The Cartulary of Mont-Saint-Michel is a collection of

illuminated manuscript An illuminated manuscript is a formally prepared document where the text is often supplemented with flourishes such as borders and miniature illustrations. Often used in the Roman Catholic Church for prayers, liturgical services and psalms, the ...

charters A charter is the grant of authority or rights, stating that the granter formally recognizes the prerogative of the recipient to exercise the rights specified. It is implicit that the granter retains superiority (or sovereignty), and that the rec ...

from

Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey The Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey is an abbey located within the city and island of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, in the department of Manche. The abbey is an essential part of the structural composition of the town the feudal society constructed. On ...

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. It was begun in the mid-12th century in the abbey's

scriptorium Scriptorium (), literally "a place for writing", is commonly used to refer to a room in medieval European monasteries devoted to the writing, copying and illuminating of manuscripts commonly handled by monastic scribes. However, lay scribes and ...

, but more documents were added up to the 14th century. It is currently kept in the ancient collection of the Bibliothèque Intercommunale,

Avranches Avranches (; nrf, Avraunches) is a commune in the Manche department, and the region of Normandy, northwestern France. It is a subprefecture of the department. The inhabitants are called ''Avranchinais''. History By the end of the Roman period, t ...

(MS. 210).

History

The cartulary was intended to compile the temporal charters of

. Its precise date is debated by historians, with some arguing from the dates contained in the oldest charters that it was initiated by Bernard the Venerable, abbot until 1149, then continued under his successor . This corresponds to an eventful period for the abbey during which its privileges were contested by the

Dukes of Normandy In the Middle Ages, the duke of Normandy was the ruler of the Duchy of Normandy in north-western France. The duchy arose out of a grant of land to the Viking leader Rollo by the French king Charles III in 911. In 924 and again in 933, Normandy ...

. The cartulary would have served to justify these privileges granted by the Pope, the King of France and the former dukes. For others, compilation began only under the abbacy of

Robert of Torigni Robert of Torigni (also known as Roburtus de Monte) (c. 1110–1186) was a Norman monk, prior, abbot and twelfth century chronicler. Religious life Robert was born at Torigni-sur-Vire, Normandy c. 1110 most probably to an aristocratic family but ...

, in 1154. It seems that a first part is dated before 1154 and that additional parts were added in another writing between 1155 and 1159. Other elements, charters and other texts, were added in the 12th, 13th and 14th centuries. When the abbey closed during the

French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...

, all the books kept there were transferred to

, along with those from the other libraries of the abbeys in the district, while the archives were transferred to

Saint-Lô Saint-Lô (, ; br, Sant Lo) is a commune in northwest France, the capital of the Manche department in the region of Normandy.bombardment of the city in 1944.

Description

The text

This is a manuscript of 138 bound folios, containing: * ff.3–4^v. A chronicle of the translation of the relics of Saint Magloire from to the in Paris (''Translatio sancti Maglorii''). This is a later addition to the beginning of the cartulary, dated to the end of the 12th century. * ff.5–10. A history of the apparition of

Saint Michael Michael (; he, מִיכָאֵל, lit=Who is like El od, translit=Mīḵāʾēl; el, Μιχαήλ, translit=Mikhaḗl; la, Michahel; ar, ميخائيل ، مِيكَالَ ، ميكائيل, translit=Mīkāʾīl, Mīkāl, Mīkhāʾīl), also ...

to Saint Aubert (''Revelatio''), then a summary history of

. * ff.10–15. A history of the installation of the monks of the abbey, which evokes the arrival of the first

Benedictines , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

Mont-Saint-Michel Mont-Saint-Michel (; Norman: ''Mont Saint Miché''; ) is a tidal island and mainland commune in Normandy, France. The island lies approximately off the country's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is ...

(''Introductio monachorum''). Followed by a false

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e., cows), bulls have long been an important symbol in many religions, includin ...

Pope John XIII Pope John XIII ( la, Ioannes XIII; died 6 September 972) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 1 October 965 to his death. His pontificate was caught up in the continuing conflict between the Holy Roman emperor, Otto I, and t ...

and a diploma of king Lothair. * ff.17–112^v. The cartulary proper, with a difference in hand between the charters before 1154 (ff.17–108) and those dated after. * ff.112^v–118. Various literary and historical texts from the 12th to the 14th centuries: an abridged chronicle of Mont-Saint-Michel from the abbacy of Robert de Torigny, various charters and documents dated up to 1337/1345, then some texts from the 14th century.

