cistercians. Whence again a twofold time is available from which you may draw the beginning. Add that commonly the matter was so arranged that twelve monks were gathered in the mother monastery and an abbot was blessed for them; who some time after were sent out to the new monastery. And hence, if you reckon the time either from the blessing of the new abbot, or from the sending out of the colony, or from the arrival at the daughter monastery, a difference of at least some days, and sometimes of more, will be encountered. There come besides translations to one place and another, suppressions and restorations, changes of filiation, conversions of priories into abbeys and other things of that kind: from which it is easily understood amid what darkness one must walk here; since we rather seldom find these things duly set out in the old records.

[56] [The Cistercians reckoned the foundation of a monastery to be made first when the monks of the new colony were under the jurisdiction of the new abbot:] But in order that it might be possible to follow some fixed plan, at least as regards the abbeys of men, we have tried to track down the original usages of the monks of Savigny and of the Cistercians themselves. Further, they reckoned the time of foundation not from the date of the charter of foundation, and other similar beginnings, but from the lawful constitution of the convent; so that, if the abbot was blessed in the mother monastery, the daughter abbey was deemed begun or founded when the new colony was sent out with the abbot; but if the abbot was blessed in the new monastery, the abbey was held to be founded not on the day of sending out, but on the very day of the blessing of the abbot: similarly, when it happened on account of the smallness of the number that it was not an abbey from the beginning, but only a station or priory, the time of foundation was reckoned from the abbot instituted afterwards: other not dissimilar things will be understood in their place. All of which must now be proved from the comparison of the catalogues with the historical documents that survive. The origin of these catalogues, moreover, is to be sought from the eleventh law of the Charter of Charity, most celebrated among the Cistercians and drawn up in the year 1119; for there one reads Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1119, chap. IV, vol. I, p. 110.: "But elsewhere, wherever they come together, they shall keep their order according to the time of their abbeys, so that he whose church" (which means the same as monastery) "is more ancient shall be first." And hence arose the chronological Indices of the abbeys of the Cistercian order throughout the whole world: arranged in the order which those of Cîteaux are accustomed to observe in the general chapter; of which we shall say more below.

[57] which matter by examples Meanwhile the matter is to be illustrated by examples. In the History of the abbey of Jervaulx, written by Philip, third abbot of Byland, we read these things in so many words

Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 571.: "When St. Bernard and Roger, abbot of Byland, had arrived at Cîteaux, on the third day of the general chapter (?), when the abbot of Cîteaux was ordering, according to custom, that the names of the abbeys founded in that year should be entered in the table of Cîteaux, among other things Blessed Bernard said: 'The abbot of Savigny, by the counsel and ordinance of his general chapter and with the assent of the brethren of his house, four years having now elapsed, gave a certain abbey of his of Wensleydale in England, which is now called and named Jervaulx, to his daughter of Byland by his charter; which, if it please you, let it be recited before you. But the abbot of Byland too, for certain reasons, has not hitherto been able to ordain an abbot in that place: within the year he has destined * an abbot there with a convent of monks, and therefore let the name of the abbey of Jervaulx be entered in the table among the other abbeys founded this year.'" Which was then done in this manner. After Abbot Roger had returned from the chapter of the year 1149, on the first Sunday of Lent of the following year he called to Byland the monks who were already living at Jervaulx: and having gathered them and others into one, he constituted an abbot of Jervaulx; then he designated some other monks from his own flock, whom he absolved from the profession made to himself, and who all at once made their profession there to Abbot John. "And on the Wednesday next following, namely on the eighth day before the Ides of March in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and fifty, having received the customary blessing, after the night vigils, Abbot John with his twelve monks went out from our house," says Philip, "towards Jervaulx," where they arrived on the Friday next. Hence, according to the Pisan reckoning, Jervaulx was entered in that Catalogue at the eighth day before the Ides of March Annal. Cist. at the year 1150, chap. XI, vol. II, p. 173. of the year 1150. You have here, therefore, an example of the first and third manner together.

[58] is demonstrated. Of the second manner, that is, when the abbot was blessed after the sending out of the new colony, here is another. The monks who founded the monastery of Fountains in England went out from that of York in the year 1132 on the day before the Nones of October Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 293.; and since they had constituted an abbot for themselves a day or two after the Lord's Nativity Ibid., p. 290., they were hence entered in the Cistercian catalogue on the sixth day before the Kalends of January of the year 1132 Annal. Cist. at the year 1132, chap. VIII, vol. I, p. 243.. Whence also in the History of the Monastery of Meaux Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 390. these things are read: "On the day before the Nones of October in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and thirty-two the going out of the monks of York from their monastery took place, and in the same year the abbey of St. Mary of Fountains was begun on the sixth day before the Kalends of January." Which rule appears to have been kept in the Chronography even when the monks of some monastery reckoned their foundation otherwise. Here is a specimen from the register of Sawley Ibid., p. 512.: "In the year from the incarnation of the Lord MCXLVII, on the Kalends of January, the convent was sent out with Abbot Benedict to build the abbey of Sawley, the noble man William de Percy asking for it and preparing the place for them; on the eighth day before the Ides of January it was founded, on that very day, the first day of the moon": which chronological marks agree with one another and are therefore to be held. The sending out, therefore, was made on the 1st of January of the year 1147, while the foundation of the abbey was nevertheless reckoned by the monks of Sawley from the 6th of January, or the eighth day before the Ides, the first day of the moon; perhaps because it was then that they first arrived at Sawley and celebrated the divine offices. Nevertheless in the Chronography the foundation is placed at the Kalends of January of the year 1147 Annal. at the year 1147, chap. XIX, vol. II, p. 90.. These few examples, selected from a huge number, may suffice for our purpose.

[59] The Catalogue of Savigny is quite often useful for finding that time; Of these catalogues or Chronologies, moreover, there are three kinds in my hands; the first is the Catalogue of Savigny, of which I spoke a little above and of which I shall advise nothing else here than that Manrique, in the appendix of things passed over in the second volume, inserted in the fourth volume of the Cistercian Annals Page 550, at the year 1148., writes that it differs from the list of the churches of Savigny sent to him from Gaul, but in few things; nor so much as to deserve to be transcribed here; adding only this, that among the daughters of Savigny three abbeys of nuns are numbered, among the granddaughters seven, of which he had not seen others make mention. But what Manrique received from the monks of Savigny after his Annals were printed is without doubt represented by what Souchet added among his notes to the Life of St. Bernard of Tiron, and which he had obtained from the same place. But he who collected these things was not content to copy out the old catalogues, but mixed in many things from elsewhere and confused them in a wonderful manner. For the sake of making a comparison, however, Souchet's Catalogue itself can very often be useful.

[60] The second kind is represented by the Cistercian Chronography, which Manrique inserted in his Annals year by year. likewise the Cistercian Chronography, But in order that its plan may be the more easily understood, I shall set some specimen before the eyes; here it is Annal. Cist. at the year 1128, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 191.:

"In the year of Christ MCXXVIII, on the eighth day before the Ides of July, the abbey of Caladia was founded.

"In the same year, on the seventh day before the Ides of September, the abbey of Regny.

"In the same year, on the Kalends of November, the abbey of Belbech.

"In the same year and day, the abbey of Sarnai.

"In the same year, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of February, the abbey of Walkenried in Germany.

"In the same year, the abbey of Castellariis."

[61] whose merits are set out. Further, in this Chronography the beginning of the year is taken from the 25th of March, or from the feast of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Incarnation of Christ the Lord; next, the order of the months and days is carefully observed, so that an inversion rarely occurs; thirdly, at the end are added the monasteries whose day of foundation was unknown; fourthly, for the most part the numbers of the days are indicated in full words; whence the authority of this Chronography is greater in this respect than that of the Catalogues, where they are marked by ciphers; fifthly, it is to be noticed that Beaubec and Vaux-de-Cernay, houses of Savigny, are met with there among the other abbeys of Cistercian origin; the cause of which we have disclosed at n. 42 and 43; and sixthly, lastly, it was compiled before the Spanish Cistercians, under the leadership of Martin de Vargas, in the year 1427 had instituted a congregation, having thereafter scarcely any further intercourse with Cîteaux: for it is clear from many places that Manrique found this Chronography among his own people, and did not receive it from the French.

[62] [and the difficulties arising from the Pisan reckoning sometimes mixed with the Florentine,] But it is not right to pass over the difficulties of this Chronography either, which all arise from the variety of the catalogues which lighted the way for its compiler. For since in these catalogues the names of places were not written in the same manner, one may hence find the same abbeys noted twice or thrice, and indeed at the same year and day, under a different name: which, however, need detain us less. Next, since some abbeys were founded at some certain time, but afterwards abandoned or changed into priories, and later made abbeys again, hence it happens that the same abbey sometimes recurs more than once; or also that the earlier foundation is omitted and the later marked, and vice versa; but from this too one may for the most part get out with sure foot. But since the catalogues from which the Chronography was collected did not follow the same reckoning, and some had been drawn up according to the Florentine reckoning (by which the year was begun almost three months later than is now commonly done), others according to the Pisan reckoning (running ahead of the common year by nine months and seven days); hence a mixture of both reckonings is detected in the Chronography itself. And although from this a difference of a whole year arises, this does not, however, suffice to retrace all the compiler's uneven steps, or to reconcile his statements with other chronicles, annals and other documents of that kind. Which things chiefly concern the English abbeys.

[63] and from the confused reckoning of the years of the reign of Stephen, For in the time, namely, of Stephen, king of England, crowned on the 26th of December of the year 1135 and dead on the 25th of October of the year 1154 [Cf. Art de vérifier les dates, vol. I; Harris Nicolas, Chronology of History, p. 297; Victor de Wailly, Éléments de Paléographie, vol. I, p. 293], a wonderful conflict is observed in reckoning the years. For some begin the years of his reign from the day of his coronation, others at least a whole year after; and indeed, if the charters are intact, Stephen himself was not consistent with himself. For the formula of the oath which he issued in the assembly of Oxford in the year 1130, and which William of Malmesbury Hist. nov., book I, in Savile, Rer. Ang. Scriptt., fol. verso 101. has preserved for us, ends thus: "At Oxford, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation 1136, IN THE FIRST YEAR OF MY REIGN." The contemporary Henry of Huntingdon follows the same manner of reckoning. But elsewhere the beginning of Stephen's reign is drawn from another term. For from the first edition of the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. I, p. 358. Nicolas Harris Chronol. of Hist., p. 297. (wrongly, however, supposing that this is the only charter to be found to which King Stephen added the years of his reign) recites this closing clause: "In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord MCXXXVIII, at Ely, IN THE SECOND YEAR OF MY REIGN, in the time of Edward (Everard), bishop of Norwich, and of Gauslen, prior of Ely." Similarly the charter by which the same King Stephen confirms the foundation of Buildwas has this ending Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 356.: "At Shrewsbury, at the siege, in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MCXXXIX, and in the THIRD of my reign." But here the suspicion arises that the Ely and Buildwas charters are corrupt, and that in the former the year MCXXXVII is to be read, and in the latter MCXXXVIII. For although the writer Twysden, Angl. Scriptt. X, vol. II, col. 1028. who is wrongly called John Brompton seems to refer the storming of Salopesberia (Shrewsbury) to the year 1140, yet the contemporary Orderic Vitalis In Dom Bouquet, vol. XII, p. 765. clearly assigns it to the month of August of the year 1138, with the agreement of the other contemporary, Henry of Huntingdon In Savile, fol. 222., and of those who followed in his footsteps, Robert of Torigni In Pertz, Monum. German., vol. VI, p. 493., Roger of Hoveden In Savile, fol. 277. and others, who narrate that Shrewsbury was taken before the battle of the Standard. Whether, therefore, Stephen himself assigned a twofold beginning to his reign, or others corrected, or rather corrupted, his charters according to this idea, this discord must be still more firmly established, so that the cause of the confused chronology may appear. Further, in the rhyming Chronicle of Furness, of Stephen one reads Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 246.:

In the year one thousand, one hundred, and thrice ten as well, and seven besides, this man becomes king in full order.

This Stephen was at that time of Boulogne and of Mortain, when he caused this house to be *; in the reign of Henry the First, in the running twentieth and sixth year, the cast of its foundation laid; and so this monastery stood ten years at its station when this count first shone with the glory of the crown.

And in the same place below, in the Progeny of King Stephen Ibid., p. 247.: "And in the tenth year after the said foundation" (of Furness) "the same Stephen was crowned king of England, immediately (with no king between) after the said King Henry, namely in the year of the Lord MCXXXVII."

[64] whereby it came about that in several English Chronicles Whence these things, I ask? The solution of this riddle seems to me to be sought from elsewhere. Most chronographers, namely, fused two years of King Stephen into one; whence his reign, which lasted almost nineteen years, was contracted to eighteen. Wherefore, whoever committed this chronological offence, in order at some point to return to the right path, were constrained to choose one of these three ways: namely, either to mark Stephen's reign a year later (as was done in the charters cited and in the Furness records); or to end his reign a whole year earlier: which manner some in fact held (as will be seen at once); or lastly, just as they had contracted two years into one, so to divide some other into two: of which last manner examples too are not lacking. And no one will wonder that in the midst of this confusion very many chronographers did not know where to stand. All of which we shall now illustrate with some specimens, beginning from those who did not know what they ought to hold. Philip of Byland, a writer of the end of the twelfth century and already often cited, has these things in the History of Jervaulx Ibid., p. 529.: "But afterwards, in the eleventh, according to some, or the twelfth year of the reign of King Stephen, namely in that year in which the abbot of Fountains, Henry Murdac by name, was consecrated archbishop of York, in the year of the Lord one thousand one hundred and forty-six," nay, after the 29th of November of the year 1147 [Cf. Hist. Fontium, n. XXXVII, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 302, and Novaës, Elem. di Storia Pontif., vol. III, p. 71.]. Where it is to be noticed that the same year, on Philip's testimony, was to some the eleventh of Stephen, to others the twelfth; next, that what Philip narrates does in fact belong to the year in which Henry Murdac was consecrated (for it concerns the chapter of Savigny, which at num. 37 we showed to have been held in the year 1147); but that Philip nevertheless departs from the truth by a whole year in this very consecration, because he referred what had been done in the twelfth year of Stephen to the eleventh, and so fell into the year of the Incarnation 1146, drawing the beginning of Stephen's reign from the 26th of December of the year 1135.

[65] one year is wanting; All these shadows were created by Robert of Torigni (de Monte), a contemporary of Stephen and easily to be reckoned among the most learned of his time, who in the very autograph exemplar of his chronicle In Pertz, Mon. Germ., vol. VI, p. 494 and following narrates events one year later from the year 1141, which he fused into one with the preceding, until the death of Stephen. And, what will make you wonder, he refers his own abbatial blessing to the year 1153, but with those chronological marks which most certainly designate the year 1154, namely in the month of May, on the sixth day before the Kalends of June, the Thursday within the octave of Pentecost Ibid., p. 503, line 47.. He places the death of Stephen at the year 1153, and then connects the first year of King Henry with the year 1155, omitting 1154. Here and there elsewhere too a similar deviation is detected. Roger of Wendover Flores Histor., vol. II, p. 227 and following and Matthew Paris, who followed him Hist. Angl., p. 82 and following, Zurich edition, 1606, went by the same road, with this difference, however, that out of part of the months of November and December of the year 1152, according to Robert's reckoning, they made up the year 1153, and marked Stephen's death at the year 1154. And not only in the Chronicles or Annals of the kingdom, but also in ecclesiastical ones, the same manner of reckoning is observed. So John, prior of Hexham, who, as Pagi long ago noticed Critica at the year 1141, n. 8., cut the year 1140 in two and bound the events of the year 1141 to the year 1142 In Twysden, Scriptt. X, vol. I, col. 266., when he combines the years of Stephen with the years of the Incarnation, runs into the reckoning of Robert of Torigni. You have an example where he treats of the death of Thurstan, bishop of York: "In the year, then," he says Ibid., col. 267, "from the Incarnation of the Lord MCXL … and the fifth of the reign of Stephen, … on the eighth day before the Ides of February, the fifth weekday"; which latter marks belong to the year MCXLI. Nay, even in the Annals of Waverley themselves, in which nevertheless the years of Stephen are joined in sound order with the years of the Incarnation, traces of the other reckoning remain; for example, the Council of Reims, in which the bull on the union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians was given, is placed at the year 1147, and again mention of the same council is made at the following year, as though another were in question In Gale, Hist. Angl. Scriptt. V, vol. II, p. 156..

[66] which matter seems to have flowed into the French Chronicles themselves. But since in this age the Norman and English chronographers were eminent, hence perhaps too is to be sought the cause of the deviations which are met with in the Chronicles of France; for example, in the Chronicle of Clairvaux the death of Robert, abbot of Clairvaux, and that of Blessed Serlo, which followed not long after, are referred to the year 1147; and yet from the Book of the sepulchres of Clairvaux In Henriquez, Menol. at the 29th of April, p. 142 it is established that Robert died on the third day before the Kalends of May, and a few days after Holy Saturday; which must necessarily be connected with the year 1148. Nor do I doubt that the Cistercian Chronography too, on whose occasion we entered upon that digression, is in some place infected with that Norman reckoning (if it is lawful so to call it). Further, to conclude these things, everyone sees how full of hazard it is to refer the events of this time to certain years; and next, that it will be no wonder if anywhere the Cistercian Chronography at some time differs from other documents. All which being considered, it is plain that much caution is needed as regards the years. But as regards the days and months, from the comparison of many places of the Cistercian Chronography with other records I am wholly persuaded that it is a vain hope to find better marks elsewhere. But of the Cistercian Chronography thus far.

[67] For determining the time other Cistercian catalogues too will be of service To the third kind, lastly, I refer the more recent Cistercian Catalogues, fairly conformable among themselves, which are met with in Jongelinus in his Notitiæ of the abbeys. They are, moreover, manifold: for you have there, first, after the beginnings of the abbeys of each kingdom or province have been set out, a chronological catalogue; then after the first book come the chronological Indices of the abbeys which are of the line of Cîteaux, of the line of La Ferté, of the line of Pontigny, of the line of Clairvaux (which embraced the houses of Savigny from the year 1147 or 1148), and of the line of Morimond; at the end of the work, lastly, there occurs the chronological Index of the abbeys of the Cistercian order throughout the whole world, arranged in the order which those of Cîteaux are accustomed to observe in the general chapter. And to this also seems to be referred the Genealogical catalogue of the Abbeys of the Cistercian order, of which it has already been said at num. 52. Since, however, all these catalogues were made from a review of the old tables, and not from the Chronography published by Manrique, everyone understands that from the comparison of those records very much light can shine forth.

[68] and very many Chronicles. To these are added very many Chronicles, which were printed chiefly in the Monasticon Anglicanum, and other notices of that kind; which indeed, as they often conflict with one another, so also with other records. And although in England, even in the middle ages, the historical year was here and there begun from the 25th of December or from the 1st of January, yet since it sometimes also took its beginning from the eighth day before the Kalends of April, or the 25th of March Harris Nicolas, Chronology of History, p. 41., you have from this too a cause for sometimes being at a stand.

