Introduction: (by Richard Barton)
1. Date: not indicated in the text. The
following episode is known as a "notice", since it does not stick to the
rules by which charters were usually written and organized. In a
sense, notices were informal, chatty versions of the more legally formal
charter; they allowed the monks who wrote them a chance to provide background
detail, emotional highlights, and so forth to what might otherwise have
been a dry legal document. In this case, the notice contains the
texts of many charters; it is therefore a mini-cartulary within the larger
cartulary. Because the monks have crammed together several different
acts of donation and concession into one notice, it is very hard to assign
one date to the document. In this case, the text of the notice contains
sections that date to a hundred-year span (from 1056-1150). Why this
compression? It was a handy way to bring together all the separate charters
dealing with an individual piece of property, so as to provide a brief
history of the monastery's relationship with that property. The section
of the notice that I translate below probably took place between 1113 and
1133; notice that although no precise date is mentioned in the text, we
can nevertheless construct a date range for the act by studying the activity
of the men and women who are mentioned in it. That is, if we know
from other sources that Abbot Hervey was abbot between a certain set of
dates, and we find his name in a charter, we can assume that the undated
charter must, at least, fall into the years of Hervey's abbacy.
2. Author: the monks of the abbey of St Serge d'Angers.
Fulk [of Matefelon] gave in dowry the domain-land of his father, Hugh the Mansel, to Lambert Fossart, his knight, and Lambert's wife, Agnes. When Lambert died without heir, Adelard Tuaret took Agnes as wife, but Adelard too died without heir. And Agnes remained a widow under [the guardianship of] Fulk of Matefelon for a long time; finally, however, she married Geoffrey of Ralei without Fulk's consent. For this reason lord Fulk became greatly angered and took all that land from Geoffrey and Agnes and held it in his own hand. And after a great war had been waged on that account by both sides, they finally ceased fighting under the following terms: lord Fulk accepted a great deal of money from Geoffrey de Ralei and then granted him the aforesaid land as his inheritance under the following condition: for ever after Geoffrey would have to make Matefelon [Fulk's castle] his formal residence. Geoffrey promised in fact [to make] it his residence, but didn't fulfill this promise, and for that reason he lost his inheritance. After Geoffrey died, moreover, Agnes remained a widow with 3 sons - Warner, Aymer, and Frello - and one daughter (who was named Garza and who later married Hugh of Baracé). And Agnes, together with her son Warner and, after Warner died, with hers son Aymer, held the land in question as her dowry. But not long after, Hugh of Matefelon, son of the aforementioned Fulk, became very angry with Aymer, such that they turned against each other in war; and for this reason Hugh seized that land from Aymer. After peace was restored between them, moreover, Hugh did not return the land to him right away; it was only after a great many promises of fidelity on the part of Aymer that Hugh returned her dowry to Aymer's mother. And Aymer held it with his mother until he left for Jerusalem, where he died; Frello, his brother, succeeded him in this inheritance. Since for a long time lord Hugh had claimed that land from Frello by hereditary right, Hugh finally gave Frello a lot of money, upon which Frello freely surrendered all that land, namely the dowry of his mother, and whatever rights he held in it to his lord, Hugh. In return Frello was to accept and hold in peace another [land] which fell to him from Hugh's patrimony.
Witnesses: Theobald of Matefelon, Payn of Trueia, Harduin of Azé, Bernard of Entrammes, and others.
After Hugh had held this [the dower land] in his lordship for a few days without dispute, he gave all of it to God and the monks of St Serge freely and quietly, just as he had held it; he gave it as alms for his soul and for the souls of his ancestors. At first Hugh made this gift into the hands of Lord Peter the abbot in the chapter-house of the abbey, but later he placed the gift on the altar [that is, he made a formal ceremony of the gift]. In memory of the defense and confirmation of this gift, moreover, the monks gave Hugh 50 shillings out of love.
Witnesses: William of Javardeil, Luvellus of Dalmeriaco, Maurice of Striche, Natalis of Fanu, Richard the archdeacon, Gerard of Bulet, Bunellis mutuator, Wihenoc of Chateau-Gontier, Rainer the tailor, Vendengius, Villanus, Odo the monk and cook, Robert Chabert the bishop's cook, Frellonus son of Hubert of Champigné, and others.
And Hugh's son, Theobald, had confirmed this gift first in the chapter-house in the presence of his father Hugh, before Hugh set out for Jerusalem, and in the presence of Norman the archdeacon, Girard of Bulet, and others.
Afterwards Lord Hugh made his wife, Marquise, confirm this gift into the hands of Abbot Hervey at Chateauneuf in the house of Hervey the miller. And in return for this confirmation, the monks gave her 50 shillings.
Witnesses: Dean John of Laval, Raherius of Platea, Bencinas, Chaidene,
Wiart of Changi, Renard of Entrammes, and Hugh of Matefelon.
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