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Count Gerald of Aurillac and Feudalism in South Central France in the Early Tenth Century
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 04 August 2017
Extract
An important source, available to the historian, which helps explain the nature of the society of South Central France in the late ninth and early tenth century is the Life of St. Gerald of Aurillac, written by Abbot Odo of Cluny. It is important for a number of reasons. In the first place, it was written during a period when French royal capitularies reflect a kingly authority restricted to an area north of the Loire and thus are unable to throw much light on conditions in the Midi. In the second place, when it was composed local narrative chronicles seem no longer to have been written south of the Loire, while those still being penned north of it, like Flodoard's Annals, seem to contain little information concerning this part of France. In short, the Life of St. Gerald of Aurillac fills an important gap in our information between the narrative found in the Annales Bertiniani, composed by Hincmar of Rheims, who seems well informed on events taking place in the Midi, and that found in the early eleventh-century chronicle of Ademar of Chabannes.
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References
1 The best edition of this life is in PL 133, entitled De vita sancti Geraldi Auriliacensis Comitis (hereafter called VG in this paper). Another excellent edition with notes is found in Bouange, G. M. F., Histoire de l'Abbaye d'Aurillac, précédée de la vie de Saint Gérard, I (Paris 1899). An English translation is to be found in St. Odo of Cluny , ed. and trans. by Sitwell, G. (New York 1958). This translation, however, is not always accurate and should be used with some caution.Google Scholar
2 See comments on this situation in Ganshof, F. M., Feudalism, 2nd ed., trans. by Grierson, P., (New York 1961) 68.Google Scholar
3 Mabillon, Acta SS. Ord. Bened. saec. v, 6 and 124 in PL 133. 11, 34, 703, 708.Google Scholar
4 VG Praefatio 640–42.Google Scholar
5 Ganshof, , op. cit. 58–59.Google Scholar
6 Hoyt, Robert S., Feudal Institutions (New York 1961), 31–32.Google Scholar
7 Ganshof, , op. cit. 59-60.Google Scholar
8 VG I 32, 660–61.Google Scholar
9 Ganshof, , op. cit. 59.Google Scholar
10 VG I 1, 641.Google Scholar
11 Ibid. I, 41, 667 and II 12, 677. These lands were contiguous enough so that he could always stop at his own manor houses, called capella, when he journeyed through his domains.Google Scholar
12 Ibid. II 25, 685. Odo says these lands were in the territory of Quercy, Auvergne, and the Albigeois. From plotting them on a map it seems wise to add Rouergue too. Ibid., I 1, 641.Google Scholar
13 Ibid. I, 41, 667.Google Scholar
14 Ibid. I, 28, 659.Google Scholar
15 Gerald's castle of Aurillac is mentioned several times. Ibid. I 36, 38-39, 663-665. It seems to have been the only fortification that he possessed throughout his extensive domains. Evidently the building of numerous castles in this part of the Midi came later than this period.Google Scholar
16 Ibid. I 1, 643 and III 4, 691.Google Scholar
17 See Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Beaulieu, (ed., Deloche, M., Paris 1859), nos. 18, 19, 112, 186, 3, 46, 17, 55, 155, 94, 60, 72, and 28; Cartulaire de l'abbaye de Conques en Rouergue , (ed., Desjardins, A., Paris 1879) no. 6; Histoire Générale de Languedoc, Privat ed. (Toulouse 1879), II, nos. 160 and 164; Cartulaire de Brioude , (ed. Clermont-Ferrand, Doniol 1869) nos. 315 and 318 and Cartulaire de Sauxillanges , ed., Doniol, H., (Clermont 1864) nos. 13 and 428.Google Scholar
18 ‘Siquidem constat eum quae a parentibus vel regibus ei collata sunt,’ VG, II, 34, 689.Google Scholar
19 Ibid. I 1, 643.Google Scholar
20 Ibid. I 6, 645.Google Scholar
21 Ibid. II 12, 677.Google Scholar
22 Ibid. I 19, 654.Google Scholar
23 Ibid. I 9, 648.Google Scholar
24 Ibid. II 2, 670.Google Scholar
25 Ibid. II 4, 672–73.Google Scholar
26 Ibid. Google Scholar
27 This will which Mabillon found in a chronicle of Aurillac is entirely in agreement with what Odo of Cluny says Gerald did with his property. We have thus no reason not to accept it as authentic.Google Scholar
28 VG II 672–73.Google Scholar
29 These charters are found in the Cartulaire de Brioude and the Cartulaire de Sauxillanges previously cited and Le Grand Cartulaire de Saint-Julien de Brioude, (ed. Marie, Anne and Boudot, Marcel St. Etienne, 1935), Cartulaire de l'abbaye de St. Chaffre du Monastir , (ed. Chevalier, U., Paris 1884), and Chartes de Cluny (ed. Bernard, A. et Bruel, A.) I-II (Paris 1776-93).Google Scholar