[69] Rocks and difficulties. Since, therefore, so many difficulties rise up on every side, he would be more morose than is just who did not receive most indulgently this my attempt, such as it is, at the filiation of Savigny. Hear what Manrique writes in the prologue to the appendix of his Annals Annal. Cist., vol. IV, p. 535.: "We testify seriously and wish it to be known that more work and labour was spent by us on the foundations of each year than on the rest of the fabric of the history. For in this the computation of time and the judgment of the author can do much: in those, scarcely anything. Nay, the unknown and manifold names, both of places and of dioceses; and these themselves varied in manifold ways, or corrupted, the more they are pressed or compared, give birth to the greater confusion. The Annals would perhaps have stuck fast in this part, etc." Since, however, the Cistercian writers were unable to use the Monasticon Anglicanum (because they are older), while Dugdale and those who in a more recent age published his work again, wonderfully illustrated and enlarged, seem to have prescribed to themselves almost this law, to use the works of Catholics as sparingly as possible; it will nevertheless have been worth while to attempt something amid these shadows from the comparison of both kinds of records. These things being premised, here now are the tables of the filiation of Savigny, and the proofs then subjoined.

* destinabit (he will destine).

* In the year 1127.

§ V. The abbeys founded by St. Vitalis.

St. Vitalis, at first abbot of hermits, Savigny, the mother of all the other abbeys, must be illustrated in the first place. St. Vitalis, of whose deeds it was spoken at the 7th day of January, born in the town of Tigerium (commonly Tierceville), in the diocese of Bayeux, about the middle of the eleventh century, became in the year 1080 chaplain of Robert, count of Mortain; ten years later he sent a notice of farewell to the world, having distributed his goods to the poor, and among the very rocks of Mortain, with some who joined themselves to him as companions, he led the eremitical life for about three years, namely until in the year 1093 he went away into the forest of Credonum (commonly Craon), where he again joined companions to himself, no differently from Blessed Robert of Arbrissel, Ralph de la Futaie and afterwards Blessed Bernard of Tiron. The place of Dompierre, afterwards called a priory, St. Vitalis occupied with his own. From here he migrated to the forest of Fougères, where for the third time he gathered new disciples; and afterwards into the forest of Savigny, where for the fourth time he admitted companions under his discipline: being accustomed to visit his old companions again and again. Although St. Vitalis had not received the abbatial blessing, not only with the name of master Geoffrey Grossus, Life of Blessed Bernard of Tiron, chap. XI, p. 21., but also with that of abbot his own

he presided, as we have from the preamble to the foundation of the Holy Trinity at Neufbourg of Mortain; here are the words Gall. Christ., vol. XI, instr., col. 108.: "In the year from the incarnation of the Lord 1105, I, William, count of Mortain, son of Robert, who was the brother of William, king of the English, built an abbey of nuns in honour of the Holy Trinity at Neufbourg of Mortain, with the help of brother Vitalis, being at that time abbot of Savigny, to which abbot I gave the administration of my possessions, etc."

[71] In the year 1112 he founds the abbey of Savigny. The number of St. Vitalis' hermits, moreover, was growing day by day; and when they were a hundred and forty, they asked their master to bring them over to the common life. The blessed man chose a valley, in which the ruins of an old castle remained, in the midst of woods and rocks: and he obtained it with the forest of Savigny from Ralph of Fougères on the eighth day before the Kalends of February of the year 1112 Ibid., col. 110, and Martène, Anecd., vol. I, col. 332.. In the same year Henry I, king of England, confirmed the same donation "to the lord Vitalis the hermit, as a possession and a cenobitic dwelling of monks" Gallia Christ., vol. XI, instr., col. 111.. The Rev. M. Badiche Biographie univ., vol. XLIX, p. 280. places in the same year the approval of the new institute by Paschal II and the giving of the abbatial blessing to St. Vitalis by Turgisius, bishop of Avranches. But I judge these things to have been said from conjecture. There is indeed read a bull of Paschal II by which the monks of Savigny are permitted to celebrate the divine offices in time of interdict Martène, Anecd., vol. I, col. 336.; but this has no other indication of time than this: "Given at the Lateran on the tenth day before the Kalends of April": whence, just as in vain you will try to draw the approval of the institute from this charter, so in vain will you try to extract the year. But if St. Vitalis was blessed after receiving this bull, nothing prevents his blessing from being deferred to the year 1115; for in this way it would be understood why Orderic Vitalis In Souchet, Vit. S. Bernardi Tiron., p. 185. wrote that he served God as a soldier for only seven years.

[72] The priory of Dompierre. II. Dompierre. That St. Vitalis gathered disciples in the place called Domnipetra (commonly Dompierre or Dampierre), in that part of the forest of Craon which was comprised in the diocese of Le Mans, has already been said. In the year 1119 he received this seat as a gift from Henry I, king of England Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 543 and 554., and there instituted a priory. The blessed man was visiting this place when he fell into illness, and on the 16th of September of the year 1122 he died a most holy death. This priory had long since been extinct before the overthrow of sacred things in France Ibid., col. 554..

[73] The nunnery of the White Ladies. III. The White Ladies. That in the year 1105 William, count of Mortain, raised up an abbey of nuns at Neufbourg, in the diocese of Avranches, we saw at num. 70. The Rev. M. Badiche, however, holds that they only migrated here in the year 1120, having previously dwelt in the forest of Savigny, in the place commonly called Prise-aux-nones, five hundred paces from the monastery of men Biographie univ., vol. XLIX, p. 281.. Nor do I care to dissent from these things, since we lack the Life of St. Vitalis which lighted his way. Over these nuns presided St. Adelina, St. Vitalis' sister; but the abbot of Savigny himself had the temporal and spiritual care. The titular was the Holy Trinity; the name, of the White Ladies, commonly les Blanches Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 555.. It is no wonder that this abbey is not indicated in the Bull of Anastasius IV, nor in the Cistercian catalogues; since all the monasteries of maidens are omitted there.

[74] The nunnery of Villers-Canivet. IV. Villare Caniveti, commonly Villers-Canivet, a nunnery in the diocese of Séez and a daughter of Savigny Souchet, op. et loc. citt., one league distant from Falaise, must have been founded in the year 1127 or even before, since the name of Almauda the abbess is read at this year in the Savigny papers, as also at the year 1140 in the papers of the abbey of Saint-Georges. This foundation is owed to Roger de Mowbray, Steward of the king of England [Beaunier, Recueil des abbayes, vol. II, p. 772; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 752.]. The patroness was Blessed Mary Louis de Mas Latrie, Ann. Hist. pour 1838, p. 225..

§ VI. The abbeys founded by Blessed Geoffrey before the year 1131.

Furness. V. Furnesium, Furneseja, St. Mary of Fudernesium, of Forneys, etc., commonly Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 244 and following, in Lancashire, situated in the diocese of York towards the west near the sea Von Spruner, Atlas., comes immediately after Savigny, both in the bull of Eugene III under the name of de Furum, and in the Catalogue of Savigny, where it is corruptly called de Turnesio. Its origin is openly attributed to Blessed Geoffrey in Leland's Collectanea Vol. III, p. 357, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 244., where these things are related: "Stephen, count of Boulogne, afterwards king of England, gave to Geoffrey of Savigny a town, namely Tulket, in the province which is called Acmundernes" (commonly Amounderness), "on the bank of the river Ribble, to build an abbey of his order, and there they remained for nearly three years." These things are also indicated more accurately in the History of the foundation and series of abbots, and in the historical Verses on the foundation of the monastery of Furness, which the Monasticon Anglicanum presents Vol. V, p. 246.. There one reads that the foundation in Tulket was made on the fourth day before the Nones, or the 4th of July, of the year 1124; that the monks of Savigny stayed there three years and as many days; until the monastery was translated to the place of the valley which was then called Bekangekjill, but afterwards Blessed Mary of Furness; hence Furness is entered in the Catalogue of Jongelinus at the year 1127; but in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1130, chap. VII, vol. I, p. 215., according to the Pisan reckoning, at the year 1130 and the Nones of July. The reason of which matter is manifest. For Waverley was founded, by the Pisan reckoning, in the year 1129 on the eighth day before the Kalends of December according to the Chronography Ibid., at the year 1129, chap. VII, vol. I, p. 202., the Catalogues of Jongelinus, and the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez (where, however, the fifth day before the Kalends of November is read), that is, on the eighth day before the Kalends of December of the year 1128 according to the common reckoning, which the Annals of Waverley follow In Gale, Scriptt. V, Hist. rer. Angl., vol. II, p. 150.: whence before the union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians the abbot of Waverley had the right of presiding over the chapter of England and generally of preceding the other abbots. But since this right, by reason of antiquity, passed through that union to the abbot of Furness, a lawsuit arose hence between the two prelates, which was at some time settled according to the good and equitable Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 237, note c.. To the contention of the abbot of Waverley, therefore, it is to be attributed that Furness was moved from its place in the Chronography and put back to the year 1129, or 1130 by the Pisan reckoning, although it certainly had an abbot already from the Nones, or the 7th of July, of the year 1127.

[76] Ynes, previously called Carrick, VI. "The abbey of Ynes was made a daughter of Furness in the form written below, as is expressed more clearly in the register and chronicles of Ulster concerning its foundation. Accordingly, on the third day before the Kalends of June in the year of the Lord MCLXXX, and in the twenty-sixth year of the reign of King Henry the second after the conquest of England; and in the third year after the conquest of Ulster by arms [Cf. Lanigan, An eccles. Hist. of Ireland, chap. XIX, § XII, vol. IV, p. 232 and 234; Lewis, A topograph. Diction. of Ireland, under Down.], the illustrious man the lord John de Courcy, conqueror of Ulster, founded the abbey of Ynes in the island of Ynescuscre; for so it was then called: which indeed a certain king of Ulster named Magnellus Makenlefe had previously founded, on the sixth day before the Ides of September in the year of the Lord MCXXVII, near the spring of St. Finian, in the land which is called Erynach, and he named it the abbey of Carrike; and it was of the Tironensian order and a daughter of Savigny; whose first abbot was saint Evodius… After the passing of this abbot the said monastery of Carryke remained of the order of Savigny through the times of three abbots, namely Odo, Devincius and John; in whose time" (namely about 1148) "the monastery itself was given back to the Cistercian order, on condition that it should for ever thereafter be a daughter of Furness: but at the time of the conquest of Ulster the aforesaid lord John de Courcy utterly destroyed it, because it was a fortress and greatly harassed him; but in recompense he founded it, or rather translated it, into the island of Ynescuscre, and gave to its mother house of Furness, for building it, the same lands which it had held in the former place by gift of the aforesaid King Magnellus: and so the said abbey of Ynes was made a daughter of Furness just as it had previously been in the former place.

In the year one thousand, one hundred, and twice forty, Courcy founded Ynes: thence he overcame his foes."

[77] It had a twofold seat. Thus far the old History of Furness Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 250.. The Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553. and Camden, or Gough Britannia, etc., vol. III, p. 617., have similar things. The latter, however, calls the king of Ulster, the founder of the monastery of Carrike, Mac-Eulef; and the place Erinaich near the spring of St. Finian Mac-Nell, situated a league and a half towards the south from Down of St. Patrick, and now called Ergnagh Carlisle, A topograph. Diction. of Ireland, under Erynagh.. The abbey of Ynescuscre he calls Inis Curcy, but others Inch Curcy, from its founder. Camden likewise relates that it was situated within the circuit of the city of Down (commonly Downpatrick) on the eastern shore of Ulster, while Lewis A topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Down. places it outside the walls (and certainly better according to Cistercian usage). Ware, and from him Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in regno Hibern., p. 27. and Manrique Annal. Cist. at the year 1187, chap. VIII, vol. III, p. 199., refer the translation into Courcy's Island to the Kalends of July of the year 1187, relying on the published Annals and the Ms. Annals of St. Mary's of Dublin. But with Archdall Monast. Hibern., p. 119 and others I prefer to follow the monks of Furness, since the history of their own daughter will surely have been better known to the monks of Furness. The patron's name nowhere meets me; for what Jongelinus has on this matter pertains to another monastery.

[77] Beaubec. VII. Bellus Beccus, commonly Beaubec, in the diocese of Rouen, in Normandy, has often been called the first daughter of Savigny [Cf. the Sainte-Marthe brothers, Abbatiæ, p. 146; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 301; Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. I, part I, p. 153.], although it is later than Furness: but

that too is to be ascribed to the victory of Waverley which I was just mentioning. In the Catalogue of Savigny, where no year is added, it comes after Furness; Souchet refers its origin to the eighteenth day before the Kalends of October of the year 1116; which perhaps is to be referred to the beginnings of some hermitage or priory. The authors of the Gallia Christiana Loc. cit. and of the Description of Normandy Loc. cit. place the foundation at the Kalends of November of the year 1128; but they rely on the Cistercian Chronography In Manrique, Annal. at the year 1128, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 171., which in this place is accustomed to run ahead by nine months according to the Pisan reckoning. One must therefore rather adhere to the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbatiæ, p. 146., the New Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VI, p. 1069., the Catalogues of Jongelinus and the Genealogical Ms., where, according to the common reckoning, Beaubec is related to have been founded on the Kalends of November of the year 1127. The founder was Hugh II of Gournay, the patron St. Lawrence Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 301..

[78] Vaux-de-Cernay. VIII. Valles Cernaji, commonly Vaux-de-Cernay, comes in the Catalogue of Savigny immediately after Beaubec, similarly in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1128, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 191., with these marks added: "In the same year and day, the abbey of Sarnai"; that is, according to the Pisan reckoning, on the Kalends of November of the year 1128. But according to the common reckoning, which the Catalogues of Jongelinus follow, and also the Genealogical Ms., this foundation is to be bound to the year 1127. This abbey, moreover, was situated in France, on the border of the diocese of Paris, so that part of the monastery, the abbatial buildings and very many estates belonged to the diocese of Chartres. It had as founder Simon de Neauphle, as patrons Blessed Mary and St. John the Baptist, and as mother Savigny Gallia Christ., vol. VII, col. 885.. The Gallia Christiana Ibid., app. col. 52. presents part of the charter of foundation, the chronological marks, however, being omitted.

[79] Chaloché. IX. Calocejum, Calocheum, Chalocejum, commonly Chaloché, in the diocese and territory of Angers, follows Vaux-de-Cernay in the Catalogue of Savigny. Nevertheless some writers [Beaunier, Recueil des évêchés et abbayes de France, vol. II, p. 926; Bodin, Recherches sur Angers et le Bas-Anjou, vol. I, p. 382.] refer its beginnings to the year 1119, and its enlargement to the year 1127. On the other hand Souchet Vit. S. Bernardi Tiron., p. CCLXXIIII., the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez and the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbatiæ, p. 237. assign the foundation to the year 1129, so that you would say the year 1119 had arisen from a copyist's slip; were it not that the year 1127 intervenes, which in the Catalogues of Jongelinus and in the Genealogical Ms. is ascribed to the founding of Chaloché. In the midst of this fight nothing perhaps is more prudent than to follow the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1129, chap. VII, vol. I, p. 202., which places the foundation of the abbey of Kalocherium on the fifth day before the Kalends of November, at the year 1129 according to the Pisan reckoning, 1128 according to the common one. Its author was Hamelin of Ingrandes, who, as the Sainte-Marthe brothers say Abbat., p. 237., "conferred the place where the monastery is situated. Afterwards this seat was enriched by the lords of Blaison, of Matheflon and other benefactors; which foundation Pope Eugene III confirmed in 1152 by an apostolic writing." The patroness was Blessed Mary Louis de Mas Latrie, Monast. de France, in Ann. hist. pour 1838, p. 99..

[80] Foucarmont. X. That Fulcardimons, commonly Foucarmont, in Normandy, in the diocese of Rouen, was founded on the eighth day before the Kalends of August, or the 25th of July, the Catalogues agree equally with the historians; but whether in the year 1129 or 1130 no one could easily say. The Catalogue of Savigny, the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1130, chap. VII, vol. I, p. 215 and following, the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez and the other Ms., and also the Catalogues of Jongelinus mark the year 1130; but since the Pisan reckoning everywhere intervenes, and since moreover Souchet Vita S. Bernardi Tiron., p. CCLXXV. and the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbat., p. 444. write the year 1129, I would not dare to adhere to the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 304. and to the Historian of Normandy Descript. de la H. Normandie, vol. I, part I, p. 154 and following, who note the foundation of Foucarmont in the year 1130. Foucarmont had as patrons the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. John the evangelist, and as founder Henry I, count of Eu, who took the monastic habit there Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 304.

[81] Saint-André-en-Gouffern. XI. St. Andrew de Goffer, of Gouffern or de Vinatio, in the diocese of Séez in Normandy, is placed in the table of Savigny and the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1130, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 216. at the Kalends of March of the year 1130; which time, since the Pisan reckoning agrees with the common year in about the first three months of the year, is to be retained; and indeed the Catalogues of Jongelinus and the genealogical Ms. agree. Souchet's Catalogue, according to the Florentine reckoning, has the year 1129. The founder was William, count of Ponthieu; the titular patrons the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Andrew Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 744, and app. col. 162 and following..

[82] Neath. XII. The abbey of Nethe, of Noth or Neath, in the diocese of Llandaff, in Wales, in the county of Glamorgan, comes everywhere after Saint-André-en-Gouffern: in the table of Savigny at the 25th of October of the year 1130 under the name of de Meth; in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1130, chap. VI, vol. I, p. 216. at the Kalends of October of the same year, under a similarly corrupt appellation, de Keth; and likewise at this year in the Catalogues of Jongelinus and in the genealogical Ms. and in Souchet Vit. S. Bernardi Tiron., p. CCLXXV.. From the very place in which this abbey is indicated in the Chronography it becomes clear enough that the common year is kept there. Nor do I doubt that the writers of the new Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. V, p. 258. would have hesitated less if they had cast their eyes on these tables; and they would certainly have corrected Tanner, whom they bring forward, where from him they ascribe Neath to Savigny in the diocese of Lyon; which house never had anything in common with the white monks, and venerated St. Martin as its patron, whereas Savigny in the diocese of Avranches was dedicated to the Holy Trinity. Here, moreover, is part of the charter of foundation Ibid., p. 259.: "Be it known to all, present as well as future, that I, Richard de Granville, and Constance my wife, for the salvation of the soul of Robert, earl of Gloucester, and of Mabel his wife, the countess, and of William their son, and for the salvation of our souls and of those of our predecessors, give to God and to the church of the holy Trinity of Savigny all the waste which is within these four waters; namely Neth, Thavy, Cloeda, Poncanum; and the chapel of our Castle of Neath, and other things, and with all the tithe of our men of that province, etc. etc. All these we give freely and quietly and without any secular exaction, and with the patronage and grant of Henry, king of the English, and with the will of Robert, consul of Gloucester, and of Mabel his wife, the countess, and of William their son: on this condition, that the abbot of the church of Savigny and its convent shall institute in the same alms a convent of monks, to remain there perpetually under an abbot." Hence we learn not only the founder, but also the mother of Neath, namely Savigny. The Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez, therefore, errs in calling Furness the mother, all the others agreeing with the charter recited. That at the beginning the Holy Trinity, and not Blessed Mary, as Souchet relates Vit. S. Bern. Tir., p. CCLXXV., was the title of this monastery may be gathered from the charter of confirmation of King John Mon. Ang., vol. V, p. 259..

