Chapter 15

But the church of the new diocese, though perhaps, by virtue of its singular changes, the most interesting, is hardly the most attractive ecclesiastical building in Laval and its immediate neighbourhood. Not far off in a suburb by the river-side is the church of Our Lady of Avesnières, not improved certainly by its modern spire, but keeping a most stately Romanesque apse with surrounding chapels. Inside it supplies one of the best examples of the transition, the pointed arch having made its way into the great constructive arcades, but not into any of the smaller arches. But the taste of those who designed its capitals must have been singular. Any kind of man, beast, or bird, it has been said, can put himself into such a posture as to make an Ionic volute. When the volutes are made by the heads of eagles, well and good; but it is certainly strange to make them out of the heads of cranes, who are holding down their long necks to peck each one at a human skull which he firmly holds down with one of his feet. And on the other side of Laval will also be found the church of Price, an almost untouched Romanesque building the masonry of which seems to carry it back to days before the growth of either Angevin or Norman taste. And the land of Maine too is full of other spots at which we can barely glance, many of which are famous in the history of the district. On the railway between Laval and Le Mans, Evron has its abbey, with portions both of the earlier Romanesque and of the later Gothic, but where one little transitional chapel on the north side is undoubtedly the most attractive feature of the church. Evron too opens the way to St. Susanne, the one castle which the Conqueror himself could never take, and where the shattered shell of the unconquered donjon, with its foundations raised on a vitrified fort of primitive times, rises on a rocky height, with the stream of the Arne winding in a narrow dell beneath it. Somewhat nearer to the capital, Sillé-le-Guillaume, a spot famous in the war of the _commune_, has a castle and church which should not be passed by, though it is only the under-story of the church which keeps any portions which can belong to the days when Sillé was besieged by the armed citizens of the Cenomannian commonwealth. North of Le Mans, on the upper source of the Sarthe, Beaumont-le-Vicomte keeps the shell of its castle, a castle which long withstood the Conqueror, rising in a lovely position over the river Beaumont, too, has seen warfare in later days, and he who looks down from the castle which withstood the Conqueror may hear the tale of the stout fighting which went on by the banks of the Sarthe, when Maine was invaded by the armies of a later William. The church too with some genuine Romanesque portions, is more curious for a kind of rude _Renaissance_ which really reproduces a simple kind of Romanesque. In short, there is hardly a spot in the historic land of Maine which has not its attractions for those who can stoop to scenery which, though always pleasing, is never sublime, to buildings of which perhaps one only in the whole province reaches the first rank, and to a history which, though in itself it is mainly local, has not been without its influence on the destines both of England and of France.

INDEX

A

Abbaye Blanche, near Mortain, 109, 110

Almenèches, 139 _et seq._; its church, 150, 151; site of the castle, 152

Ambrières, fortress of, 57, 229; architectural significance of its church, 230

Amiens, 8, 9, 23, 24, 47

Architecture in Normandy, its points of likeness with that of England, 23, 27, 28, 31, 46; Romanesque, at Bayeux, 28, 29; at Exmes, 147; at Le Mans, 206, 207, 209; transitional period well marked in Fécamp Abbey, 48

Argentan, 125-138

Arletta [Herleva], mother of William the Conqueror, 10

Arnulf of Montgomery, 141, 142

Arques, fortress of Count William at, 59, 60; battle of, 60

Avranches, historical associations of, 75; its position, _ib._, 81, 82; its ecclesiastical territory merged in the diocese of Coutances, 81

B

Barbe, M. Henri, quoted, 191, 194, 196

Bayeux, retention of the Danish tongue and religion at, 2, 6; Richard the Fearless educated at, _ib._; Saxon and Danish colonies at, 5, 6; its cathedral church, 8, 22-30; the seminary chapel, 8, 30; compared with Coutances, 25-28; Bishop Odo's work at, 26, 28; later Romanesque at, 29; its English character, 30

Beaumont-le-Roger, 179 _et seq._

Beaumont-le-Vicomte, castle and church, 234, 235

Beauvais, 9, 23, 24

Bernay, Judith's Abbey at, 8, 182, 188

Bigod, use of the name, 105

Brionne, character of the building, 97, 98

C

Caen, 2; its ecclesiastical buildings, 8; destruction of churches at, 19; burial-place of William the Conqueror, 51

Cæsaris Burgus, 67. _See_ Cherbourg

Calleva, its fall, 199. _See_ Silchester

Carentan, 72

Castles, beginning of in England, 14; in Normandy, earlier and later sites of, 58; question as to the earliest date of stone castles in Normandy, 97

Caudebec, Teutonic origin of the name, 6

Cerisy, 8

Chandos, Sir John, building of the keep of St. Saviour attributed to, 71

Channel Islands, their relation to England, 65

Chartres, contrasted with Le Mans, 200 _et seq._; its historical associations, 202, 203; architectural features of its cathedral church, 203, 204; why it differs from Le Mans, 204; its height, 207; its secondary churches, 209