30 These charters are from the Cartulaire de Beaulieu, previously cited, and the Cartulaires des abbayes de Tulle et de Roc-Amador, (ed., Champéval, J. in Bulletin de la société historique et archéologique de la Corréze , 4–18 [1887-1902]), the Cartulaire de l'abbaye d'Uzerche , ed. Champéval, J., (Tulle 1901), and the Cartulaire de l'église de Saint-Étienne de Limoges , (ed., de Font-Reaullx, J., in Bulletin de la société archéologique et historique du Limousin 69 [1922]).Google Scholar
31 These charters are found in the Cartulaire de Conques and Histoire Générale de Languedec, II, previously cited.Google Scholar
32 VG I 32, 661.Google Scholar
33 See Hist. Gén. de Lang. II, nos. 84 and 132.Google Scholar
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36 Cartulaire de St. Étienne de Limoges, no. 84. The royal charter does give this as a benefice for two lifetimes, however.Google Scholar
37 Cartulaire de Beaulieu, no. 71.Google Scholar
38 Ibid. no. 55. This property, it is interesting to note, even included a castle.Google Scholar
39 Cartulaire de Sauxillanges, no. 13. This charter is of particular relevance to the homage and connection of Rainald, Gerald's heir, with the House of Auvergne which we have mentioned earlier. In it we find no mention of Rainald as one of Accfred's fideles and no mention of any of Gerald's villas, including Talizat, as part of Accfred's comital fisc. Rainald's homage to Duke William, then, upon which Ganshof places such emphasis, seems to have had little long-range importance.Google Scholar
40 ‘Sed ille favore comitis nuper usurpato,’ VG I 32, 661.Google Scholar
41 Ibid. I 27, 658 and II 17, 680. The frequent use of the term Count in Sitwell's English translation is an inaccurate rendering of the original text.Google Scholar
42 Ibid. I 13, 651 and I 24, 657.Google Scholar
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44 Mabillon, Acta. SS. Ord. S. Bened. saec. v, p. 6 in VG 605-06.Google Scholar
45 VG I 36–39, 663-66.Google Scholar
46 Cartulaire de Beaulieu, nos. 186 and 3.Google Scholar
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48 VG I 37, 664–65.Google Scholar
49 Cartulaire de Beaulieu, no. 169. Perhaps he is also mentioned in a charter of 898. Ibid. no. 29.Google Scholar
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51 Cartulaire de Tulle, no. 276.Google Scholar
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54 VG I 35–36, 38-39, 663-69. Count Ademar, according to Odo, even attempted in vain to get Gerald to accept him as his overlord.Google Scholar
55 Cartulaire de Tulle, no. 12.Google Scholar
56 Ibid. nos. 14 and 229. This is about the time we find Robert of the rival house of Turenne called Count. Cartulaire de Beaulieu, no. 132.Google Scholar
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58 See notes 45, 48, and 54 for references.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
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63 Cartulaire de Brioude, nos. 98 and 165 shows Duke William as the new lay abbot of this abbey.Google Scholar
64 VG I 32, 661.Google Scholar
65 Ibid. I 34, 662.Google Scholar
66 ‘Nepotem tamen suum nomine Rainaldum eidem cum ingenti militum numero commendavit.’ Ibid. I 32, 661.Google Scholar
67 Ibid. I 33, 662.Google Scholar
68 ‘Raimundum noveratis comitem, filium videlicet Odonis. Hic nepotem domni Geraldi nomine Benedictum, Tolosae videlicet vicecomitem dolo captum tenebat.’ Ibid. II 28, 685.Google Scholar
69 During the delicate negotiations which took place to get Benedict released, Odo tells us that Rainald, Benedict's brother, the same man who had done homage to Duke William of Aquitaine, took his brother's place as a prisoner of Count Raymond of Toulouse. Ibid. II 28, 686.Google Scholar
70 On the parley and agreement between Count Raymond and Gerald, see ibid. II 29, 686. On the close connection between Gerald's newly founded monastery of Aurillac and Vabres, the special preserve of the Counts of Toulouse-Rouergue, see ibid. II 6, 674.Google Scholar
71 There is a reference to Gerald entertaining Marquises. Ibid. I 16, 653. This probably refers to both the Duke of Acquitaine and the Count of Toulouse.Google Scholar
72 Ibid. I 41, 667.Google Scholar
73 Adrald is simply called one of Gerald's comitatus in one place during his lifetime. Ibid. II 31, 687. After his death when Odo tells us he attacked the abbey of Aurillac he is called a vassus. Ibid. IV 7. 700.Google Scholar