§ VII. The abbeys founded by Blessed Geoffrey before the year 1134.

La Boissière. XIII. The beginnings of Buxeria, commonly La Boissière, in the diocese and territory of Angers, are referred by all to the year 1131; Souchet Loc. sup. cit. and Beaunier Recueil, etc., vol. II, p. 926. add the day, the 15th of July; with whom the table of Savigny agrees: nevertheless I would rather adhere to the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1131, chap. V, vol. I, p. 225., most accurate in assigning days, and assigning the Nones of July, or the 7th day. The diversity perhaps arises because the latter regards (according to its custom) the sending out of the colony, the former the institution of the new convent in the abbey of La Boissière itself. A similar example I have already indicated above at n. 58. I find neither patrons nor founders.

[83] Aunay. XIV. Alnetum, commonly Aulney, Auney, in the diocese of Bayeux, in Normandy, is referred by all to the year 1131, and by some to the 15th of July. Nevertheless the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1131, chap. V, vol. I, p. 225. indicates neither day nor month; and the Catalogue of Savigny, Souchet Loc. sup. cit. and the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbat., p. 30 relate only that the foundation was made in the same month of July in which La Boissière was begun. The founders were Jordan de Say and Lucy his wife; whose donation Henry I, king of England, confirmed. The patroness, moreover, was Blessed Mary Gallia Christ. nov., vol. XI, app. col. 88.. On all these things, besides the documents cited, Hermant Hist. du dioc. de Bayeux, p. 166. and the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VI, p. 1109. may be consulted.

[84] Quarr. XV. The beginnings of Quarr, which Eugene III calls Carreia, others Quarreria, Souchet Loc. sup. cit. Quadazaria, the table of Savigny Carretia, the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez Querreye, are all set after the founding of Aunay. But the Catalogues of Jongelinus and the genealogical Ms. refer them to the year 1131, and the table of Savigny adds the day, the 4th of October. On the other hand Souchet Ibid., l. c. marks them at the Kalends of May of the year 1132, and the Cistercian Chronography at the fifth day before the Kalends of May of the same year. Perhaps the monks were sent out from Savigny on the 4th of October of the year 1131, but arrived at Quarr in the month of April of the following year, and their abbot was blessed on the 27th of this month, or the fifth day before the Kalends of May. For the rest, the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. V, p. 314. binds the first donation, made before the abbey was founded Ibid., p. 316, col. 1., to the thirty-second year of Henry I, running from about the middle of the month of August 1131; and in the title of the charters subjoined, from the Annals of St. Werburgh's of Chester, it refers the foundation to the year 1132 Ibid., loc. cit.: all of which persuade that one must adhere to the Cistercian Chronography. Further, the founder, Baldwin, earl of Devon, the patroness, Blessed Mary, the site in the island of Vecta or Wight in the diocese of Winchester, and other things of that kind may be learned from the charter of Richard, son of Baldwin the founder. Here is how it runs Ibid., loc. cit.: "Since the life of mortals

in this world is enclosed in a very brief space, etc. Wherefore I, Richard, earl of Exeter, son of Earl Baldwin, grant and confirm the alms which my father, with the grant of Henry, the venerable king of the English, gave to God and to the Holy Virgin and to the Lord Geoffrey, abbot of Savigny, in the island of Wight, namely land for building a monastery; namely the manor of Aretone, as he held it in his demesne, and the land of Sieca, of Boecumba, and two mills, etc."

[85] Fontaine-Blanche, at first a congregation of hermits, XVI. Fontanæ Albæ, commonly Fontaine-les-Blanches, in the diocese and territory of Tours, is placed in all the Catalogues at the year 1132; whence I would believe it is to be attributed to the copyists that in the Chronicle of Fontaines, or the History of the Prelates of Blessed Mary of Fontaines, as it was published by d'Achery Spicileg., vol. II, p. 573, folio., MCXXXIV is read for MCXXXII. As to the month and day there is not complete agreement. Souchet Vit. S. Bern. Tir., p. CCLXXV. writes the seventh day before the Ides of September, elsewhere the 20th of November; the Chronicle of Fontaines Loc. sup. cit. the third day before the Ides, or the 11th of November; the Catalogue of Savigny and the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1132, chap. VIII, vol. I, p. 243. the fourth day before the Ides, or the 10th of November; which seems to be retained. Further, from the cited History of the prelates of Fontaines, written by Peregrinus, the seventh abbot, we know that a certain Geoffrey, a hermit, chose several companions for himself, among whom were some conspicuous men whom Peregrinus reviews, continuing thus: "This again let your fraternity know, that in this place" (namely where afterwards the monastery of Fontaines was) "they did not have their first dwelling, but chose for themselves a place of habitation near the bridge of Rune, in stony ground, which overlooks this abbey. But word went out among the brethren that that place was not suitable enough for staying: and by common counsel they moved with all their goods to this place, in which we now dwell praying." Which I judge to have been done on the seventh day before the Ides, or the seventh day of April, of the year 1127, since Beaunier Recueil, etc., vol. II, p. 898., who doubtless had the old documents of Fontaines before his eyes, assigns this time to the foundation of the hermitage; and Maan Sancta et Metrop. eccles. Turonensis, p. 111., to whom the archive of Fontaines was similarly accessible, reports the abbey itself (wrongly, surely) to have been founded in the year 1127. "But among the other buildings which they built here" (in the new place at Fontaines) "they built a wooden chapel of great beauty in honour of St. Mary Magdalene."

[86] they are subjected to Savigny, Then he narrates how one of the hermits, born at Messines in Flanders and called William the Fleming, was created patriarch of Jerusalem; which we know from Orderic Vitalis Hist. eccles., book XII, in Duchesne, p. 888. to have been done in the year 1130; he then sets out the journey to Jerusalem of another hermit, named Lambert the Great, and what relics he received from William, and continues in these words: "After this they began more frequently to urge and approach master Geoffrey, that they should transfer themselves and their place to one of the orders; and he answered them not a word. Master Geoffrey fell sick, and that sickness was very severe. And his brethren, coming to him, said: 'Set your house in order, for we fear lest perhaps you die and live no longer. If those black monks of Bonneval, who live near us, displease you, or those who are of Marmoutier on the other side? If you do not accept regular canons, if it please you, let us send as far as Savigny, which is a celebrated monastery; from which many monasteries have already proceeded, from which abbots come together to the chapter, and the order flourishes there, and their sweet repute is fragrant everywhere.' To whom he said: 'If you wish to send, send.' And they snatched the word from his mouth; and sending in haste, they brought the lord Geoffrey, abbot of Savigny, and the lord Hildebert, archbishop of Tours. There was present also the lord Reginald of Château-Renault, to whose lordship this place belonged. All, therefore, gathered into one and praising the Lord, decided that this place should henceforth be an abbey; and on that very day the archbishop of Tours blessed twelve of the hermits as monks, and he also blessed as abbot the lord Odo, a monk of Savigny, whom the aforesaid Geoffrey, abbot of Savigny, had brought with him for this purpose. And thus in the year of the Word incarnate MCXXXIV *, on the third day before the Ides of November, the abbey of Fontaines was founded.

[87] Some hermits depart; the title is changed. "But those who had come, all things having been duly celebrated and everything arranged, returning to their own, prayed that those remaining might rejoice in present and future prosperity. But master Geoffrey, and the lord Geoffrey Bullonus, and Ascelin the priest, and others whom we do not know how to name, refused to be blessed as monks. To whom the monks granted that they might go wherever they wished, and possess of the goods of the monastery whatever they wished, whether in possessions or in any things whatever, as long as they lived. Master Geoffrey therefore withdrew and dwelt in the forest beyond the river which is called the Cher, in the place which is called Aqua-viva" (Aiguevive) "where there is now an abbey of regular canons. Whence and whither he came we have not found for certain; but at the castle which is called Montrichard his last day and hour found him, and they carried him and buried him in the cemetery of the aforesaid abbey: and such was the end the man of God obtained. But Ascelin the priest, with the other Geoffrey, both died and had burial in the place which is called Lauda" (Landes? in the diocese of Chartres, later of Blois). "But the lord Geoffrey, surnamed Bullonus, about his end transferred himself with all his goods to our monastery and, God willing, merited burial in the cloister of the monks. And here is the end of the hermits. But holding to the history of the monks, let us return to the lord Odo, the first abbot, who, after he came to himself, was terrified at the poverty: for the aforesaid hermits had left him nothing except the seat of the abbey and as much of this stony land as four oxen could work… To him succeeded the lord Gilbert, a monk of Savigny… Finding the aforesaid poverty, he endured it for a little while, seeking someone to help and console him: and not finding one, he went away and died in the house of Savigny." Then, after narrating the union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians, Peregrinus continues thus: "This, moreover, we wish to commend to the memory of our successors, that as long as the house of Savigny was not subject to the Cistercian order, this place was dedicated in honour of St. Mary Magdalene, and from the time it subjected itself, as is held, to the Cistercian order (?), it was dedicated in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose glorious life illumines all the churches."

[88] Basingwerk. XVII. Basingwerk, in the county of Flint, in the diocese of St. Asaph, is said to have been founded, in the Chronicle of St. Werburgh Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 261. and in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 1131., in the year 1131; in the Annals of Louth Park Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 261 in the year 1132; in the Cistercian Chronography on the 3rd of July of the year 1133; by Tanner Ibid., loc. cit. about the year 1159; by Leland Ibid., loc. cit. after the year 1156; by others in the year 1312, after the Templars had been ejected from there. But that this abbey was founded before the year 1148 is clear from the often-cited Bull of Eugene III, in which it is designated by its name: and hence, since one must stand by the old documents, one must adhere to the year 1131, 1132 or 1133; so that it is held that the beginning was made in the year 1131 and the abbot instituted on the 3rd of July of the year 1133 in the Pisan manner. Concerning the founder there is much dispute, some extolling Ralph, earl of Chester, others King Henry II Ibid., loc. cit.. But if he is to be called founder who gave the seat of the monastery, the charter of King Henry III easily removes the difficulty in these words Ibid., p. 263.: "And moreover I grant to them and confirm all their tenements which Ranulph, earl of Chester, and other barons gave them and confirmed by their charters, namely Holywell and Fulibroch and the chapel of Basingwerk, in which they first dwelt, etc." The patroness was Blessed Mary Ibid., loc. cit. and passim.. Whether it was at some time a daughter of Buildwas will be inquired below.

[89] Combermere. XVIII. The foundation of Combermere various writers bind to various years: Tanner to the year 1133, the Annals of Croxden and of Louth Park to the year 1134, Ormerod to the year 1130, relying on a charter confirming the foundation Monast. Angl. nov., vol. V, p. 321.. But I judge it must be said that the donation of the lands was made in the year 1130 and perhaps a beginning given to the construction of the buildings; but the erection into an abbey, or the designation of the abbot, in the year 1133. The first part of which opinion is supported by the cited charter, the latter by the table of Savigny and the Chronography Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1133, chap. IV, vol. I, p. 253., the former indicating the 4th of June, the latter, with Souchet, the third day before the Ides of November. Moreover, in the contemporary History of the abbey of Dieulacres, a daughter of Combermere, we read Monast. Angl. nov., vol. V, p. 627.: "In the year MCXXXIII the abbey of Combermere was founded, a daughter of Savigny." It was situated in the diocese of Lichfield, with Blessed Mary and St. Michael as patrons; it had as founder Hugh de Malbanc, as confirmer Ranulf, earl of Chester Ibid., p. 321 and following..

[90] Of Calder XIX. Calder and Byland. Since both these monasteries have a common cradle, we must speak of both together. Caldra, further, commonly Calder or Cauder-Abbey, in the parish of St. Bridget in Cumberland, in the diocese of York, was founded, according to the Chronicles of St. Werburgh Ibid., p. 339, note a. and of the Isle of Man Ibid., p. 252., the Annals of Louth Park Ibid., p. 339., the History of Furness Ibid., p. 250., the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1134, chap. VIII, vol. I, p. 284., the Catalogue of Jongelinus and the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, p. 552., in the year 1134 according to the Florentine reckoning, or 1135 according to the common one, namely on the 10th of January according to the Catalogue of Savigny and the cited History of Furness and the Chronography. The founder was Ranulph de Meschines, second earl of Chester and of Cumberland, as is clear from the charter of King Henry III confirming the donations to Calder Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 340.; the patroness was the Blessed Virgin Mary Ibid., p. 339.. Twice, moreover, did Furness become its mother, since twice it sent there some of its sons; which matter, since it seems not to have been sufficiently noticed, must be set out somewhat more broadly. Further, in the History of the Foundation of Byland, which Philip, its third abbot, wrote in the year 1197 (when witnesses of the events done at the beginning were still surviving Cf. ibid., p. 349, col. 1, p. 354 and 350, col. 2.), it is read that in the thirty-fifth year of King Henry, or 1134, nay 1135, a certain convent going out from Furness obtained a certain

place which is called Calder in Copeland, by the pious grant of a certain magnate of that country, for building an abbey, an abbot named Gerold having been ordained for that convent, whom twelve monks had followed Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 349..

[91] When it was destroyed by the Scots, the inhabitants, after various fortunes, A little later there blazed up the first war between Stephen of England and David, king of Scotland: which was begun and closed in the year 1136: at which time the monks of Calder seem to have suffered nothing. But in the year 1138 (not, however, 1137, as Philip of Byland has it, wrongly joining the third year of Stephen with the year 1137 Cf. above, n. 64.), the war broke out again, and the king of Scotland, three times invading the northern parts of England, caused wretched slaughter everywhere Lingard, Hist. d'Angleterre, vol. II, p. 207, Louvain, 1827.. Calder was then laid waste, when they had stayed there for four years, in the third year of King Stephen Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 349., who was crowned on the 22nd of December of the year 1135 Art de vérifier les dates, vol. I, p. 801.. Gerold therefore returned with his convent to Furness; but since he wished to preside over his own there too, and to set up a double community in one monastery, they were not admitted by the monks of Furness, and were compelled on the next day to go on to Thurstan, archbishop of York; who commended them to the very rich and very pious Roger de Mowbray, son of Nigel d'Aubigny. He furnished them with a quite notable donation, and sent them to Robert de Alneto, a hermit at Hood, in whose little dwellings, which in the same year 1138 (1139?) they obtained from Roger de Mowbray with the surrounding lands, they lived four years. Meanwhile in the year 1141 (1142?) they subjected themselves to Savigny; which matter, as has already been said, gave occasion to a lawsuit.

[92] and after others again inhabited Calder, But we must return to Calder. Since, then, the monks of Furness judged that the former colony of Calder, without hope or purpose of returning to Calder, had a fixed place and was manfully tilling the land, "they ordained as abbot Hardred, a monk of Furness, and sent him with a certain other convent again as far as Calder, who from that time up to the present," says Philip, "live there regularly, in due succession, as best they can, as though always wasting away in the same state of temporal things." To the Catalogue of abbots, therefore, which you have in the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. V, p. 340., the names of Gerold and Hardred could be prefixed. But the monks of Furness were mistaken in reckoning Hood to be a fixed place and stable seat for the fugitive convent of Calder. For in the year 1143 (1144?) Abbot Roger, Gerold's successor, through his mother Gundreda besought the founder Roger de Mowbray to grant him a more ample place, and more suitable for building an abbey. "Which petition," says Philip the abbot, "the same Roger in the year of the Lord MCXLIII (MCXLIV?), about the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary," or the 8th of September, "devoutly and kindly granted, and he himself gave to the aforesaid monks the town of Byland with the church of the same town and all its appurtenances." There, accordingly, at the water of the Rye, near the abbey of Rievaulx, they built a small cell, which from the territory they called Byland; but the place of Hood, an exchange having been made, they ceded to a colony of the canons of St. Augustine of Bridlington, afterwards called of Newburgh.

[93] at length they found Byland. But here there was not yet an end to the migrations of our monks of Savigny. For five years later they reduced the cell at the Rye to a grange, hence called Old Byland; and they founded a new monastery at Stocking in the territory of Coxwold, where Roger de Mowbray had in the year 1147 given them some lands. They lived in this place thirty years, until in the year 1177, on the vigil of All Saints, they moved away near Burtoft and Bersclive, and there under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary they flourished until the times of Henry VIII.

* MCXXXII?

§ VIII. The remaining abbeys founded by Blessed Geoffrey.

Rushen, confused by some with Cîteaux itself, XX. The abbey of Russinum, commonly Russin or Ryshen abbey, was situated at Bally Salley above the town now called Castletown on account of the castle, Castle-Rushen Carlisle, Topograph. Diction. of Scotland, under Castle-Town.. It was also formerly called the abbey of Man, because it rose in the very well-known island of Man; of which formerly, no differently from the Hebrides, the diocese of Sodor, or of the southern islands, was composed; now content with Man alone and belonging to the province of York Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 697, Gough's edition.. Tanner In Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 252., Gough In Addit. to Camden's Britannia, vol. III, p. 697., Carlisle Topograph. Diction. of Scotland, under Bala-Salla. and others hold that a monastery was founded there in the year 1098 by Mac Manis, or rather Mac Maras Cf. Chron. regum Manniæ, in Camden, Britannia, p. 383, Amsterdam edition, 1647., prince of this island. But the source of this error is easily detected. For since in the Chronicle of the kings of Man, published by Camden, there was read at this year, in which Mac Maras was holding the principality Ibid., loc. cit.: "MXCVIII the abbey of St. Mary of Cîteaux was founded," those writers understood that there was asserted the foundation of the abbey of St. Mary of Rushen of the order of Cîteaux, whereas the monk of Rushen, the author of this Chronicle, indicated by these words nothing else than the foundation of the abbey of Cîteaux itself in Gaul, which was in fact founded in this year.

[95] it is founded in the year 1134, and in the year 1172 it tries to found Mirescog Further, although the History of Furness refers the foundation of this abbey to the year 1238 and the Catalogue of Jongelinus to the year 1140, it must be wholly held that it was instituted, an abbot being ordained, on the 10th of January of the year 1134: for on this matter the Catalogue of Savigny and the Cistercian Chronography agree Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1134, chap. VIII, vol. I, p. 284., and also the very Chronicle of the kings of Man, which reports these things [In Camden, Britann., p. 383, Amsterdam edition, and in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 252.]: "In the year of the Lord MCXXXIIII Olaf" king of Man "gave to Yvo" (or Evanus) "abbot of Furness part of his land in Man for building an abbey in the place which is called Russsin." To which some circumstances may be added from the History of Furness, in which these things are reported Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250.: "A certain land in Man was given to the abbey of Rievaulx" (the first in England, though a recent colony of Clairvaux) "for building the abbey of Russin; afterwards, however, it was given to the abbey of Furness for building it of the Cistercian order" (nay, of that of Savigny) "where it is now situated, and so it went out not from Rievaulx but from Furness." In the year 1176 the abbey of Rushen tried to found a daughter at Mirescog; but not so very long after the work was abandoned; which is set out in the Chronicle of Man in these words Ibid., p. 252; cf. Camden's Britannia, p. 384.: "In the year of the Lord MCLXXVI Godred, king of Man, gave as an offering to the venerable abbot Silvanus part of the land at Mirescog, where he soon built a monastery. But in process of time the whole land with the monks was granted to the abbey of St. Mary of Russin." The translation made in the year 1192 is also to be marked: "In the year of the Lord MCXCII," so it is related in the Chronicle Monast. loc. cit.; Britannia, p. 384., "the abbey of St. Mary of Russin was translated to Dufglas, and having dwelt there for four years they returned again to Russin."

