Introduction (by Richard Barton)
1. Date: Given the presence of certain individuals in this act,
the editor (Yves Chauvin) has been able to provide a range of dates within
which the act must have taken place; that range is between April 1082 and
1092.
2. Author: the monks of the abbey of St. Serge d'Angers
The monks of St Serge received the chapel of Bréal as a gift from Rainer of Taillis and his sons Rainald and Merillus; moreover, Jean of Laval, Hamo his brother, Guy son of Hamo, Robert of Vitré and André his son all consented to the gift [these men are the lords of Rainer of Taillis]. After the monks [of St Serge] had held the chapel during the time of three abbots without complaint, the monks of the abbey of St Jovin who dwelt at La Pertre, having been inspired by the Devil, asserted what is false to be true and claimed that this chapel was theirs by ancient and hereditary right. They did this because they saw that the monks of St Serge were intent on carrying out construction there, and that Guy of Laval [this is the Guy son of Hamo mentioned above] was going to freely consent to their building project. This same Guy had given [them] land contiguous to the chapel sufficient for three plow-teams in a single season. Incited by this, the monks of St Jovin laid claim to the chapel. The monks of St Jovin seduced with bribes Juhel son of Godefridus and his brothers (by whose time St Serge had held that chapel without complaint for many years) and Merillus son of Rainer (who had confirmed the chapel to St Serge twice before), and they bound these tyrants to their cause in order to lay claim to the chapel. But the monks of St Jovin were aware of the unjustness of their claim, and after they had made a complaint to Bishop Silvester of Rennes concerning the monks of St Serge and after the bishop had summoned Abbot Achard of St Serge before him to discuss this issue, they monks of St Jovin dissembled, saying that their abbot had been forced to leave that region on account of penury; and thus the monks of St Jovin avoided attending a public debate before the clergy and people by having recourse to their usual deceitful tricks. But [in fact] their abbot had not left that region; once he had been warned by his monks, he went to lord André de Vitré and, having refuted the [findings of the] episcopal court, compelled Abbot Achard, who was uneasy and unwilling, to attend [André's] lay court. Since it would take too long to narrate even briefly the perfidy of the monks of St Jovin, it pleases me to merely report how even in a court chosen by them they were found to be totally devoid of right. For after lord Abbot Achard of St Serge and lord Abbot Simon of St Jovin had convened in the court of lord André and the arguments of both sides had been heard, the date of the hearing was prolonged due to a lack of judges. And when that time had elapsed, once again the abbot of St Serge was there, and with him Lord Geoffrey, bishop of Angers, with his clergy, as well as the monks of St Jovin, and with them Juhel son of Godefridus and Merillus son of Rainer [these are the two hireling mentioned above]. Juhel presented the argument of the monks of St Jovin against the monks of St Serge. Their argument went like this. Juhel said that la Pertre had been an abbey constructed by King Clovis [that is, in the very distant past (the 7th century)] in honor of St Martin of Vertou; yet since he had no proof [literally "authority"] for this [claim], either written or oral, it was judged that it ought to be rejected. Then Juhel continued and, with the monks [of St Jovin] agreeing, said that the abbey of la Pertre had belonged to his ancestors and that he had given it through his hereditary right to the monks of St Jovin along with the dependencies that comprised it, of which Bréal was one. And when the abbot of St Serge had responded to this argument, it was decided by lord John, Archbishop of Dol, lord Silvester, Bishop of Rennes, lord Gervase, abbot of St Melaine, and by a distinguished court of clergy and nobles that the Abbot Achard ought to render proof by means of any of St Serge's men that the Abbot had held Bréal for years and days without any dispute, and had done so with the full knowledge of Juhel, his brothers, and Merillus. And when the monks of St Jovin, along with Juhel and Merillus, rejected this, knowing full well that they would not profit at all from this decision, everyone departed.
Witnesses: John the Archbishop [of Dol]; Silvester the Bishop [of Rennes]; Geoffrey the Bishop [of Angers]; Gervase, abbot of St Melaine; Marbod; Geoffrey; Martin; Geoffrey the cantor; Rainard; Herbert Bonit; André de Vitré; Gorantonus; Alan son of Rivallon; Rivaldus son of Rainer; and many others.
And not much after this, Merillus compelled lord abbot Achard to plead concerning this matter in the aforesaid court [of André de Vitré]; at this court it was firmly judged that the lord abbot should not have to respond to him nor to any of those who had been present at the past hearing.
Witnesses: André [of Vitré]; Alan; Goranton; Fulk; Robert the canon; Rivaldus; Payn son of Froger.
And when Juhel and Merillus saw that they had inflicted so much pain on the lord Abbot, they confessed their guilt in having imposed this injury on St Serge at the instigation of the monks of St Jovin, and they humbly sought forgiveness; following this, they both conceded Bréal to the abbey of St Serge. Out of a desire that their concession might stand firm, and also out of his own benevolence, Abbot Achard agreed to Juhel's request and made one of Juhel's men, named David, a monk; on top of this, he gave Juhel 30 shillings. And when Juhel had conceded Bréal to lord Ansger, one of the monks of St Serge, the monks promised him moreover that if at some time he should want to place monks in the church of St Stephen of Cogles, they would provide monks from the abbey of St Serge.
They strengthened this mutual agreement with their oaths, for which the witnesses were: David, Bernerius the priest, [and] Ralph Herloini. To Merillus, Abbot Achard also gave a certain halbergium worth 40 shillings. Merillus, coming into the chapter-house of St Serge, first confessed he had acted deceitfully towards St Serge, and then he and his brother Fulk delivered Bréal as a gift into the hand of Lord Abbot Achard, along with a small knife. They placed the knife on the altar and there Merillus broke it for testimony.
The witnesses to this matter were Geoffrey of Mayenne the Old, and his
nephew Geoffrey of Mayenne the Young, and Gosbert of Sancogné.
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