The decoration

The original cartulary of the manuscript, dated to the middle of the 12th century, is decorated with several ornate initials: they are placed at the beginning of each charter. The letters are very little varied, as it is most often an "I" or "L", but each letter has a different decoration. The initials of the oldest part are black in colour, and contain fantastic animals mixed with interlacing:

unicorn The unicorn is a legendary creature that has been described since antiquity as a beast with a single large, pointed, spiraling horn projecting from its forehead. In European literature and art, the unicorn has for the last thousand years o ...

s, billy

goat The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...

owl Owls are birds from the order Strigiformes (), which includes over 200 species of mostly solitary and nocturnal birds of prey typified by an upright stance, a large, broad head, binocular vision, binaural hearing, sharp talons, and feathers a ...

s and

werewolves In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...

, inspired by ''

Physiologus The ''Physiologus'' () is a didactic Christian text written or compiled in Greek by an unknown author, in Alexandria; its composition has been traditionally dated to the 2nd century AD by readers who saw parallels with writings of Clement of Alex ...

'' or by folklore. Other initials are blue or red. The manuscript also contains four miniatures covering all or most of their page: * The apparition of Saint Michael to Saint Aubert (f.4^v): The legend behind the first religious foundation of Mont-Saint-Michel. The miniature, unlike the others, is embellished with gold. * The privilege of Pope John XIII: it illustrates the pope's bull authorizing the Benedictines to settle on the Mount in 965, Abbot receiving his document; then its confirmation by King Lothaire and by Duke

Richard I of Normandy Richard I (28 August 932 – 20 November 996), also known as Richard the Fearless (French: ''Richard Sans-Peur''; Old Norse: ''Jarl Rikard''), was the count of Rouen from 942 to 996.Detlev Schwennicke, '' Europäische Stammtafeln: Stammtafeln ...

. * The donation of Duchess

Gunnor Gunnor or Gunnora ( – ) was Duchess of Normandy by marriage to Richard I of Normandy, having previously been his long-time mistress. She functioned as regent of Normandy during the absence of her spouse, as well as the adviser to him and later t ...

(f.23^v) In 1015, widow of Duke Richard, she is the donor of much land for the abbey. She is represented in the company of her son Robert the Dane,

archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

and makes an act of donation to Abbot . * The last large miniature (f.25v.) Represents Duke Robert of Normandy ceding his rights over the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel to the archangel who immediately cedes them to the abbot, then, just below, perhaps

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ; la, Eduardus Confessor , ; ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was one of the last Anglo-Saxon English kings. Usually considered the last king of the House of Wessex, he ruled from 1042 to 1066. Edward was the son of Æth ...

making a donation to Saint Michael of

St Michael's Mount St Michael's Mount ( kw, Karrek Loos yn Koos, meaning " hoar rock in woodland") is a tidal island in Mount's Bay, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The island is a civil parish and is linked to the town of Marazion by a causeway of granite se ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

by the symbol of the gift of a glove on an altar. The style of these miniatures is not inspired by the Norman Romanesque illumination of this period, but is similar to that of illuminations made on the banks of the

Loire The Loire (, also ; ; oc, Léger, ; la, Liger) is the longest river in France and the 171st longest in the world. With a length of , it drains , more than a fifth of France's land, while its average discharge is only half that of the Rhône ...

or in the region of

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

, certain details being reminiscent of the stained glass windows of

Le Mans Cathedral Le Mans Cathedral ( French: ''Cathédrale St-Julien du Mans'') is a Catholic church situated in Le Mans, France. The cathedral is dedicated to Saint Julian of Le Mans, the city's first bishop, who established Christianity in the area around the b ...

. It is possible that the illuminator who came to decorate the work in the scriptorium of the Mount came from this city. He may have been a layman.

Editions

* *

Notes

References

* * {{cite book , last1=Poulle , first1=Emmanuel , author-link1=Emmanuel Poulle , last2=Bouet , first2=Pierre , author-link2=Pierre Bouet , last3=Desbordes , first3=Olivier , date=2005 , title=Cartulaire du Mont Saint-Michel: fac-similé du manuscrit 210 de la Bibliothèque municipale d'Avranches , location=Le Mont-Saint-Michel , publisher=Les Amis du Mont-Saint-Michel , language=fr , isbn=2952490805

External links

The cartulary at Initiale: Catalogue de manuscrits enluminés

Reproduction of the cartulary at BVMM: Bibliothèque virtuelle des manuscrits médiévaux
12th-century illuminated manuscripts French manuscripts History of Normandy Latin manuscripts