[96] Swineshead. XXI. The abbey of Swineshevedum, commonly called Swineshed, with the Blessed Virgin Mary as patroness Charter of Henry II in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 337., is said in the Catalogue of Jongelinus, the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 552., the Annals of Peterborough and of Louth Park Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 336., the Catalogue of Savigny and other records, to have been founded in the year 1134, and indeed on the 7th of August in the Catalogue of Savigny; but in the History of Furness, or in the Catalogue of daughters, it is related to have been founded in the year 1148 Ibid., p. 250.. But a fault lies hidden in this catalogue: for below it is asserted that Swineshead was founded before the union with the Cistercians; and indeed this abbey is read in the charter of Eugene III, given on the fourth of April of the year 1148, in confirmation of the union entered into in the month of October in the year 1147 Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 541.. Concerning the founders various writers relate various things: but one must stand by the testimony of the charter of King Henry II, in which is read Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 337.: "And whatever Robert Greslei and Albert his son, the founders, gave to the aforesaid abbey and confirmed by their charters." This abbey was also called Locus Dei Catal. Savin. and Ann. Cisterc. at the year 1163, chap. III, vol. II, p. 375., and Hoilandia or Hoyland Annal. Cisterc., loc. cit., from the district in which it was situated. It was formerly disputed to which diocese it belonged, whether to that of St. Andrews in Scotland or to that of Lincoln Ibid., loc. cit.; but whence would a huge tract in the middle of England have come to a Scottish diocese? It was a colony of Furness, whose daughter it remained Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250..

[97] Longvilliers. XXII. Longumvillare, commonly Long Villers, in the county of Boulogne, and in the diocese of the Morini, and afterwards of Boulogne, had as founder Stephen, count of Boulogne, afterwards king of England. The Catalogues of Jongelinus, the Genealogical Ms. and the other of Henriquez agree with that of Savigny and the Chronography and other documents in assigning the year 1135 for its beginning. The day has dropped out of the Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1135, chap. IX, vol. I, p. 301., but from the place given there to Longvilliers it is clear that the foundation of this monastery was indicated there between the seventh day before the Kalends of April and the fifth day before the Nones of May. Souchet Vit. S. Bern. Tir., p. CCLXXV. and Beaunier Recueil, etc., vol. II, p. 661. designate the 25th of March, the Gallia Christiana Vol. X, col. 1615. and the table of Savigny the following day; which is to be chosen no one could easily determine. The patroness was Blessed Mary Beaunier, Recueil, etc., loc. cit..

[98] Stratford. XXIII. Stratfordia, or Stradford Langthorne, and also Stretforde, in Essex in the diocese of London, was founded according to all the Catalogues in the year 1135, and indeed, according to the Savigny register, Souchet Loc. sup. cit. and the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1135, chap. IX, vol. I, p. 301., on the eighth day before the Kalends of August, or the 25th of July: so that from this the doubt which you have on this matter in the new Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. V, p. 586. can easily be solved. The founder was William de Montfichet; the title Blessed Mary and All Saints, or simply Blessed Mary Ibid., page cit. and following..

[99] Buildwas. XXIV. Bildewasium, commonly Buildewas, was founded, with no one dissenting, in the year 1135; and indeed on the 8th of August according to the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1135, chap. IX, vol. I, p. 301. and on the 7th of August according to Souchet; but the former is a document of better note. Leland Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 355. held that Matilda de Bohun, wife of Robert Burnell, was the foundress of this monastery. But since in the charter of the year 1138 Cf. above, n. 63, by which Stephen, king of England, confirms the foundation itself, there is read Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 356.: "Know that I have granted and confirmed in perpetual alms to God and to the church of St. Chad, and to the abbot and the monks of the order of Savigny serving God in it, of Billemas, the whole manor itself, in wood and plain, and with the men and all things belonging to it, as Roger, bishop of Chester, gave them that place and granted it before me"; it is manifest that Roger, bishop of Chester or Lichfield, in whose diocese Buildwas was situated, was the founder. From the words recited it is established also that St. Chad was at that time the patron. Nevertheless after the passing over to the Cistercians St. Mary and St. Chad were made titulars, as is clear from the charter of donation of Gilbert de Lacy Ibid., page cit.. Jongelinus A. O. C. in Ang., p. 5. relates that the first monks were taken from Furness; nevertheless Souchet, the Catalogue of Henriquez and the other Ms. reckon Buildwas among the daughters of Savigny; and the same seems to be able to be drawn from the Bull of Eugene III (cf. above, num. 41 and 47), and moreover it is omitted in the catalogue of the daughters of Furness inserted in the history of that house Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250.. But nothing prevents the first monks from having been of Furness, while the abbey nevertheless acknowledged Savigny as its mother.

[100] Briostel of Aunoy. XXV. Briostellum, otherwise called Alnetum and Lannejum, commonly Lannoy or L'Aunoy de Briostel, in the diocese and territory of Beauvais, is referred in the Catalogue of Savigny and the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1137, chap. VII, vol. I, p. 332. to the 1st of December of the year 1131, and Jongelinus marks the same year. Souchet, from Louvet Antiq. Belvac., book IV, chap. XXXVII., relates that it was founded on the 21st of November of the year 1137; but one must rather adhere to the former. Further, a twofold foundation is to be distinguished, as one may learn from these words of the Gallia Christiana Vol. IX, col. 838: "The abbey of Blessed Mary of Briostel," it says, "is begun on the Kalends of December 1135 by Lambert de Breteuil and his son Renaud, who ceded whatever they had in the territory of Briostel, with the assent of the lords William Bisette and Ansold his son. But since that place, situated in a valley between two woods, was destitute of all the necessaries of life, the house was translated at the end of the year 1137 to Alnetum, a field planted with alders, Matthew de Ploeis furnishing the ground, namely a mill and a pond together with the seat of the abbey, in the year 1138." All of which agree well enough with the charters printed among the instruments of the Gallia Christiana Ibid., vol. X, instr., col. 355., although the noting of the days seems to have been added at will, since they are sought in vain in the charters mentioned. When the monastery had been translated, a priory or something similar remained at Briostel: as we gather from the charter of Odo, bishop of Beauvais, written about the year 1140, by which he declares that a certain alms was given by his hands to the church of St. Mary of Briostel, and among the witnesses comes Hugh, abbot of St. Mary of Aunoy. From what has been said, the patroness of both places was Blessed Mary; and this colony had gone out from Beaubec, whose daughter it remained according to the often-cited catalogues.

[101] Buckfast. XXVI. Buckfastria, commonly Buckfastleigh or Buckfastre, in Devon, in the diocese of Exeter, is said by the writers of the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553. to have been founded in the year 1134; in the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. V, p. 384. in the year 1137; by Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Anglia, p. 6. and the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1136. on the 27th of April of the year 1136, and by Souchet on the preceding day. But to which assertion must one adhere? I have no doubt that a beginning was given to the abbey in the year 1134, and that on the 27th of April of the year 1136 the colony was sent out or the abbot instituted. And certainly before the end of the year 1135 this monastery was already endowed, since we read in the charter of Henry II, king of England, and grandson through his mother Matilda of Henry I, the following Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 385.: "Know that I have granted in perpetual alms to the monks of Bugfasta, who are of the order of Savigny, the church and abbey of Bugfasta with all the lands … as the aforesaid abbey held … in the time of King H. my grandfather," who died in Normandy on the 1st of December of the year 1135 Art de vérifier les dates, vol. I, p. 800.. As to the patroness, namely the Blessed Virgin Mary, there is agreement; and similarly the Gallia Christiana agrees with the Monasticon Anglicanum in calling Ethelbert, son of William Pomeroy, the founder of this place. Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Angl., p. 6. relates that the first monks were brought out of Furness; yet it is not reckoned among the daughters of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250., but among those of Savigny Souchet, p. CCLXXV.: surely because the donation for founding the abbey had been made to the latter. There come in also the other arguments which we put forward with regard to Buildwas.

[102] Breuil-Benoît. XXVII. Brolium Benedicti. In the diocese of Évreux, between Dreux and Ivry, was situated Brolium Benedicti, commonly Breuil-Benoît, daughter of Vaux-de-Cernay, parent of La Trappe. From certain charters Gall. Christ., vol. XI, instr., col. 142 and following. it becomes known that this foundation is owed to the family of Marcilly and that the original titular patrons were Blessed Mary and St. John the Baptist; but that in the year 1224 the church was dedicated under the name of Blessed Mary alone Ibid., col. 143.. The foundation of this monastery is bound to the year 1137 in the Cistercian Catalogue and Chronography, in the Catalogues of Jongelinus, in the Genealogical Ms., in Beaunier Rec. des abb., p. 752. and Brasseur Hist. d'Evreux, p. 139, and also in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 663.; but there is no agreement about the day: the Cistercian Catalogue places the seventh day before the Kalends of April, or the 26th of March; both Gallia Christianas the eighth day before the Ides of May, or the 8th of May; Beaunier marks one or the other day; the dispute can perhaps be settled from this, that the colony was sent out on the 26th of March and a beginning given to the divine offices on the 8th of May.

§ IX. The abbeys founded up to the union with the Cistercians.

Briostel, a priory; St. Mary's of Dublin XXVIII. Briostel, a priory from the remains of the first seat of Briostel of Aunoy; of both it has been spoken at XXV.

XXIX. "St. Mary's near Dublin, otherwise Oustamby" (perhaps Ostmantown or Oxmantown, the city of the Danes), "is founded in the year 1139 by Malachinus, prince of Ireland." Thus the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553.. But quite otherwise the private little history of this monastery; which, as Ware is my witness In Manrique, Annal. Cist. at the year 1139, chap. X, vol. I, p. 378., thrusts upon us as founders Malachy, king of Meath and monarch of Ireland, Gillelmumholmoc and Roisia his wife. In the Irish manner these things are then adorned with prodigies. However that may be, Malachy, otherwise Melseachlain, reigned from the year 846 to the year 863 Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. III, p. 241.: whence that foundation would have to be placed within this space. But Archdall Monast. Hibern., p. 132., Thomas de Burgo Hibernia Dominicana, p. 741., Gough In Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 537., Carlisle Topograph. Diction. of Ireland, under Dublin (County of). and others refer it to the Danes, namely to the year in which they were converted in Ireland, 948 Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. III, p. 377 and 380.: which seems little probable to Lanigan Ibid., loc. cit.. It is certain from the charter of King Henry II Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 362. that this monastery existed before Earl Richard of Striguil had come into Ireland, that is, before the year 1171 Larrey, Hist. d'Angleterre, vol. I, p. 385.; nay even, from the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cisterc., at the year 1139, chap. X, vol. I, p. 378., from the Catalogue of Jongelinus and from the Annals of St. Werburgh Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 361., one must agree with the Gallia Christiana, which marks the foundation of this abbey at the year 1139; although four abbots who died before this year are indicated in certain writings Ibid., p. 362, cf. p. 361.. But who was the founder? The Gallia Christiana has Malachinus: but Malachinus, or Malachy or Melseachlain II, died in the year 1022 Lanigan, Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, vol. III, p. 426.; nor does any other of the same name appear to me afterwards. Ware In Manrique, Ann. Cist. at the year 1139, chap. X, vol. I, p. 378. commends a charter of Edward IV, king of England, by which the founder is reported to be Donald Gillelmoholmoc (is he not the same as Donal Gearrlamhach, king of the Danes or Northmen of Dublin Cf. Vallancey's Collectanea, vol. I, p. 566.?), with the consent of Diervorgilia his wife and Dermot his firstborn. I have nothing by which these things might be confirmed or impugned.

[104] Its origin is rather obscure. It is asked, thirdly, whether there were ever black monks there, or mere Benedictines; most say so, since in the tenth century, to which they bind the beginnings of this monastery, the Cistercians or other white monks did not yet exist. But that Benedictines, or Black Monks, existed at that time in Ireland Lanigan [Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. III, p. 380, note 139. Cf. Thomas de Burgo, Hibernia Dominicana, p. 740.] flatly denies. But since in my opinion this abbey was founded only in the year 1139, I exclude the Black Monks from here with all the better right, because the Annals of Blessed Mary's of Dublin hold that in this very year this monastery was changed into a Cistercian one Cf. Annal. Cist. at the year 1139, chap. X, vol. I, p. 378.. But that this place was at that time occupied by the monks of Savigny, and not by the Cistercians, and that the two were confused by the annalist nine years too early, is clear enough even from this alone, that the most celebrated St. Malachy of Armagh first founded Mellifont, the cradle of the Cistercians in Ireland, in the year 1142 Cf. Lanigan, vol. IV, p. 117 and 120.. St. Mary's, moreover, seems from the beginning to have been a daughter

of Buildwas Cf. Ann. Cisterc., appendix to vol. I, year 1140, vol. IV, p. 543.; although it was at some time necessary for King Henry II to make the authority of the abbots of Buildwas certain Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 363.: Souchet mentions it, though under a different name, among the daughters of Combermere and of Buildwas. Of this matter it will be said below.

[105] Coggeshall. XXX. Cogeshalla, commonly Coggeshall and also Coxhal, in Essex, in the diocese of London [Cf. Spruner, Hist. Atlas, plate XXXV, and the Chronicle of Ralph of Coggeshall, in Mon. Ang., vol. V, p. 451, note m.], some establish to have been founded at one time, others at another: the Annals of Louth Park Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 451. in the year 1137; Leland Ibid., loc. cit. in the year 1141; the Chronicle of Coggeshall Ibid., p. 452. in the year 1142, and that in the same year the convent assembled at Coggeshall on the third day before the Nones, or the 3rd of August: with which the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553. and Tanner In Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 451 agree. On the other hand the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1140, vol. I, p. 396., the Catalogues of Savigny and of Jongelinus, and the Chronicle of St. Augustine's of Canterbury In Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 451. agree in referring the foundation of this abbey to the year 1140, on the 17th of July according to the Savigny catalogue, on the Kalends of August according to the Cistercian Chronography. And indeed it pleases me so to adhere to these as to establish that the abbot was first instituted on the sixteenth day before the Kalends of August, or the 17th of July, of the year 1140, and the colony sent out on the Kalends of August of the year 1140. Concerning the founder too there is dispute among the historians, some attributing this foundation to Matilda, others to her husband King Stephen, others to both Ibid., loc. cit.. From the charter of foundation it is clear that the foundation was made from the patrimony of Matilda, but not without the intervention of Stephen Ibid., p. 452.. That Blessed Mary was the patroness is manifest from the same charter. The church of Coggeshall, moreover, the monks had obtained, a pension having been agreed, from Theobald, prior of Rumilly [John of Salisbury, letters VIII and IX, in Bibl. Patt. Max. Lugdun., vol. XXIII, p. 412.]. But whose daughter was it? Of Byland, the Gallia Christiana relates Vol. XI, col. 553.; of Savigny, Souchet. Further, no one who has read the History of the origins of Byland Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 350. will agree with the Gallia Christiana. Moreover the Catalogue of Savigny, and likewise the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez and the other Ms., reckon Coggeshall among the daughters of Savigny.

[106] Vieuville. XXXI. The foundation of Vetus Villa (Vieuville), in the diocese of Dol, in Lesser Brittany, Souchet establishes in the year 1144; the Catalogue of Savigny on the 27th of July of the year 1140, the Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1140, chap. X, vol. I, p. 396. on the fourth day before the Kalends of September, or the 29th of August, of the same year; Jongelinus and the Rev. M. Tresvaux L'Église de Bretagne, p. 368 in the year 1137. But this disagreement can be settled easily enough. On the 8th of August of the year 1137, namely, the donation was made of the lands on which the abbey was to be built, on the 27th of July of the year 1140 the first abbot was blessed, and on the 29th of August the colony was sent out from Savigny. Here are certain fragments of the charter of foundation, which you have entire in Hyacinthe Morice Mémoires pour servir de preuves à l'hist. de Bretagne, vol. I, col. 575.: "In the name of the Holy and undivided Trinity, I, Gelduin, son of Hamon, hearing that the kingdom of heaven has been promised by hereditary right, from the mouth of the Truth, to the lovers of poverty, if meanwhile I either will not or cannot be a performer of that same poverty, I strive at least to acquire for myself the poor themselves as advocates and mediators with Him who, though he was rich, became poor for us. Be it known therefore … that I, Gelduin, son of Hamon, … give and grant to the church of the Holy Trinity of Savigny and to the monks serving God there, in perpetual alms, for building an abbey, all my land of Vieuville … on this condition, namely, that in that same alms and from it a cenobitic dwelling be built at Vieuville, and an abbey be founded there according to the order and customs of the aforesaid church of the Holy Trinity… All which donations I offered to God by the hand of my Lord Geoffrey, archbishop of Dol, from whom I held the aforesaid lands, and my Lord himself put them into the hand of the Lord Geoffrey, abbot of the aforesaid church… Not long after, however, a great multitude having been called together and assembled to consecrate a cemetery in that alms, I confirmed this donation of alms … before all … in this charter… Which was done in the year from the Incarnation of the Lord MCXXXVII, in the month of August, on the sixth day before the Ides of the same month, and in the seventh year of the archiepiscopate of the Lord Geoffrey, archbishop of Dol, before the people and the witnesses subscribed." From a donation of the year 1141 we have learned the title, namely of the Holy Saviour and of St. Mary Ibid., col. 581.. After the union of the monks of Savigny with the Cistercians it was sometimes called the abbey of Blessed Mary of the Old Valley and of Vieuville Tresvaux, Église de Bretagne, p. 568..

