INTRODUCTION (by Richard Barton):
The following is a type of medieval document called a charter.
Charters granted something to the recipient of the charter, who then might
be expected to keep a record of this donation. Most often the donors were
secular aristocrats and the recipients were monasteries. Because
so many laymen made gifts to monasteries, the monks tended to collate the
various documents relating to a given area into big books called cartularies.
This charter, issued between 1120 and 1128, comes from the cartulary of
the abbey of Marmoutier (located at Tours) devoted to the monks' properties
in Maine. Juhel was the second son of the previous lord of Mayenne
(a castle in the French county of Maine); his foundation of a priory of
Marmoutier at Mayenne was one of the first deeds he undertook upon inheriting
his father's estate (we also think he was only about 20 years old when
this occurred).
TEXT:
Juhel of Mayenne to all the faithful, greetings. Because the deeds of those in the present ought to be commended through writing to the notice of those of the future, I, Juhel, decided to lay open to the notice of those of the future how the disagreement that existed between Warin the Honest and me was settled, and how it was restored to the good of peace. It is and will be evident to everyone that through the grace of God I conveyed the monks of Marmoutier from the monastery of Saint-Martin [in Tours] and gave to them the chapel of the martyred saints Stephen, Lawrence, and Vincent, which is located in my castle beyond the bridge over the Mayenne; and [I gave them] all the rights of the chapel [to be] immune and quiet from all exactions, with all its appurtenances, namely in men, in woods, in fields, in taxes, in oats, and in all things. I also gave to them the tithe of all the income from the estates that I have acquired or will acquire in England, such that even if I or my heirs should give anything [away] from my revenues which are in England, the monks will have no less tithe. I also gave to them the tithe of all things that I have or will have in my lordship (castelry) that falls in the area bounded by the rivers Mayenne, Colmont, and Ernée, [that is, I gave them tithes] in mills, waters, pannage, furnaces, markets, fairs, oats, and forests; and if anything of the forests shall come under cultivation, they will have its tithe just as they had the tithe of pannage. I gave to them all these things in areas that have been improved as well as in areas that will be improved. On top of this, I concede to them that they might have the same liberty for their men as I have for mine.
And I conceded all these things, just as are contained in my previous charter. But when they did not have sufficient plots [of land] for constructing the monks' buildings, I asked Rainaud Droolinus and Warin the Honest to give or sell to me the plots that they held that were contiguous to the church. Rainaud Droolinus freely nodded his agreement, and gave it in perpetual alms to the church. Warin the Honest, however, said that he would neither give nor sell his land. When I could obtain it neither through purchase nor through gift, having become greatly angered with Warin, I said that he was my serf and that I was able to sell him or burn his land, or give it to whomever I might want as befit the land of my serf. Rising against him, I would have laid violent hands on him had not Clementia, my wife, and Bishop Hildebert of Le Mans, Abbot William of Marmoutier, and many other honest men forcefully ushered me into the inner chamber.
On that day we retreated mutually. Truly on the next day many honest men approached me, saying that I had acted unjustly against Warin the Honest, since my father had enfranchised him [ie., freed him from serfdom]; indeed, on account of this Warin had built my father a stone prison located next to the gate of my castle. But I responded to these men by saying that at the time of the enfranchisement I lived, rode, and held the age of intelligence, yet I had neither consented to the enfranchisement nor desired it, and thus that it ought to be made invalid. Finally Clementia, my wife, and Chotardus of Mayenne, a prudent man and one of my intimates, approached me and mentioned a means of peace in this manner:
Warin the Honest gave the monks his set of lands located between the chapel and the river Mayenne in perpetual alms. In order to reconcile [me] to Warin, Chotardus gave me a white riding-horse which the duke of Burgundy had given to him at Dijon, and he also returned to me the cup which King Henry I of England (son of William the Conqueror) had given to me, and which Chotardus had been holding in pawn for 500 shillings. Only given this understanding did I enfranchise Warin the Honest and all his offspring, even Maurice the little boy, who was present there. And in return for such kindness, Warin the Honest gave to Chotardus a field which is above the river Mayenne between the river itself and the fief of Rainaud Droolinus next to the small garden and orchard of the monks, and which Warin used to hold for 300 shillings in pawn; Warin gave Chotardus the field free from any service or obligation. I, Juhel, confirmed [the transfer of] this field to Chotardus, [who would hold it] as freely as I hold my castle.
And so that they might be held more firmly in perpetuity, I strengthened all these transactions with the defense of my seal. I even asked Bishop Hildebert to place his seal on these letters alongside mine. We decreed that if any of the clan of Warin the Honest should lay claim to either the set of fiefs or the field, the act of making this claim would cause the cancellation of freedom and the return to serfdom for the whole clan of Warin the Honest; moreover, even after such a claim, the monks would still not lose the set of fiefs nor would Chotardus [regain] the field.
These things were done at Mayenne in my chamber, with the following witnesses seeing and hearing:
Bishop Hildebert [of Le Mans],
Clementia, my wife,
Abbot William of Marmoutier,
Peter the Bailiff, William of Ossello, Rivallon the Sexton, Peter Laidez,
Osbert, all monks [of Marmoutier],
Hervey and John, priests of Mayenne,
Robert Pavo and many other priests and clerics,
John Bernard, Ralph the cook, both members of the familia,
Maurice of Gorron, Hamelin of l'Escluse, Osmund Pisce, Hamelin Pavo,
Hugh of Laval, Hamelin of Flanders, all knights,
and many others, both clerics and laymen.
This translation is copyrighted by Richard Barton. Permission is granted for electronic copying, distribution in print form for educational purposes and personal use. If you do reduplicate the document, please indicate the source. No permission is granted for commercial use.