74 Gerald's will says, ‘Marconi manso, quem Adoaldi emi, dum vivit, teneat.’ See Note 102. Ibid. II 672.Google Scholar
75 Ibid. I 17. 654.Google Scholar
76 See the mention of an unruly vassus of Bishop Stodile of Limoges in a charter dating from 851. Cartulaire de Saint-Etienne de Limoges, no. 3. Or the mention of a certain Daniel whom a charter of 884 from the Limousin shows was a vassal of two lords. Ibid. no. 5.Google Scholar
77 They seem to have also administered his system of poor relief on his estates. VG I 14. 652.Google Scholar
78 Ibid. I 19. 655.Google Scholar
79 Ibid. II 2, 670.Google Scholar
80 Odo mentions that that portion of his lands (praedia vel mancipia) which he did not give to the Pope he divided between his relatives, milites, and servants (inter quosdam propinquos ac milites vel certe servatoribus dimisit). Ibid. III 4. 691. Thus we see a distinction between Gerald's milites and his officials or administrators.Google Scholar
81 This charter dates from 971. Cartulaire de Beaulieu, no. 50.Google Scholar
82 VG III 689.Google Scholar
83 Ibid. I 21. 656.Google Scholar
84 Ibid. I 12. 651.Google Scholar
85 Ibid. I 6. 646 and I 11. 649.Google Scholar
86 See the excellent account of vassalage and its generally low social status in Merovingian times in Ganshof, , op. cit. 3-12.Google Scholar
87 See charter of 924 which tells how Vikings had destroyed the abbey of Solignac in the nearby Limousin, . Cartulaire d'Uzerche, no. 1306.Google Scholar
88 VG I 39, 666.Google Scholar
89 Cartulaire de Beaulieu, nos. 24 and 76.Google Scholar
90 VG I 18. 654.Google Scholar
91 Ibid. I 20. 655.Google Scholar
92 Ibid. I 40. 666.Google Scholar
93 Ibid. I 7. 646.Google Scholar
94 Ibid. I 32. 660.Google Scholar
95 Ibid. I 37. 664–65.Google Scholar
96 Ibid. I 35–36. 38-39, 663-69.Google Scholar
97 Ibid. I 4-5. 645.Google Scholar
98 See for instance charters in Cartulaire de Brioude, nos. 282, 43, 56, 119, 311, 271, 13, 225, 60, 102, 126, 208, 227, 277, 85, 19; in Cartulaire de Beaulieu, nos. 56, 38, 132, and Cartulaire de Tulle, no. 229; in Cartulaire de Conques, nos. 357, 124, 230, 391, 6, 208, and 91.Google Scholar
99 ‘… milites ejus qui sub illius fidelitate pugnaverunt.’ VG I 8. 647.Google Scholar
100 Ibid. I 33. 662.Google Scholar
101 See mention of 100 solidi he gave in compensation to an innocent man whose eyes were put out by his milites. Ibid. I 18. 654. Orthe immense sums he spent on relics. Ibid. III 3. 691.Google Scholar
102 See mention of these milites as inhabiting the castle itself in Ibid. I 39. 665.Google Scholar
103 Among many accounts of his milites accompanying him into battle see Ibid. I 8. 647; Ibid. I 33. 661; Ibid. I 35. 663; Ibid. I 40. 666.Google Scholar
104 For references to his milites accompanying him on his journeys to Rome, see Ibid. I 31. 660.Google Scholar
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108 Cartulaire de St. Étienne de Limoges, no. 3.Google Scholar
109 Cartulaire de Tulle, no. 276.Google Scholar
110 ‘Ille necesse habebat ad quoddam placitum ex condictu venire, quo scilicet nobiles quidam visi conventuri erant.’ VG I 11. 649–50.Google Scholar
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113 Ibid. I 19. 655.Google Scholar
114 Ibid. I 20. 655.Google Scholar
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116 See record of a court held in Rouergue in 934. Cartulaire de Conques, no. 155 and another held in the Limousin in 960. Cartulaire de Beaulieu, no. 47.Google Scholar
117 VG II 4. 672–73.Google Scholar
118 Ibid. II 6. 674.Google Scholar
119 See Histoire Générale de Languedoc, II nos. 160 and 203.Google Scholar
120 Cartulaire de Beaulieu, nos. 33, 19, 21, 1, 3 and 4.Google Scholar
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122 Gerald's will states as follows, ‘Rainaldus nepos meus habeat potestatem de hoc supra nominato monasterio ad abbates mittendi, tollendi sint, etc.’ VG II 672. Obviously he tried to enforce these rights later on and caused trouble. Ibid. IV 11. 702.Google Scholar
123 Cartulaire de Brioude, nos. 98, 165, and 208 show Duke William as lay abbot of Brioude.Google Scholar
124 Cartulaire de Sauxillanges, no. 146.Google Scholar
125 VG II 4, 672–73.Google Scholar
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127 See early charters of the Cartulaire de St. Barnard des Romans, ed., Chevalier, U., (Romans 1898), which show this close connection with the Papal See.Google Scholar