[107] Barbery, concerning whose beginnings there are various opinions, XXXII. Barberium. Among all the abbeys of Savigny none is entangled in so many knots as Barberium, commonly Barbery, in the diocese of Bayeux, in Normandy. In the catalogue of Savigny it comes among the daughters of Savigny in the eighteenth place, at the 16th of November 1140 Cf. Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 452.; which year the Catalogue of Jongelinus, the Genealogical Ms. and Claude Robert Gall. Christ. vet., p. 529. also mark. Souchet notes the Ides of April, or the 13th of April, of the year 1147; Beaunier Recueil des abbayes, vol. II, p. 720. writes the 13th of April of the year 1140 or 1176; Expilly Dict. Géogr., vol. I, p. 455. the year 1170; the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez, the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbatiæ Galliæ, p. 129. and after them Louis de Mas Latrie Annuaire hist. pour l'année 1838, p. 78. the year 1176. Matters are entangled also from another quarter: for Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in regno Galliæ, p. 55. writes that the first monks with the abbot were taken from the monastery of L'Oratoire, of the diocese of Angers and of the line of Cîteaux; whereas L'Oratoire was never under Savigny, and Barbery belonged, with the other houses of Savigny, not to the line of Cîteaux but to the line of Clairvaux. These things, therefore, seem to be wholly set aside. We must accordingly turn to better things. And first of all the bull of Alexander III is to be inspected, which Ralph, abbot of Barbery, obtained on the fifth day before the Kalends of February of the year 1177, and in which the pontiff is read Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 453. to confirm "the place itself in which the aforewritten monastery has been built, with all its appurtenances, from the gift of Robert Marmion and the grant of Robert his son, the place of Barbery, which was formerly a grange of Savigny, with all its appurtenances."

[108] it seems to have had a twofold To this also pertains the charter granted by Robert Marmion the son in the year 1181, in the month of October, of which this is the beginning Ibid., instr., col. 85 and following.: "In the name, etc. Let the whole generation, present and future, know that Robert Marmion, my father, by the inspiration of divine counsel, purposed to found the abbey of Barbery: whence, making over to the abbey all the lands which he had in Barbery, except the fee of his knights, he laid as it were the first foundation by all these, intending to add suitable possessions to them, if the divine mercy had permitted him to live longer. But because he could not fulfil his purpose, I, his son and heir, have decided to bring the work begun by him to the glory of completion. I therefore, for the salvation of my soul … give in alms … to God and to Blessed Mary and to the abbot and the convent of monks of the abbey of Barbery all the lands which my father had given to God in Barbery. I give also, for building the abbey, the land which is contained between the little Wood and Barbery and the hedge, which land is in the parish of Bretteville, etc." Then many other donations are reviewed, made both by himself and by others, one of which was made "by a book placed upon the altar of the same monastery." Nor is the testimony of the Savigny Chronicle to be omitted, in which it is read Baluze, Miscell., vol. I, p. 327. that Abbot Joslenus, in the same year in which he withdrew, namely 1178, sent a convent to the abbey of Barbery.

[109] beginning. All of which can be reconciled with one another easily enough. For we have, first, that the foundation was as it were laid by Robert Marmion through the donation of all the lands which he held free in Barbery, and that the same Robert had the intention of giving more. Further, these things must have been done before the year 1143, since in Matthew Paris we read at this year Hist. Angl., p. 77, Zurich, 1606.: "In the same year Robert Marmimi" (rather Marmion), "a warlike man, who had expelled the monks of Coventry from their monastery and made a castle of that church, while he was fighting against his enemies, was slain alone among his robbers before the monastery itself, and, excommunicate, is devoured by everlasting death." The same is reported by the writer commonly designated by the name of John Brompton In Twysden, Script. X, col. 1033., rightly writing Robert Marmion, and by a good many other older chronographers. This donation having therefore been received and hope of increase conceived, a little band from Savigny may have come with an assigned abbot to Barbery on the 16th of November of the year 1140: whence at this day and year this abbey is reckoned in the catalogue of Savigny. But since the founder, overtaken by an unhappy death, could not make good his promises, the monks, compelled by want, may have converted the abbey begun into a grange, that is, a cell or obedience depending on Savigny: whence it is no wonder if this place is not designated by name in the Bull of Anastasius IV. But when the neighbouring knights little by little conferred alms, the abbey was restored; and so in the year 1177 Abbot Ralph appears in the Bull of Alexander III, and in the year 1178 a new colony could be sent there from Savigny, to dwell in the monastery which existed at Barbery, and which (as we have seen) had an altar and hence a little chapel. Lastly, in the year 1181, in the parish of Bretteville, a place was granted in which a new abbey might be built.

[110] La Trappe. Calder. XXXIII. Of La Trappe, in the diocese of Séez, so many notices are carried about that it may be permitted us to be content here with very few. Here, then, is how its beginnings are narrated in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 747.: "Rotrou II, count of the Perche, for the sake of fulfilling a vow which he had made when in peril at sea, as they hold, laid the foundations of a church in the place called La Trappe, three leagues from Mortagne. The first monks, brought out from Breuil and Aunoy, settled at Barres, at which time the land of Contrabisum was granted to them, until, the buildings being somehow arranged, they entered La Trappe about

1140, in which year the charter of foundation was given on the fourth day before the Nones (or the 2nd) of December. When Rotrou died in the year 1143, his son Rotrou III increased his father's foundation, completed the buildings, and among other things bestowed the land of Laigné." This abbey is entered at the year 1140 in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist., vol. I, p. 396. and in the Catalogue of Jongelinus, at the fourth day before the Nones, or the 2nd of December, in the Chronography, at the 10th in the Catalogue of Savigny. It was, moreover, a daughter of Breuil, and it still has Blessed Mary as its patroness. XXXIV. The origins of Calder were explained together with those of Byland at num. XIX.

§ X. The remaining abbeys founded before the death of Blessed Serlo.

The abbey of Poulton XXXV. Dieulacres. The abbey of Poulton in Cheshire, and afterwards of Dieulacres in Staffordshire, was founded according to the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554. in the year 1153; according to the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1159, chap. VII, vol. II, p. 329. in the year 1159; according to Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Angl., p. 11 and 13. in the year 1220. The Monasticon Anglicanum, however, refers the foundation at Poulton Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 321. to the year 1153, at Dieulacres Ibid., p. 626. to 1214. The historical records of this monastery are equally various. For in them we read Ibid., p. 627.: "In the year MCLIII the abbey of Pulton was founded, a daughter of Combermere"; but elsewhere Ibid., p. 628.: "In the year MCLVIII the abbey of Pultune in the county of Chester was founded." What then? For my part I would judge that one must depart from all these, and that the first origins of this monastery belong to the year 1146. For a twofold argument persuades this: the first, namely, the occasion of this foundation; the other, the very charter of foundation. For in the History of the foundation, after the captivity of Ranulf, earl of Chester, has been narrated, there is added at once Ibid., p. 627.: "About this time Robert the butler began to found the abbey of Pulton in the province of Chester and brought there a convent of the Cistercian" (rather, of the Savigny) "Order, to pray for the safety and welfare of his most resplendent lord Ranulf, earl of Chester, while the said Ranulf was in the custody of the lord king; which abbey the same Ranulf afterwards confirmed, etc." Further, according to Henry of Huntingdon [Hist., book VIII, fol. verso 225, Savile's edition. Cf. Roger of Hoveden, ibid., fol. 280.] and others, Ranulf was captured in the eleventh year of King Stephen, which began on the 26th of December of the year 1145 Cf. Henry of Huntingdon passim; Art de vérifier les dates, vol. I, p. 801., and was freed from prison before the 25th of December of the year 1146 Henry of Huntingdon, fol. verso 225.. To these is added the charter of foundation Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 628., by which Robert the butler, "to God, to most holy Mary and to William, first abbot of Combermere, for the safety and welfare of his most resplendent lord Ranulph, earl of Chester, and of his predecessors, etc., gave half of Puntona for building there a certain abbey of monks according to the rule of Blessed Benedict and according to the statutes of Savigny."

[112] Afterwards by translation it became Dieulacres. In which I notice, first of all, that nothing is related in this charter about the consent or presence of Ranulph; next, that at that time Combermere was still of the Order of Savigny, not of the Cistercian; and hence that this charter was drawn up before the year 1147, or at least 1148. If you join these things with what the history of Dieulacres relates about the foundation made while the earl of Chester was in chains, everyone sees that these testimonies lend credit to one another, and that the year 1146 is wholly to be held, in which the donation of Robert was made and some monks came from Combermere to Poulton to begin the work; but that in the year 1158, or rather the following See above, n. 64., a convent with an abbot was instituted there. Concerning the translation to Dieulacres there occur these ancient notices Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 627.: "In the year MCCXIV. The convent of Pulton was translated to Deulacres… on the Kalends of May, in the said year, by Ranulf, earl of Chester, chiefly on account of the intrusion of the Welsh, by whom they suffered many losses." And elsewhere Ibid., p. 628: "In the year MCCXIV. The convent of Pultune was translated to Deulacresse on the tenth day before the Kalends of May in the aforesaid year by Ranulph, canon earl of Chester," namely the third Jongelinus, Abb. Ord. Cist. in Angl., p. 11.. Here the titular patrons were Blessed Mary and perhaps St. Benedict Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 628, n. IV. Both places were situated in the diocese of Lichfield.

[113] Tironneau. XXXVI. Tironellum, in French Tironneau or Tironel, daughter of Saint-André-en-Gouffern, in the diocese of Le Mans, "is said by some," says Beaunier Recueil des abbayes, etc., vol. II, p. 931., "to have been founded in the year 1151, by others on the 14th of September of the year 1149"; and the Sainte-Marthe brothers have similar things Abbatiæ, p. 866.. And in fact it is noted at the year 1151 in the Catalogues of Jongelinus and in the Genealogical Ms., while in the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez and in the Cistercian Chronography it is marked at the eighteenth day before the Kalends of October, or the 14th of September, of the year 1149. And indeed I judge the foundation is to be placed in this year on account of the often-praised authority of the Chronography. The founder is called by Jongelinus Notit. Abbatiarum Cisterc., vol. I, p. 67. and by Manrique Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1149, chap. IX, n. 3, vol. II, p. 144. Paganus Chourtius, knight, lord of Clinchamp, by the Sainte-Marthe brothers and Beaunier Paganus de Chaourches: which name I find in the Catalogue of noble men who in the year 1158 took the cross of the Lord with the lord Geoffrey, son of the noble man Juhel, by the grace of God lord of Mayenne; for there is read there Paganus Coorlus, which Ménage interprets as Payen de Chaourches In Dom Colomb, Hist. des évêques du Mans, p. 187.. The patroness, moreover, was Blessed Mary.

[114] Jervaulx. XXXVII. The abbey of Jorevaulx, Joreval, Gervis, or also commonly Jervaux Abbey, in the county and diocese of York, a daughter of Byland, had its cradle, from the donation of Acaris son of Bardolf, in the land of Wensleydale at the place Fors; whence it was called at first the abbey of Fors, then of Wensleydale, and from its patroness of Blessed Mary of charity. But since a wooden house is read to have been first built there in the year 1145 Hist. Fundat., n. III, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 569., hence the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553. refers the foundation of this abbey to this year. But on the Sunday of Lent, or the 5th of March of the year 1150, John de Kinstan was instituted by Roger, abbot of Byland, "and on the Wednesday next following, namely on the eighth day before the Ides of March in the year of the Lord 1150, having received the customary blessing, after the night vigils, Abbot John with his twelve monks went out from the house of Byland towards Jervaulx," or rather Fors: where he arrived on the Friday next Hist. Fundat., n. VI, in Monast. Anglic., vol. V, p. 591.. And hence in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1150, chap. II, vol. II, p. 173. according to the Pisan reckoning it is placed at the eighth day before the Ides, or the 8th of March, of the year 1150, though under the corrupt name of Foravallis. "But afterwards, namely in the year of the Lord MCLVI, Count Conan" (duke of Brittany) "caused Abbot John and the convent to move from Fors, with all their movable goods, to the said place" (of Jervaulx) "in the territory of East Witton, with the permission of the general chapter and the good will of the lord Hervey, son of Akaris" Hist. Fundat., n. X, vol. cit., p. 573.. We have already often spoken of the fortunes of this abbey. Manrique, judging that Buglondia in the Genesis of the churches of Savigny is put for Poulton or Dieulacres [Cf. Annal. Cist. at the year 1150, chap. XI, vol. II, p. 174, and Index under Pultuna.], attributed Jervaulx to the latter as its daughter. But that Buglandia was written for Byland is too manifest to need explanation.

[115] Stanley XXXVIII. The abbey of Stanlegha, commonly Stanley, in Wiltshire, in the diocese of Sarum, was most certainly of the filiation of Savigny. But first it must be distinguished from one or another of the same name, with which it might rather easily be confused; others of almost the same name being omitted. Further, in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1140, chap. X, vol. I, p. 396. at the year 1140 is read: "In the same year, on the tenth day before the Kalends of March, the abbey of Stanlegia"; similarly at the year 1150 Ibid., at the year 1150, chap. XI, vol. II, p. 173.: "In the same year, on the fourth day before the Ides of September, the abbey of Stanleja in Arden"; and at the year 1154, at the third day before the Kalends of July Ibid., at the year 1154, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 265.: "In the same year and day, the abbey of Stanleja of the empress." All these things confused Manrique in a wonderful manner; and I myself am far from walking here with a sure step. The first I find nowhere else than in the Catalogue of Savigny, where it is assigned to Quarr as a daughter, with the 10th of September and the year 1140 added: and so on account of this agreement, such as it is, I would not dare to reject it outright, but rather judge that it was soon done away with. Stanleja in Arden, however, owes its origin to hermits who, by the donation of the Empress Matilda Hist. Stonelejensis, n. I, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 446, from the year 1141 Ibid., cf. n. VI, p. 447. dwelt near Rademora (Redmore) in Staffordshire Monast. Angl., vol. cit., p. 443., embraced the Cistercian laws on the fourth day before the Ides, or the 10th of September, of the year 1150 [Cf. above, Annal. Cist. at the year 1150, chap. XI, with Hist. Stonesl., n. III, Monast., p. 446.], and in the year 1154, on the thirteenth day before the Kalends of July, or the 19th of June, passed over into the manor of Slanleg in Arderna Hist. Stonesl., n. VI, p. 447. in the county of Warwick [Cf. Monast., p. 443 and 446; Camden, Britannia, Gough's edition, vol. II, p. 329.]. Whence this one in no way pertains to the filiation of Savigny; but rather to Bordesley, from which it received two masters of the Cistercian rites. It is called in the Monasticon Anglicanum the Priory of Stoneley, and is excellently illustrated there.

[116] It must be distinguished from those of the same name. The third, however, being a daughter of Quarr, is rightly reckoned among the houses of Savigny. In the Catalogue of Savigny its foundation is noted at the 10th of September in the year 1140. In an old charter there is read concerning it Ibid., p. 564.: "In the year of the Lord MCLI. In this year the house of Stanlegh was first situated at Lokeswell" (which is in the forest of Chippenham Ibid., p. 565.), "and the convent of Quarr there. After three years it was translated

to the place which is called Stanlegh of the empress; the empress first founded it." And in another notice Ibid., p. 564.: "Matilda the empress first founded the house in the place called Locwelle; then King Henry the second translated the brethren to this place, which he founded, and gave them the lordship of Stanley." And although Henry II in the charter of foundation, which was printed twice in volume V of the Monasticon Anglicanum Ibid., loc. cit. and p. 317., says that he has granted "to God and to St. Mary of Quarr in the island of Wight, in perpetual alms, Locwella, for making there a principal abbey … for the salvation of the lady empress my mother and my own," it appears nevertheless that Locwella was of Matilda's patrimony, since he afterwards affirms that it is granted by him with all the liberties "which," he says, "the lady empress my mother and I have given and granted to the lord Drogo, chamberlain of the lady my mother." Then in the charter of Richard the First Ibid., p. 565 it is said of Stanley: "Which used to render to our father" (Henry II) "XL shillings." For the rest, after the translation to Stanley it was of the foundation of Matilda and Henry, as the latter calls it in another charter Ibid., loc. cit.. It was situated in Wiltshire, in the diocese of Sarum, under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ibid., p. 563 and following.. While it was still situated at Lockswell it was also called Drogo's Fount (Drownfont), from the name of the former donee.

[117] Champagne. XXXIX. Champagne. The Catalogue of Savigny and the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1151, chap. XII, vol. II, p. 198. reckon the abbey of Champagne in the diocese of Le Mans at the 16th of November of the year 1151; Claude Robert Gallia Christ., p. 540. and Jongelinus Notit. abbat. Ord. Cist. in Gallia, p. 67 at the 16th of May of the same year; Bondonnet Vies des évêq. du Mans, p. 554., the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbat. Gall., p. 212. and Dom Colomb Hist. des évêq. du Mans, p. 199., relying on the charter which they call that of the foundation, at the month of December, nay at the fourth day before the Kalends of December, of the year 1188; Souchet would depart from all these, noting the year 1148, unless the year 1148 was printed by a typographical error in place of 1188. But, what may make you wonder, the Cistercian Chronography, which above gave the 16th of November of the year 1151, marks below Annal. Cist. at the year 1188, chap. VII, n. 13, vol. III, p. 217: "In the year MCLXXXVIII … on the fourth day before the Kalends of December, the abbey of Champagne of Le Mans." But this conflict is removed if a twofold foundation is admitted, and a twofold colony sent out from Savigny at different times: examples of which thing are met with everywhere. In the charter of the year 1188 the founder appears as Fulk Ribole, lord of Assé and Lavardin, with Emma his wife. That same man could have completed the foundation of the year 1151, since his name is read among the crusaders of Le Mans who set out in the year 1158 Dom Colomb, Hist. des évêq. du Mans, p. 185.. The patroness was Blessed Mary. It is reckoned in the catalogues among the daughters of Savigny.

[118] The nunnery of Bival, with the priory of Pierrement. XL. Bivallis, formerly Buyval, Buyeval, Buyevaux and Buiesvaux, now commonly Bival, that is, the wet Valley Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. I, p. 159., was founded by the Empress Matilda or by the family of Bival within the space of time which ran between the foundation of Beaubec, whose daughter it was, and the beginnings of the monastery of Bondeville, whose mother it was Ibid., loc. cit., that is, between the year 1128 and 1154. On account of disputes which had arisen between Bival and Beaubec concerning the administration of goods and other things of that kind, Bival passed in the year 1175 with its daughters under the jurisdiction of the archbishop of Rouen. The patroness was St. Mary Magdalene Ibid., loc. cit., and Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 316.. After the year 1175 they founded a priory in the land of Pierrement, in the parish of Haucourt, afterwards made a chaplaincy Descript., vol. I, p. 160..

[119] The nunnery of Bondeville. XLI. That Bondeville, a league and a half from Rouen, founded before the year 1154, as is established from the charter of donations [Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. II, p. 324, and Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 319.], was a daughter of Bival and hence of Beaubec, we have from the charter of Henry II, king of England Ibid., locc. citt., although Souchet assigns Savigny to it as mother. In the same charter Blessed Mary Magdalene is indicated as patroness; but since Bival venerated the same patroness, the writers of Upper Normandy and of the Gallia Christiana judge that there is confusion here Ibid., loc. cit., since certainly from the year 1170 the church of the monastery had St. Denis as patron Descript. de la haute Norm., vol. II, p. 325.. Louis de Mas Latrie makes the patroness the Blessed Virgin Mary or Blessed Mary Magdalene Ann. hist. pour 1838, p. 85.; Beaunier too calls the monastery Our Lady of Bondeville Recueil, etc., vol. II, p. 702.. I would dare to determine nothing: for there were in the fee of Bondeville two churches besides the monastery, of which the one had Blessed Mary, the other Blessed Denis as patron: moreover, after the monks of Savigny joined themselves to the Cistercians, the title of Blessed Mary was imposed on most monasteries, at least as the principal one; lastly, very often the names of the mothers were given to the daughters. From all of which it follows that it could easily have happened that the name of Bondeville was less certain and stable. Several are read Descript. de la haute Norm.; Gall. Christ., locc. citt. who conferred notable gifts; but who gave the primary seat is not clear. There is dispute too whether from the beginning it was a priory or an abbey. But on these things see the book on Upper Normandy.

[120] The nunnery of Holland, XLII. The maidens' house of Holland. That a monastery of maidens was formerly united and subject to Swineshead, or Holland, in the diocese of Lincoln, is more than certain; but which it was is difficult to determine. St. Ælred, namely, abbot of Rievaulx, in his second sermon on chapter 13 of Isaiah, has these things: "I know," he says Bibliot. M. Patrum, vol. XXIII, p. 12., "that in the monastery of virgins who, under the holy father Gilbert" (abbot of Swineshead or Holland), "venerable and to be named with the highest reverence, daily send rich fruits of chastity to heaven, there was, or still survives, a certain holy virgin who … began daily, in the heat of her mind, both to loathe earthly things and to desire heavenly ones." And he goes on to narrate many things about the more sublime prayer flourishing in this nunnery; which seem to have lasted some years; so that this monastery existed quite a while before the year 1166 or 1167, in which St. Ælred died [Cf. Lives of the English Saints, St Ælred, abbot of Rievaux, p. 124, London, 1845.]. But which monastery is this? Manrique suggests Annal. at the year 1163, chap. III, vol. II, p. 376. that the discourse is of the monastery which the Countess Ada, mother of William, king of Scotland, founded about the year 1163; but this does not seem old enough for the sayings of St. Ælred to be fitted to it. For my part I would believe that the monastery which St. Ælred praises was so under Gilbert that it was subject not only to his jurisdiction but also to his spiritual care, and hence was altogether close to the abbey of men of Swineshead; in nearly the same manner, namely, in which matters were conducted at Savigny. This maidens' monastery must have failed little by little, since more about it seems not to be found.

§ X. The abbeys founded before the year 1200.

The priory of Field Dalling. XLIII. Field Dalling, Fieldalling, Feldallyng, Feldaling, Dalinga [Cf. R. Taylor, Index Monast., or the abbeys, etc., in the diocese of Norfolk, p. 13; Monast. Anglic., vol. VII, p. 1051; Priorat. alien. catal., ibid., vol. VIII, p. 1652; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 554.], is reckoned in the Catalogue of alien priories which were suppressed by the parliament of Leicester in the year 1414. The Monasticon Anglicanum and the Index Monasticus of the diocese of Norfolk of Richard Taylor present a notice of it. From this we draw out that Matilda de Harscolye or Harscove, in the time of Henry II, or after the middle of the twelfth century, gave to the abbot and convent of Savigny in Normandy the manor of Field Dalling; which, since some monks of Savigny who also formerly held Long Bennington had occupied it, is hence sometimes mentioned as a cell or priory in its own right, but sometimes as a part of Long Bennington in Lincolnshire Monast. Angl., vol. VI, p. 18, n. XIII.. After the dissolution of the alien priories that place came into the hands of the Carthusians of Epworth, then into the hands of others and others. But these things do not pertain to us.

[122] The nunnery of Saint-Saëns, with the priory of St. Austreberta. XLIV. St. Sidonius. About one league from the town of St. Sidonius (commonly Saint-Saëns), towards the north, in the place whose name was Campus superior, in the vernacular Camp souverain, there was placed, under the name of St. Mary Magdalene, a cell of Cistercian nuns subject to the bishop of Rouen: a daughter, as the writers of Upper Normandy Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. I, p. 104. and of the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 324. judge, of Bival. The nunnery having been translated by the Empress Matilda in the year 1167 near the town of Saint-Saëns, on the right bank of the river Arques, the church was dedicated under the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary in the year 1312; and at the end of the year 1629 that priory was made an abbey under the name of St. Sidonius Opp. et locc. citt.. Already in the year 1260 there belonged to this monastery the conventual priory of St. Austreberta in the parish of Saint-Denis-le-Ferment; which was afterwards changed into a farm and a little chapel, as Dom Duplessis has it.

[123] Holy Cross XLV. The monastery of the Holy Cross, in English Abbey of Holy Cross, in Irish Monaster ne Crochnu Jongelinus, Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Hibernia, p. 24, formerly Wethirlaghan, in the diocese of Cashel in the county of Tipperary, the Gallia Christiana Hist. Furnes. in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250. relates to have been founded in the year 1183; Thomas de Burgo Vol. XI, col. 554., Lewis Hibernia Domin., p. 742. and others in the year 1182; Lanigan Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Holycross. a little after the year 1182. The Gallia Christiana relies on the catalogue of the daughters of Furness Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 253.; but this is of less weight here, since it stands alone or departs from the other records. The year 1182 arose from a chronological mark which Archdall added to the charter of foundation

Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250.. But when that charter was given, the monastery already existed, since lands are granted and confirmed to the monks of the Holy Cross in the presence of their abbot Gregory Ibid., vol. VII, p. 1137.. From this charter, therefore, or rather from the name of Maurice, bishop of Cashel (indicated there among the witnesses by the initial M.), it can indeed be drawn out that the abbey existed between the year 1182 and 1186 Ibid., p. 1138.; but by no means that it then first began. I see no argument, therefore, why one should depart from the catalogues of Jongelinus, where the origin of this abbey is constantly referred to the year 1169. For the rest, that year 1169 did not escape Ware Cf. Lanigan, vol. IV, p. 251 and 253, note 16., Zephyrinus Keting Antiq., chap. XXVI, art. Tipperary, in Lanigan, loc. cit. and others.

[124] in Ireland. The founder is related by all [Cf., besides those cited, Gough in Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 523; Carlisle, Topogr. Dict., under Holy Cross; Jongelinus, Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Hib., p. 24.] to be Donald O'Brien, king of Limerick; whose donation is said to have been made in honour of Almighty God, and of the Blessed Virgin Mary and of the Holy Cross: a particle of which won for this place so great reverence that even while protestantism was dominant the catholics held very frequent processions of supplication to the ruins. In the catalogue of the daughters of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250. it is related to have had Furness as its mother from its first origin; and indeed Archdall, and after him the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1137. and Lewis Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Holy Cross., when they relate that it was at the beginning a daughter of Nenagh, or de Magio, in the county of Limerick, and that in the year 1249 in the general chapter it was subjected by the abbot of Clairvaux to Furness, err quite manifestly, ascribing to Holy Cross the fortunes of Suir or Inislounaght, as will be said at num. 152. Still more gravely is the error made in the Genealogical Catalogue of Henriquez and in the other Ms., where it is so placed among the daughters of Nenay or de Magio as if it had never belonged to Furness.

[125] Fermoy. XLVI. At Fermoy, on the river Avonmore, in the county of Cork (in the diocese of Cloyne Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250, and Jongelinus, Abb. Cist. in Hib., p. 31.), the abbey of St. Mary of Castrum Dei was founded by the noble family de Rupe, commonly Roche, progenitor of the viscounts of Fermoy: so the most learned Thomas de Burgo, bishop of Ossory Hibernia Dominicana, p. 742.. The year of foundation 1170 is assigned in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1170, chap. VIII, vol. II, p. 504., in the Catalogue of the daughters of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250., in Jongelinus' Notitia of the Cistercian abbeys in Ireland Page 25., in Carlisle Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Fermoy. and others. The Gallia Christiana has the year 1160, perhaps by an error of the typesetter. That it was a daughter of Furness the catalogues and writers agree.

[126] Strata Marcella, confused with two others, XLVII. Stratmargel, Ystrat Marchel, Strata Marcella, the White House of Stratmargel, Vallis Crucis, Strata Marcelli, Stratmargill, Stratmarchelium, Stratmarkell, Pola [Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 636; Manrique, Annal. Cist. at the year 1170, chap. VIII, vol. II, p. 504, and at the year 1172, chap. VI, p. 537.] are held to be different names of the same abbey; but I would believe that the White House of Stratmargel should be struck out, since that name is fused together from the names of mother and daughter Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 637, n. III and n. I.; and Vallis Crucis, the name of the granddaughter of the White House, or the daughter of Strata Marcella; so that mother, daughter and granddaughter are here confused. In the collectanea of Leland, Owen Kevelioc, prince of Powys, is related to be the first founder of Strata Marcella Ibid., p. 636, note 1.: which agrees not only with other histories, but also with the charter of foundation, in which we read Ibid., p. 637, n. III.: "I, Owen, son of Griffin … have granted and given to the brethren of the Cistercian order, namely of the church of Blessed … Mary of the White House" (or Blancalanda or Whitland, in the diocese of St. David's in Wales Ibid., p. 591, and Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Ang., p. 7.), "Stratmarghell … for building an abbey to God in honour of the ever-virgin Mary." Tanner refers its foundation to the year 1170, and indeed in the Cistercian Chronography Ann. Cist. at the year 1170, chap. VIII, vol. II, p. 504. it is noted at this year: "In the year MCLXX, on the eleventh day before the Kalends of August," or the 22nd of July, "the abbey of Strata Marcelli was founded." To which Manrique adds Ibid., p. 505. that monks were called from Blancalanda, as the Genesis of the churches of Clairvaux has it.

[127] also called that of Pool. I do not know whether this abbey was changed in place two years later; however that may be, in that same Chronology Ibid., at the year 1172, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 536. there is read at the year 1172: "In the same year, on the sixth day before the Ides," or the 10th of July, "the abbey of Pola"; and it is noted at the same year in the catalogues of Jongelinus. The change, however, could not have been great, since Stratmargel is contained within the bounds of the parish of Pola (commonly Welsh Pool) Cf. Carlisle, Topogr. Dict. of Wales, under Ystrat Marchell.. The editors of the new Monasticon Anglicanum Mon. Ang., vol. V, p. 636. try to prove that another change, or a new foundation, was made in the year 1222. But they were led into error because they allowed themselves to be persuaded that Vallis Crucis was the same abbey as Stratmargel, whereas the former (as we have already said and shall show below) was the latter's daughter. That Whitland was the mother of this monastery is clear from what has been said. Nevertheless in the notice of Buildwas Ibid., p. 356. it is related that it was subjected to the visitation of the abbot of Buildwas: which Tanner writes was done at the beginning of the reign of Edward III, or about the year 1327, the Welsh monks having been removed and English ones substituted Cf. ibid., p. 636.. This monastery was situated in the county of Montgomery, in the diocese of St. Asaph.

[128] Stanlaw, or Whalley. XLVIII. Stanlaw and afterwards Whalley. In the Cistercian chronography Ann. Cist. at 1172, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 536. at the year 1172, at the third day before the Ides, or the 11th of November, is read: "In the same year and on the same day the abbey of Locus Benedictus of Walhei"; whence the writers of the Monasticon Anglicanum could quite safely lay aside the doubt which they seem to hold about the time of the founding of this monastery Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 639.. By the charter of foundation Ibid., p. 641. John, constable of Chester, in the year 1178 gave and confirmed "to God and to St. Mary and to the abbot and monks of Stanlawe, for building an abbey of the Cistercian order, the very place Stanlawe, which, its name being changed, he wished to be called Locus Benedictus," and many other things. Hence the History of Stanlaw Ibid., p. 647. and the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, p. 553. place the foundation of this abbey at the year 1178, not attending to the fact that the monks had already been brought in and that this charter was a confirmation rather than a donation. On account of the inundations of the sea, with the consent of the bishop of Lichfield, Pope Nicholas III (not, however, IV Monast., vol. V, p. 638 and 644.) granted on the 23rd of July of the year 1279 that they might move from Stanlaw in Cheshire to Whalley in Lancashire, which Henry de Lacy, earl of Lincoln, had granted them. Which was done in the year 1296 on the feast of St. Ambrose, or the 4th of April Ibid., p. 647.. Both places were in the diocese of Chester, or of Coventry and Lichfield. The patroness was Blessed Mary. It is reckoned among the daughters of Combermere by Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Angl., p. 11. and by Souchet.

[129] Pierrement. Bennington XLIX. Pierrement, at one time a priory of Bival; of which it has been spoken where Bival was treated at num. XL.

L. Long Benington, Benington, Benyngton, the epithet being quite often omitted [Mon. Ang., vol. VII, p. 1024; Priorat. alien. catal., ibid., vol. VIII, p. 1652; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 554.], in the diocese and county of Lincoln, was a cell of Savigny. In the third year of Edward I, king of England, or 1275, the jurors said "that the monks of Benington have four carucates of land with appurtenances in the same town, a hundred years having now elapsed, of a knight's fee" Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1024, n. II.: whence the beginnings of this cell are to be referred at least to the year 1175. The writers of the Monasticon Anglicanum would wish to carry them back even to the times of King Stephen, or even of Henry I, on account of an agreement entered into between A., abbot of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, and S., abbot of Savigny, and confirmed by B., abbot of Cîteaux Ibid., page cit., note c.; since from these initials they seem to themselves to refer to Blessed Bernard, abbot of Cîteaux, and St. Serlo, abbot of Savigny. But I wonder that Clairvaux is confused with Cîteaux by most learned men; for St. Bernard, whom they understand, was never abbot of Cîteaux, but of Clairvaux. The abbot, therefore, designated by the letter B., is Bernard, abbot of Cîteaux, who was elected in the year 1183 and died before the end of the same year Gall. Christ., vol. IV, col. 989.. (No other abbot of Cîteaux of this age has a name beginning with the letter B.) The abbot of Savigny, moreover, indicated by the initial S., is none other than Simon, who held the staff of Savigny from the year 1179 to 1186 Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 547.. Lastly, A., abbot of SS. Sergius and Bacchus, is either Ausbert or Augier Cf. Annal. Bened. Mabill., book LXXIX, n. 104, vol. VI, p. 476 and following..

[130] It is founded about the year 1175. For the rest, from the very charter of the first Donation (for several donations of these fields were made) those most diligent men could have understood how far they departed from the truth. For there is read there Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1024.: "I, Ralph, lord of Fougères, to the abbey of Savigny founded by my predecessors … with the grant of my sons Juhel and William … have given … the church of Belintone, with all its appurtenances." Further, Ralph II, of whom there is discourse here, was not made lord of Fougères before the year 1154 Art de vérifier les dates, vol. II, p. 897., whereas St. Bernard had died in the preceding year. Whence again it is clear that St. Bernard could not have been mixed up in the lawsuit arising from that donation. When war had broken out between the French and the English, King Richard II gave this cell to the Carthusians of St. Anne's near Coventry

Monast. Angl., vol. VI, p. 18, n. XIII.; and after the suppression of the alien priories decreed in the year 1414 in the parliament of Leicester, it was joined to the priory of Mount Grace Ibid., vol. VII, p. 1024..

[131] Mirescog. Croxden. LI. Mirescog; of it it has been spoken where Rushen is treated at num. XX. LII. Chotes or Chotene, and afterwards Crokesden, Croxden or Croxten. From the Chronicle of Croxden Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 661. we gather the following: "In the year of the Lord MCLXXVI Bertram de Verdun … gave to the monks of Aunay the land of Chotes, for founding the abbey [of] the valley of St. Mary." Hence in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554. the year 1176 is assigned to the foundation of this abbey. But the Chronicle continues: "In the year of the Lord MCLXXVIII Thomas, the first abbot of this monastery, English by nation, while he was still a deacon, on the day of Pentecost" (the 28th of May) "about the third hour, was elected abbot as a pure receptacle of the Holy Spirit." For which reason in the Cistercian Chronology Annal. Cist. at 1178, chap. V, vol. III, p. 70. the beginnings of this monastery are referred to the year 1178 under the name of the Valley of St. Mary. The Chronicle adds: "In the year of the Lord MCLXXIX the convent came from Chotene to Crokesden." Tanner judges that Chotes or Chotene was the same as Cotton or Cawton, a member of the lordship of Alveton, the principal seat of the family of Verdun. Cotton, moreover, equally with Croxden, was situated in Staffordshire, in the diocese of Lichfield.

[132] Limber LIII and LIV. Limberg, in the diocese and county of Lincoln, and Lymbroke, in the diocese and county of Hereford, are entangled in some difficulties. The Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1050., relying on Tanner, relates the following of Limberga, or, as it calls it, Limberga Magna: Richard de Humet, constable of Normandy, in the time of King Henry II gave the church of Limberg to the Cistercian monks of Alnetum, or Aveney, in Normandy; in whose hands it was made an alien priory, until they sold it to the Carthusians of St. Anne's near Coventry in the time of Richard II. And in truth, in the charter of Richard de Humet, the most magnificent benefactor of Aunay, where he lived a year and a half and died in the year 1179 Robert of Torigni, App. to Sigebert, in Dom Bouquet, vol. XIII, p. 324., we read Gall. Christ., vol. XI, instr., col. 89.: "Likewise the church of Limbergia with all its appendages." But on the other side the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554. has: "Limbroke from Aunay"; and the Catalogue of the alien priories which the parliament of Leicester suppressed in the year 1414 Monast. Angl., vol. VIII, p. 1652.: "Limbroke, Heref. Aveney in Norm."; by which words it is indicated that Limbroke in Herefordshire was a priory of the abbey of Aveney in Normandy. Hence Tanner and the Monasticon Anglicanum Ibid., vol. IV, p. 181., where they speak of the nunnery at Lymbroke or Lingebrooke in Herefordshire, at the same time throw in a mention of this alien priory, though doubtful and uncertain.

[133] and the priory of Lymbroke. What then? Surely it is beyond controversy that the church of Limber was granted by Richard de Humet to the monks of Aunay; and not only Great Limber, as is commonly written, but I judge also Little Limber; both because in the charter no distinction is made, and because in the time of Henry VIII Lymber Magna and Lymber Parva were in the hands of the Carthusians of St. Anne's Comput. Minist., Monast. Ang., vol. VI, p. 19.. But it seems incredible that in an authentic act, namely in the Catalogue of the suppressed priories, Limbroke should come for Limberg and Hereford for Lincoln: add that in the year 1414 Limber was no longer an alien priory, since it had long before been acquired by the English Carthusians, as we have from the Charter of Richard II, who writes Monast. Angl., vol. VI, p. 17, n. IX.: "We have granted to the same prior and convent of St. Anne of Coventry licence to acquire from the abbot and convent of Aveneye in Normandy the alien priory of Lymberg… To have, etc., in perpetuity." Nor let it be objected that in the time of Richard II several other similar priories were acquired by the English, and then, when the war had been settled, were restored to the French: for the Carthusians of Coventry acquired Limber by an onerous title, in recompense for the advowson of the church of Walton, given with a manor attached to John Delves, esquire Ibid., loc. cit.. Moreover, from that charter of Richard II there collapses the remark of Tanner, which the writers of the new Monasticon Anglicanum would better have passed over Vol. IV, p. 181, note a., namely that no monastery of Aveney is found in Normandy, unless it was so printed corruptly by Dugdale for Aulnay; for Dugdale printed nothing corruptly: but in the fourteenth and fifteenth century Aveney or Aveneye was the common name of Aunay in England. From all of which it seems to be concluded that the monks of Aunay formerly had two priories, the one Limber in Lincolnshire, the other Limbroke, Lymbroke or Lingebrooke in Herefordshire.

[134] Portus Sanctæ Mariæ LV. Portus S. Mariæ, otherwise Dumbrothy or Dunbrothy in Wexford, in Ireland, in the diocese of Ferns, had its origin according to the Gallia Christiana in the year 1170 Vol. XI, col. 554.; according to Jongelinus Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Hibern., p. 25. and his catalogues in the year 1171; according to Ware In Manrique, Annal. Cist. at the year 1182, chap. V, vol. III, p. 127. in the year 1175; according to the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1130. in the year 1178 or even after; according to Manrique Loc. supra cit., Thomas de Burgo Hibern. Domin., p. 742., Gough In Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 546., Lanigan Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 252., Lewis Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Dunbrody. and, what is chief, according to the Cistercian Chronography In Manrique, loc. supra cit. in the year 1182. From the charter of foundation I pluck a few things about the founder and similar matters: "I, Hervey de Montmorency, marshal of the lord king in Ireland and seneschal of the whole land of Earl Richard, have given and granted and by this my present charter confirmed, to God and to St. Benedict and to the monks of Buildwas … for building an abbey of the order of Cîteaux, these lands, etc. Witnesses, Joseph, bishop of Wexford, Felix, bishop of Ossory, etc." Since, therefore, at that time it was not yet built, but to be built, and since Felix was not made bishop of Ossory before the year 1178 Cf. Lanigan, vol. IV, p. 258., hence it becomes clear enough that one must not depart from the Cistercian Chronography, which reports that the monks were brought into the Port of Blessed Mary in the year 1182.

[135] or Dunbrody. The Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554. makes the Port of Blessed Mary a daughter of Buildwas; Souchet, Jongelinus and others, of St. Mary's of Dublin. But the knot is easily solved from what is reported in the Notice of St. Mary's of Dublin Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 362.. In the year 1182, namely, on the feast of All Saints, when Hervey de Montmorency had given Robert, abbot of Buildwas, a place for the monastery of Dunbrody, the latter sent Alan, his monk, with a prudent layman, to examine the place granted. But since they found nothing else than a vast solitude, Robert transferred to the abbot of St. Mary's the donation made to himself, with the right of patronage, visitation and reformation. Which things agree with what Archdall gathered from the Ms. Collectanea of Harris, and which may be seen in the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1130. and in Lanigan Vol. IV, p. 253.. Carlisle Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Dunbrody. reports that this monastery was dedicated to SS. Peter and Paul: but does he not attribute the patrons of the parish Ibid., loc. cit. to the monastery? It had also a daughter, or at least a priory, as Jongelinus writes Abb. Ord. Cist. in Hibern., p. 30.: "Holy Saviour, formerly only a priory, depending on the monastery of Dunbrody, had its beginning in the year 1240." Here and in his catalogues it is added that this priory was situated in the diocese of Ferns. I find no more.

[136] Lieu-Dieu. LVI. Locus Dei, commonly Lieu-Dieu. "In the year MCXC, on the third day before the Kalends of February," or the 30th of January 1191, "the abbey of Locus Dei in Ponthieu, of the diocese of Amiens": so the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1190, chap. VII, vol. III, p. 243.. There exists the charter of foundation of this monastery among the instruments of the Gallia Christiana Vol. X, instr., col. 328 and following., and likewise another charter drawn up after the abbot was instituted, and belonging to the year 1191 Ibid., instr., col. 329 and following.. The writers of the Gallia Christiana have comprised these things in a few words in this manner Vol. cit., col. 1341.: "Locus Dei, dedicated to Blessed Mary, a daughter of Foucarmont, is founded on the borders of the diocese of Rouen near the little town of Gamaches by Bernard of Saint-Valery, with the assent of Thomas his son and of Aanor his wife, in 1191, and is confirmed by William, archbishop of Reims, as also by Theobald, prelate of Amiens, in the year 1193."

[137] Corcomroe. LVII. At Corcomroe, in the county of Clare, in the diocese of Kilfenora or Fenabor, the abbey of St. Mary of the Fertile Rock was founded by Donald O'Brien, king of Limerick, in the year 1194, or by his son Donatus O'Brien, king of Thomond, in the year 1200: so Thomas de Burgo Hibern. Domin., p. 743.: with whom agree Lanigan Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 325 and 335., Lewis Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Abbey., Carlisle Ibid., under Corcomroe. and Gough In Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 578., following Ware, Harris and Archdall. The Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554., adhering to the History of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 550., places it at the year 1197: which I judge is to be retained, since the Cistercian catalogues of Jongelinus present the same. At that time, however, the sons of Donald were contending among themselves over the kingdom Cf. Vallancey's Collectanea, vol. I, p. 601.: whence the founder too becomes doubtful: nay even Jongelinus A. O. C. in Hibern., p. 28. ascribes this foundation to the family of O'Conchubhair. At the beginning it is said to have been a daughter of the abbey of Suir Carlisle, Topog. Dict. of Ireland, under Corcomroe, and Lewis, under Abbey.: so that with its mother it was handed over to Furness in the year 1249, as is easily drawn out from the History of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250.. To it was at some time joined the cell of St. Mary of Kilsona or Kilshanny [Carlisle, l. c., from Archdall's Monast., p. 44; Th. de Burgo, Hib. Dom., p. 743; Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 28.], of which presently.

[138] Kilsona LVIII. Kilsona, Kilshana, commonly Kilshanny,

in the county of Clare, in the diocese of Fenabor Carlisle, Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Killshanny., was a daughter of the Fertile Rock, or Corcomroe; whence also it was commonly called the Cell of Corcomroe Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 28., founded under the title of Blessed Mary in the year 1198 Ibid., and Th. de Burgo, p. 743.. I have sought the founders in vain.

§ XII. The abbeys founded after the year 1200.

Torigny, LIX. Toriniacum or Torigneium, commonly Torigny, in the diocese of Bayeux, has a twofold foundation; of which the first is owed to the father and to Robert of Saint-Rémi, who granted the place of Boleia to the monks of Aunay, "on condition that if in the course of time, the Lord disposing, he himself or his successors could build an abbey in the said place, with the counsel and foresight of the bishops of Bayeux and Coutances and of three abbots of the Cistercian order, then the abbot and convent of Aunay should send an abbot and convent to the place which is called Boleia, and should be bound to leave wholly to the abbot and convent of Boleia, to be possessed in perpetuity, all things granted both by himself" (Robert) "and by his father and belonging to the same place." This donation was confirmed by Henry II, bishop of Bayeux Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 456, who about the year 1200 confirmed the church of Grainville given by Robert of Saint-Rémi to the brethren dwelling at Boleia Ibid., col. 365.. That monks of Savigny, or Cistercians, from Aunay inhabited Boleia at that time is understood also from the charters of William, earl of Gloucester, to the monks of Boleia, and of Riulfa of Hermeville, making donations to Blessed Mary and St. Nicholas and to the monks of Aunay serving at Boleia Ibid., col. 456.. But they did not hold it long, since John, abbot of Aunay, gave it with its appendages to be enjoyed by Richard, priest of Condé-sur-Vire. But the ruins of this monastery at Boleia near the church of St. Nicholas were still to be seen in the year 1759 Ibid., l. c.. The other foundation, however, was made by Robert Faber, canon of Bayeux and archdeacon of Avranches, who in the year 1307, on the 15th day of December, gave the monks of Aunay his manor of Thorigneium with many other goods, that they might found there an abbey under the patronage of Blessed Mary Vol. cit., instr., col. 100.. To these monks of Torigny, according to the mind of the authors, Boleia passed: so that the two foundations grew together into one.

[140] Valle Crucis LX. Vallis Crucis, also called Llanegwast, Languest, etc., was confused (as has been said above) by the editors of the Monasticon Anglicanum with the abbey of Strata Marcella; and indeed they again advise in the Notice of Valle Crucis Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 720. that that abbey was designated by the same name. But from the very records which they recite the error is easily detected. They write Ibid., loc. cit., accordingly, from Leland's Collectanea that Valle Crucis, or Llanegwast, was founded by Madoc, son of Griffith Haylor and prince of Powys, about the year 1200 in honour of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Tanner In Carlisle, Topogr. of Wales, under Llan Tysilio relates similar things, and also Jongelinus A. O. C. in Angl., p. 10., advising moreover that it is a daughter of Strata Marcella, and that other writers refer its foundation to the year 1180. Further, let there now come forward the charter of foundation Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 637, n. I., which they judged to belong to Stratmargel, and which they adorned with some commentary Ibid., p. 636, note a.. Here are the words: "I, Madoc, son of Griffin … have given and granted and by this my present charter confirmed to God and to Blessed Mary and to the monks of Stratmarkell the town which is called Llynliequestell … for building there a monastery in honour of God and of Blessed … Mary; and that a convent of the Cistercian order might serve as soldiers of God there continually. This, I say, I have given at the request of venerable persons, namely of four abbots, whose names are these: Peter, called abbot of the White House, Deniawal of Strata Florida, Philip, abbot of Stratmarhell, Rind. of Cwmhir."

[141] or Llanegwast. The town of Llynliequestell is therefore given to Strata Marcella for building a monastery, since from there the colony was to be brought out or was being brought out; and surely a hundred times in the charters which have been published in the Monasticon Anglicanum itself one may see that the first donation is made to the mother, but afterwards confirmed to the daughter. But since the future abbot of Valle Crucis had already been blessed (cf. above, n. 55 and 56), hence he too comes among the witnesses with the abbot of Strata Marcella, in these terms: "These being witnesses, Phill. abbot of Polaiphill, abbot of Valle Crucis," rather, Phill. abbot of Pool or of Strata Marcella, Phill. abbot of Valle Crucis, etc. Afterwards another charter was drawn up Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 637, n. II., by which this donation was confirmed to Valle Crucis, and in which we read: "I, Madoc, son of Griffin, … have given, etc., to God and to Blessed Mary and to the monks of Valle Crucis … the whole town which is called Linneguestel… This our donation was made in the year of the Lord's Incarnation MCCXXII. These being witnesses: I., at that time abbot, etc." This confirmation, therefore, was made under the second abbot, twenty years after the foundation, which not only the writers cited above, but also the Cistercian Chronography, according to the Florentine reckoning, refers to the year 1200 in these words Annal. Cist. at the year 1170, chap. IX, vol. III, p. 368.: "In the same year, on the fifth day before the Kalends of February," or the 28th of January, "the abbey of Valle Crucis." It was situated, moreover, in the county of Denbigh, in the diocese of St. Asaph.

[142] The Valley of the Holy Saviour. LXI. Vallis S. Salvatoris, also called Douska Th. de Burgo, Hib. Dom., p. 743., Duiske, Dubhuisce Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 29., commonly Graig or Graigenamanagh Carlisle, under Graig., in the county of Kilkenny, in the diocese of Leighlin, now united to that of Kildare, is met with thus illustrated in Jongelinus Loc. sup. cit., in the register of the same monastery: "In the year 1202, otherwise 1203, a convent came from Stanley in England into Ireland, which dwelt first at Loghmera" (Lough-meran) "near Kilkenny, then at Athamolt" (Athermolt) "and afterwards at Castrum, lastly in the place where it now was and which is called the place of the Holy Saviour, otherwise of Duiske." Of the first foundation Flatsbury in his Chronicle Ibid., loc. cit. at the year 1203: "There was founded," he says, "the abbey of the Holy Saviour, that is, Dubhuisce, in this year, and in the following it is built." And hence it came about that in the Cistercian Chronology Annal. Cist. at the year 1204, chap. XI, vol. III, p. 440. it is marked at the third day before the Kalends of August of the year 1204, much more rightly surely than in the Cistercian Catalogue of Jongelinus at the year 1202. But let us continue with the register of the Holy Saviour: "In the year 1207 William Marshal, earl of Pembroke, came into Ireland," and in the year 1212, as Archdall holds Mon. Hib., p. 351., he gave the Cistercians the valley of Duiske, that they might found there the abbey of the Holy Saviour. Jongelinus recites part of the charter Loc. sup. cit.. From the year 1227 it had a daughter, Vallis Dei, otherwise Glandy.

[143] Port-Royal. LXII. Portus regis, Porretum and Porregium, commonly Porrois, afterwards Port-Royal-des-Champs, in the diocese of Paris, acknowledges as founders Odo de Sully and Mathilda de Garlande, wife of Matthew I d'Attigny. Hand was put to the work in the year 1204; nuns existed there at least from the year 1106, immediately subject to the abbot of Cîteaux. In the month of March of the year 1214, old style, or 1215, new style (as is clear from the added seventh year of the pontificate of Peter, bishop of Paris), that nunnery was erected into an abbey and subjected to the abbey of Vaux-de-Cernay. The patroness was Blessed Mary Gall. Christ., vol. VII, col. 910 and following; Instr. 81 and following.. Its fortunes under the Most Christian King Louis XIV no one is unaware of. Concerning the present state of this place the Rev. M. Badiche narrates very remarkable things in the notice on Louis Silvy, who spent his life and wealth in preserving the remaining monuments of Jansenism Biograp. univ. suppl., vol. LXXXII, p. 241..

[144] Les Clairets. LXIII. Claretum. Geoffrey, count of the Perche, had bound himself by a vow to build a monastery. Held by illness, he adjured Mathilda his wife to accomplish this purpose of his; the pious woman assented to his prayers and chose a place in the wood of Claretum in the diocese of Chartres for building the abbey; which was thence called Claretum, commonly Les Clairets. By a charter given in the month of July of the year 1204 she willed that that nunnery should be of the filiation of Clairvaux. The mother having been snatched away by death, the work begun was continued by Thomas her son and William, bishop of Châlons, counts of the Perche, and they added new goods in the years 1213 and 1218 Gall. Christ., vol. VIII, col. 1324; instr., col. 349 and following.: in which year the nuns seem first to have been brought in, and the church was dedicated under the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary. It was a daughter of La Trappe [Souchet, Vita S. Bernardi Tiron., p. CCLXXVI, and Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 553.].

[145] Abington. LXIV. The abbey of Abbington, also called Owney, Wotheney [Lewis, Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Abington; Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1136.], Woney, Wodeney, Wetheney [Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 29; Th. de Burgo, p. 743; Lewis, loc. cit., etc.], and even Whytnea or Whetnea Hist. Furnes. in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250. and Watenejum Souchet, p. CCLXXVIII., in the county and diocese of Limerick, was founded according to the History of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250. and the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554. in the year 1188; according to Thomas de Burgo Hib. Dom., p. 743. in the year 1189; according to Lewis Loc. sup. cit. and others either in the year 1189 or 1205; lastly, according to the opinion of Lanigan Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 336., the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1136., Gough In Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 519., Carlisle Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Abington. following Archdall Monast. Hiber., p. 411., and the rest, in the year 1205; which is also noted in the Cistercian catalogues of Jongelinus and in the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1205, chap. VIII, vol. III, p. 457., where at the eleventh day before the Kalends of April of this year is noted "the abbey of Ireland of Vetherai, otherwise of Wetheni." But this noting of time, according to the various style

, can be referred either to the year 1205 or 1206, as we have already said. The founder was Theobald Walter, butler of Ireland, brother of Hubert, archbishop of Canterbury Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1137., as is clear from his charter, granted when the monks had already been brought in, a little before his death. In the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1136., by Archdall Monast. Hibern., p. 411. and hence by Lewis Loc. sup. cit., Carlisle Loc. sup. cit. and others it is asserted that the first colony was brought out of Savigny; on the other hand, in the History of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250., that it went out from Furness: the authority of the latter seems the weightier, since not from this alone, but also from Souchet's catalogue, it is established that Abington, or Wotheney, was a daughter of Furness. The patroness, moreover, was Blessed Mary.

[146] Moncé. LXV. Moncejum, which out of misplaced piety they also called Mons cœlestis (the heavenly Mount), commonly Moncey or Moncé, was at the beginning a priory, gathered from virgins leading the eremitical life [Martène, Voyage littér., vol. I, p. 64, and Beaunier, Recueil des abbayes, vol. II, p. 900. Cf. the Dictionaries of La Martinière and Moréri.], and in the year 1652 changed into an abbey. The founder was Sulpicius, Lord of Amboise; whose donations were ratified in the year 1209 by John, archbishop of Tours, in whose diocese that nunnery was situated Maan, Ecclesia Turon., p. 134.. It was a daughter of Fontaine-Blanche; the title I do not find.

[147] Granard. LXVI. Granarda, or Lerha, Larah, Larhe near Granard, commonly Abbey-Laragh, in the county of Longford, in the diocese of Ardagh, is founded according to William Cobbett Hist. of the reform. in Engl. and Irel., vol. II, p. 236, Baltimore edition. and Lewis Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Abbeylaragh. in the year 1205, according to Thomas de Burgo Hib. Domin., p. 743 and Gough In Camden, Britann., vol. III, p. 574 about the year 1210, according to Jongelinus A. O. C. in Hib., p. 30 in the year 1211, according to Flatsbury Ibid., l. c. in the year 1212, and lastly according to the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1214, chap. VIII, vol. IV, p. 49. in a threefold and different manner: "In the year MCCXIV, on the seventh day before the Kalends of April," or the 26th of March, "the abbey of Grenad Grenart, de Granath in Ireland was founded." For my part I do not doubt that good documents lighted the way for William Cobbett and Lewis; and hence I would easily admit that a beginning was given to this monastery in the year 1205, but that in the year 1214 the monks were brought in there; and indeed, since they add that Richard de Tuite, de Tuit or de Tuyt (whom all agree to have been the founder), perished in the year 1211 under the ruins of the tower of Athlone, it follows that the bringing in of the monks was later than his death: of which thing other similar examples have already come up. Further, the first monks went out with their abbot from St. Mary's of Dublin Jongelinus, p. 30., and imparted to the new monastery the title of Blessed Mary Th. de Burgo, p. 743..

[148] Hulton. LXVII. Hiltona or Hultona, in Staffordshire and the diocese of Chester, is reckoned by Souchet among the daughters of Combermere; with whom Ormerod agrees Hist. of Chesh., vol. III, p. 209, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 321.. Its foundation the Annals of Louth Park mark at the year 1219 Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 715.; but the charter of foundation nevertheless belongs to the year 1223. Here are the words Ibid., p. c., n. I.: "In the year from the Incarnation of the Lord one thousand two hundred and twenty-three, I, Henry de Andethele" (Audley) "… give and grant and by the present charter confirm to God and to St. Mary and to my abbot and monks the town of Hulton … for founding a monastery of monks of the Cistercian order." But at that time some monks had already been brought in, since he already calls them his own, and below speaks of their successors. Similarly Hervey de Stafford granted "to God and to Blessed Mary and to the abbey and monks of Hulton, who are to serve God there," a certain land in exchange for another which Simon de Verney had given to the abbey and monks of Hulton Ibid., p. 716, n. II.. The patroness was Blessed Mary Ibid., p. c., n. IV..

[149] Vallis Dei. LXVIII. Vallis Dei, commonly Glandy Carlisle, Top. Dict. of Ireland, under this word., or Glandie Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 30., in the county and diocese of Cork, did not altogether escape Archdall and Carlisle, but is more neatly illustrated by Jongelinus Ibid., loc. cit.: "Vallis Dei," he says, "a daughter of the monastery of Ieripons, is founded and united in the year 1227, on the feast of Blessed Mary Magdalene" (the 22nd of July), "to the monastery of the Holy Saviour, otherwise of Douske or Duiske, by Bernard, abbot of Froidmont in France, visitor of Ireland, when he had come into Ireland in the same year." It is likewise noted at the year 1227 in the Cistercian Catalogues.

[150] The Treasure of Blessed Mary. LXIX. The Treasure of Blessed Mary, a nunnery of the diocese of Rouen, subject to Vaux-de-Cernay under the line of Clairvaux, was founded in the year 1228 by Ralph du Bu, knight, not far from the right bank of the river Epte, under the name of the Blessed Virgin Mary; and the nuns were brought from the abbey of Épagne of the diocese of Amiens: "but the most pious king St. Louis afterwards conferred so many and such great things for the increase of its endowment that he is by all rightly and deservedly held to be the founder of the new nunnery" [Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. II, p. 335, and Gall. Christ., vol. XI, col. 325.].

[151] Holy Saviour. Inislounaght LXX. Holy Saviour, a priory of Dunbrody; of it it has been spoken where Dunbrody is treated at num. LV.

LXXI. Innislonnagh was called by some [Hist. Furnes. in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250; Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 554.] Yneselelughenught, by others [Th. de Burgo, Hibern. Domin., p. 742; Jongelinus, Abbat. Ord. Cist. in Hibern., p. 24.] Inislaunaght, and also de Surio, in the History of Furness and the Gallia Christiana, by Jongelinus, by Thomas de Burgo Locc. citt., by Ware In Lanigan, Eccl. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 130. and others, because it sits upon the river Suir Th. de Burgo, loc. cit., or is cut into two parts by its waters [Cf. Carlisle, Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Innislounagh; and Lewis, Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Innislounagh]. But to be silent about matters which would belong to the times of St. Patrick, of the monastery of Suir or Inislounaght I shall speak only so far as it concerns Cîteaux or Savigny. The Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 554., misunderstanding the History of Furness, referred its origin to the year 1249; Lewis Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Innislounagh, following Ware In Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 24., to the year 1187; Thomas de Burgo Hib. Dom., p. 742. to about the year 1184; Lanigan Eccles. Hist. of Ireland, vol. IV, p. 128 and following to before the last coming of St. Malachy into Gaul, that is, before the month of November of the year 1148; unless the monastery of Suir was removed a little after, and then restored there or in another place. But I do not see why one should depart from the Cistercian catalogues of Jongelinus, in which its foundation is constantly assigned to the year 1151 Cf. A. O. C. in Hib., p. 24..

[152] or Suir. In truth, they oppose to these certain words of St. Bernard, who, concerning a young man admitted among the Cistercians by St. Malachy, adds Works of St. Bernard, Mabillon's 2nd edition, col. 692.: "And taking him by his hand he handed him over to our abbot Congan" (to whom the Life of St. Malachy is inscribed Ibid., col. 663.), "and he to the brethren. The young man himself, still (unless I am mistaken) living as the first lay Convert of the monastery of Suir, has the testimony of all that he lives holily among the brethren according to the Cistercian order." But since at that time so many monasteries were being founded, it could easily have happened that that young man was sent to Suir in the year 1151 with the rest of the colony, and so was made the first convert there, having already lived for some years in another monastery. It could, however, be urged that the little work of St. Bernard on the Life of St. Malachy was written at the beginning of the year 1149, as Mabillon relates Works of St. Bernard, p. 410, n. II., or at least within the space of the same year, as others hold Hist. litt. de France, vol. XIII, p. 208., and hence that the monastery of Suir existed before this time. Surely the authority of the Cistercian catalogues would be wholly overturned by these things if it were certainly established that the Life of St. Malachy was written in the year 1149; but it is not so: for we meet here with a mere conjecture of a man most learned, to be sure, but a conjecture nevertheless supported by no argument; and so St. Bernard could much more easily have written up the deeds of his disciple St. Malachy in the year 1153, the last of his life, than in the year 1149. At the beginning, moreover, the monastery of Suir had as its mother the abbey of Nenay or de Magio Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 24. in the county of Limerick on the river Maigue, founded in the year 1148 according to the Cistercian Chronology Annal. Cist. at the year 1148, chap. XVI, vol. II, p. 123. and other records, and furnished with a charter of foundation in the year 1151 Cf. Jongelinus, l. c.; Annal. Cist., vol. II, p. 125, and others passim.. But this state of things was afterwards changed; for, on the testimony of the history of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250., the abbey of Suir long after its foundation was given to Furness as a daughter by the abbot of Clairvaux and by the general chapter, namely in the year 1249 Ibid., a little above.. Suir, or Inislounaght, was situated in the diocese of Lismore, founded by a princely man of the family (as it seems) of O'Brien under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary Thomas de Burgo, Jongelinus, etc..

[153] Buckland. LXXII. Buckland, Bockland, Boclond, Bucklandia, or the Place of St. Benedict of Bocland, in Devon and the diocese of Exeter, was founded under the patronage of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Benedict by Amicia, countess of Devon, monks having been taken from Quarr. To the charter of foundation Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 712 and following., according to English custom, no year was added; but the distinguished Mr. Oliver, in his historical Collectanea on the monasteries of Devon, assigns the year 1278 Ibid., p. 712.: which seems unable to depart from the truth on account of two letters given in the year 1280 by Walter, bishop of Exeter, who had excommunicated the monks of Buckland because without his authority

they were celebrating sacred rites in his diocese Ibid., p. 713..

[154] Neufchâtel. LXXIII. Novum Castrum in Normandy, or Neufchâtel-en-Bray, formerly Driencuria or Drincuria (Drincourt), had received before the end of the twelfth century a hospital, which regular canons served; to whom in the year 1652 there succeeded some nuns from Bival, who had previously, from the year 1641, obtained another seat at Neufchâtel. Only in the year 1725 did they obtain an abbess. The original founder was a certain man named Robert Burgundio; the patron of the church St. Thomas of Canterbury Descript. de la haute Normandie, vol. I, p. 148 and following..

[155] Yvetot. LXXIV. Yvetot. In the year 1647 some nuns of Bival had tried, with the permission of the prelate of Rouen, to found a new seat in the borough of Auffay, but with little success. Charles du Bellay, lord of Yvetot, admitted them into his lordship of Yvetot in the year 1657; and the archbishop of Rouen set a prioress over them. Their earlier little chapel had St. Hyacinth as titular; the new one, built in the year 1711, the Blessed Virgin Mary Ibid., p. 190..

[156] The Congregation of La Trappe. LXXV. The origin and fortunes of the Congregation of La Trappe we rather pass over than indicate, lest we depart further than is fitting from Savigny.

§ XIII. Abbeys reckoned among those of Savigny on doubtful grounds or wrongly, and others whose name was corrupted.

Some abbeys, whose name is either read corrupted, Although Souchet's catalogue of the filiation of Savigny teems with a great many blemishes, yet since it is the most copious of all of those which are carried about, it will be worth while to review in this place those names which either are too corrupt to be easily understood, or were thrust in on uncertain or even false grounds. Conquesac, Cogesac, Coggestallum represent Coggeshall; Londevilla, Bondeville; Caldra Souchened, otherwise Locus Dei, and below Condra, Calder; Mamma, Manwel; Watheneyum, Abington or Whytneyum; Straguleia among the daughters of Furness, and Stranlea or Stransleya among those of Quarr, Stanley; Eussinum in the island of Immania, Rushen in the island of Man; Ynis Lenachea, Suir or Innis-lonnagh; Hysnes, Carrick or Ines, also called Courcy's Island; Holy Cross of Waterlauyn, the Holy Cross in the diocese of Cashel; the Valley of St. Mary Crodeme, the abbey of Croxden; Bolilandia, Byland; Stanlana and Locus Benedictus of Scalauna, Stanlaw; Pultona Deu la croisse, Poulton or Dieulacres; Portus S. Maria, daughter of St. Mary's, or the abbey of Bretinum, daughter of Dimelin, is the same as Dunbrody, daughter of St. Mary's of Dublin (Dublin was formerly called Develin Camden's Brit., Gough's ed., vol. III, p. 548; and others passim., hence corruptly Dimelin); Grevardum in Ireland pertains to Granard; Basneret and Basmaneich, both in Wales, seem to represent Basingwerk and Strata Marcella.

[158] or are reckoned outside their own filiation. Among the daughters of Furness there likewise occurs in Souchet a double abbey of Rochen, both in England; I scarcely doubt that this double monastery was thrust in there, and is nothing else than the abbey de Rupe, or of Roche, in the diocese of York, founded on the third day before the Kalends of August of the year 1147 according to the Cistercian Chronography Annal. Cist. at the year 1147, chap. XIX, vol. II, p. 90., with which the Monasticon Anglicanum agrees Vol. V, p. 501.. But this was a daughter of Newminster, of the line of Clairvaux indeed, but not of the family of Savigny [Cf. Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Ang., p. 10; and Fundatio Novi Mon. in Mon. Ang., vol. V, p. 399.]. Another of the same name I find neither in England, nor in Wales, nor in Ireland. Among the daughters of Furness Souchet likewise reckons Vedeux in Ireland; but I find no name more like this than Vaudey, or Vallis Dei, in the county and diocese of Lincoln, founded about the middle of the year 1147, a daughter of Fountains in England [Fundat. Vallis Dei, in Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 490, n. 1, and Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Ang., p. 8.]; but these again do not pertain to the houses of Savigny. To the daughters of Buildwas he similarly adds Benedictio Dei in Ireland, in the diocese of Meath: but again erroneously: for it is one of the names of Athlone, or the abbey of SS. Peter and Benedict, a daughter of Mellifont, founded in the year 1150 Th. de Burgo, Hib. Dom., p. 743; Jongelinus, A. O. C. in Hib., p. 23.. From what has been said it is clear enough that in Souchet's catalogue the filiation of the abbeys is confused, and the same monasteries come forth twice or thrice, the name being somewhat changed; but I have indicated here only those which could detain the reader. There remain also similar things to be corrected in other books, chiefly those which concern monasteries attributed to the monks of Savigny which seem not to have been either monasteries or priories in the true sense, or which never obeyed the laws of the monks of Savigny.

[159] The abbey of Les Dunes, doubtfully of Savigny; Among these, in the first place comes the abbey of Blessed Mary of the Dunes, founded in the year 1107 in the territory of Veurne, at the beginning in the diocese of the Morini, afterwards of Ypres, and in the year 1626 or 1627 translated to the episcopal city of Bruges. Very many writers make it of Savigny before it submitted to the laws of the Cistercians in the year 1137. In truth Ligerius, to whom its first beginnings are owed, is related to have been a disciple of St. Vitalis; but since Ligerius left his school while the eremitical life was still being led at Savigny, that is, before a beginning had been given to the abbey, and since from elsewhere there appear no traces of jurisdiction which either St. Vitalis or Blessed Geoffrey had exercised over the monks of Les Dunes, there seems to be no reason why we should refer this monastery to the filiation of Savigny. For the rest, whoever wishes more about this monastery, Jongelinus A. O. C. in Belgio, p. 21 and following, the Gallia Christiana Vol. V, p. 284 and following, Henriquez Fasciculus SS. O. C., book I, p. 174 and following, Sanderus Flandria Illust., vol. I, p. 246., Iperius Chron. S. Bertini, in Martène will give it, and above all Adrian De But, whose Chronicle of Les Dunes and supplement, with the appendix or Auctarium of Charles De Visch, the Société d'Émulation of Bruges published in the year 1839, adding at the end a diplomatic codex.

[160] Manuel, not of Savigny. Manuel. Souchet puts forward among the daughters of Furness the abbey de Mamma, distinct from that of Rushen in Man; the Gallia Christiana has Vol. XI, p. 553.: "Mawmaniel, a daughter of Furness, is founded in the island of Mamna in the year 1140." Jongelinus, in the Catalogue of abbeys according to the seats in the chapter and in the Notitia of the Cistercian abbeys in Scotland Page 15., reports that Manwel is a monastery in Stirlingshire, a region of Scotland, whose founder about the year 1140 is reported to be St. Malcolm, surnamed the Maiden, the future king of Scotland. But all these things are very doubtful to me: for first of all they do not cohere with one another; next, in the old History of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. V, p. 250. there occurs a catalogue of the daughters of Furness: but among these no such abbey appears; thirdly, Carlisle Topograph. Diction. of Scotland, under Emanuel., who gave the most accurate notice of all of this monastery, asserts that it was a nunnery of Cistercian nuns, called Manuel or Emanuel, and founded about the year 1156 in the diocese of Dunblane by King Malcolm; nay, he even brings forward one or two prioresses of the twelfth century Ibid., loc. cit.; from whom Camden does not dissent Britannia, Gough's edition, vol. III, p. 318.; fourthly, lastly, in the Savigny Chronography, which generally indicates the monasteries of men, at the year 1146 there does not come forth an abbey de Mamma, Mawmaniel, Manwel, Emanuel, etc.

[161] Lielrede, not of Savigny. Lielrede, or Beatitudo. Manrique Ann. Cist. at the year 1146, chap. XII, vol. II, p. 49. affirms that at the year 1146 three Beatitudes were found by him in Ireland: the first, also called Nolide, a daughter of Clairvaux; the second, which he also calls Lielrede, a daughter of Turnesium, rather of Furness, of the filiation of Savigny; the third, lastly, which also has the name Bertif, a daughter of Mellifont. But of the second, to say it in few words, I find nothing in Jongelinus among the abbeys of Ireland, nothing in Thomas de Burgo, nothing in the Catalogue of the daughters of Furness.

[162] Drogo's Fount confused with Laragh-Granard. "Drogo's Fount, otherwise Gruchn Grenard, is founded at least in the year 1154": so the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553.; but it is an error, arisen from the diversity of the names of one abbey. For the abbey of Stanley was at one time called Drogo's Fount, while it was still situated at Lockswell. See above, num. XXXVIII. Gruchn Grenard seems to have been sought from Laragh-Granard in Ireland. See above, num. LXVI.

[163] Bon-Repos, not of Savigny. Bona Requies, founded in the diocese of Quimper in the year 1172 on the Kalends of May according to the Chronography Annal. at the year 1172, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 536., and furnished with a charter of foundation in the year 1184 by Alan III, viscount of Rohan Dom Morice, Mémoires, etc., vol. I, col. 696 and following., the new Gallia Christiana reckons among the monasteries of Savigny; but Souchet passes it over in the catalogue of Savigny; and the Sainte-Marthe brothers Abbat. Gall., p. 178., Beaunier Recueil des abbayes, vol. II, p. 950. and the Rev. M. Tresvaux L'Église de Bretagne, p. 582 make it a daughter of the abbey of Boquen in the diocese of Saint-Brieuc; and indeed Manrique Annal. Cisterc. at the year 1172, chap. VI, vol. II, p. 567., refuting Henriquez, who attributes it to the abbey of Ré as its mother and at the same time to the line of Cîteaux (although Ré did not belong to Cîteaux), testifies that in the tables of the churches of Cîteaux it is called a daughter of Bochian; with whom Jongelinus agrees in the catalogue of Cîteaux at the year 1184. Wherefore, since the whole series of Savigny belonged to the line of Clairvaux, it is clear on every side that an error has crept into the Gallia Christiana.

[164] Beaubec in Ireland, rather a manor than a priory. Bellus-Beccus, commonly Beau bec [Cf. Monast. Angl., vol. VII, col. 1129, and Thomas de Burgo, Hibernia Dominicana, p. 743.], and called Belbech in the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553, situated at the confluence of two rivers in the county and diocese of Midia (Meath) near Pontana or Drogheda in Ireland, and distinguished by the title of the Blessed Virgin Mary Thomas de Burgo, Hibernia Dominicana, p. 743., was at first a manor of Beaubec in Normandy, founded by Walter de Lascy about the year 1147 according to the Gallia Christiana Vol. XI, col. 553. and in the thirteenth century according to Thomas de Burgo Hib. Dom., p. 743.. And that one must adhere to the latter is clear on a twofold head: for Walter de Lascy or Lacy

lived in the time of Henry III Cf. Rymer, vol. I, part I, p. 52, 71, 72, 75, 82, 110.; and then in the Charter of Edward III Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1129., by which the instruments issued concerning this cell are reviewed, it is related that Henry III alone confirmed this donation in the twentieth year of his reign; which ran from the 28th of October of the year 1235 Cf. Art de vérifier les dates, vol. I, p. 806.. With the consent of Edward III, who held the kingdom of England from the year 1327 to 1377 Ibid., p. 810 and following., the monks of Beaubec handed over this manor to the monks of Furness Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1128.; from which they make it their daughter Cf. Gallia Christ., vol. XI, col. 553.. From the new Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1129. this charter of Edward III was given in the year 1333 on the fourth day of May. In the same place it is called into doubt whether before this year it was a cell or monastery; I too desire proofs by which it may be established that Beaubec was ever a monastery, even under the monks of Furness.

[165] Arklow; doubtful whether there was ever a convent of Savigny there. Arcloa, or Arclovium, in Irish Jonubheur-More, or Innivermore, in English Arklow and Arclo, in the county of Wicklow in Leinster, and in the diocese of Glendalough, joined to that of Dublin from the twelfth century. Concerning this monastery the writers are various in a wonderful manner. Thomas de Burgo Hibern. Domin., p. 265 and following, Carlisle Topogr. Dict. of Ireland, under Arklow., Gough In Camden, Britannia, vol. III, p. 551., Archdall Monast. Hibern., p. 769. and others write that that monastery was of the Friars Preachers, founded in the year 1264 by Theobald IV, butler of Ireland, who died in the year 1285, under the name of the Holy Spirit. On the other hand the Monasticon Anglicanum Vol. VII, p. 1128. and Lewis Top. Dict. of Ireland, under Arklow. establish that it was a Cistercian abbey, at least at the beginning. In truth, that same Theobald the butler who founded Abington "gave to the Monks of the Cistercian order who went out from the abbey of Furness" (that is, to the monks of Abington) "all his demesnes of Arkelo … moreover the island of Arkelo for founding there an abbey of the Cistercian order, or elsewhere where they should see that it would be more useful and more suitable for their work, within the same land" Monast. Angl., vol. VII, p. 1128.. But since shortly after, namely in the year 1206, this Theobald Walter died, this foundation seems not to have been put into execution; surely no traces of it remain in the Cistercian catalogues of Jongelinus, in the catalogue of Souchet, or, so far as I know, elsewhere. On the contrary it is found at the year 1264 in an old catalogue of Dominican convents Hibern. Domin., p. 38.; in the Bull of John XXXIII at the year 1414 Bullar. FF. Prædic., vol. II, p. 524; in Th. de Burgo, p. 269. and elsewhere.