Cherbourg, name probably cognate with Scarborough, 68

Churches, Norman, French and English, compared, 9, 23, 24, 46, 111

Cintheaux, 53, 54

Colomby, 70

Côtentin, derivation of the name, 62; its peninsular character, 64, 65; acquired by William Longsword, 66

Coutances, cathedral church of, 22 _et seq._, 82; its sham west front compared with that of Wells, 25; its internal architecture compared with that of Bayeux, 26, 27; men of, at Senlac, 66; its position, 72, 73, 75, 83; aqueduct at, 73, 88; its diocese enlarged, 81

D

Diablintes, tribal name survives in Jublains, 190

Dieppe, meaning of the name, 6

Dinan, 22, 54, 55

Dive, river, battle by, 60

Dol, church of, 22, _et seq._; compared with S. Canice at Kilkenny, 25, 30; its position suggests St. David's, 30; east end compared with Wells, 31

Domfront, fortress of, won by William, 56, 228; compared with Falaise, _ib._

Dumaine, l'Abbé L.V., his history of Tinchebray, 117, 118

E

Eadgar the Ætheling, at Tinchebray, 121; taken prisoner and released, 123

Ecclesiastical foundations, choice of sites for, 42, 43

Emma, Abbess of Almenèches, sister of Robert of Bellême, 140-143

England, likeness of Normandy to, how accounted for, 5-7

Eu, its historical associations, 58, 59

Evreux, 4, 8, 24

Evron, abbey at, 234

Exeter, commonwealth of, compared with Le Mans, 212, 213

Exmes, 139 _et seq._; site of the castle, 144, 145; its church, 146-149

F

Falaise, birthplace of William the Conqueror, 10, 12; its historical associations, 11, 12; probable date of the castle, 15; its position, 16, 17; origin of the name, 16; spoiled by so-called restoration, 18-20, 53; compared with Domfront, 56

Fécamp, abbey of, 43 _et seq._; transitional period well marked at, 47, 48; its fourteenth century alteration compared with Waltham, 49, 50

Flers, 113

G

Gally Knight, Mr., quoted, 82, 86, 106

Geoffrey of Mowbray, Bishop of Coutances, 67, 80

Geoffrey, Count of Mayenne, his betrayal of the Commune of Le Mans, 214, 231

Geoffrey Malaterra, quoted, 93, 94

Granville, 73

H

Harold, son of Godwine, received by William at Eu, 58; the guest of William Patey, 114, 115

Harold Blaatand, his settlement in the Côtentin, 5, 66; delivers the Norman Duchy, 60

Hauteville-la-Guichard, 90 _et seq._

Helias of La Flèche, Count of Maine, at Tinchebray, 121, 122

Henry I. of England, 54; Avranchin held by, 76; wins back Saint James, 78; victorious at Tinchebray, 115, 120, 123; his treatment of Robert, 123; at Saint-Evroul, 164

Henry II. of England, homage paid him at Falaise by William the Lion, 11; his hospital at Le Mans, 209, 220

Henry I. of France, helps William against his rebellious vassals, 35; his personal experiences at Val-ès-dunes, _ib._; sees the slaughter at Varaville, 61; burns Argentan, 128, 130, 171; fortress of Tillières burned by, 171; re-fortifies Tillières, _ib._

Henry of Beaumont, Earl of Warwick, 91

Herbert Wake-Dog, Count of Maine, 218

Herlwin, Abbot of Saint Peter's, Orleans, pillages Abbey of Saint-Evroul, 164

Hildebert, Bishop of Le Mans, ordered to pull down the towers of Saint Julian's, 132, 208

Holy Trinity, Abbey church of, at Beaumont-le-Roger, 185-187

Hubert of Rye receives William on his escape from Valognes, 114

Humfrey _de Vetulis_, father of Roger of Beaumont, 180

Hundred Years' War, personal nomenclature in Normandy, affected by, 5

J

Jublains and Silchester compared, 189-191; origin of the name, 190; its position, 191, 192; its Roman remains, 192, _et seq._; numismatic evidence for date of fortress, 196-199

L

La Lande-Patry, 114, 115

Laigle, surname misunderstood, 154-156

Langlois, significance of the name, 5

Laval, 231, 232

Le Mans, contrasted with Chartres, 200, _et seq._; Saint Julian's keeps its ancient nave, 205-207; its thirteenth century choir, 207, 208; destruction of its towers ordered by William Rufus, 208; its secondary churches, 209, 220; Henry the Second's hospital at, 220; owes its special character to its municipal history, 210-214; its analogy with Exeter, 212, 213; no existing monuments of the time of the _Commune_, 215; its position, _ib._; Roman and mediæval walls, 216, 217, 218; position of Saint Julian's, 217, 218; early greatness of its ecclesiastical and civil rulers, 217; its buildings, 218, 219; William's fortresses at, 219, 220; birthplace of Henry the Second, 220; German occupation of, 221; ruthless destruction at, 222; _menhir_ at, 223

Les Vieilles, faubourg of, at Roger-le-Beaumont, 180; church of, 187, 188

Lessay, 72

Lewis-from-beyond-Sea, King of the West-Franks, taken captive by Harold Blaatand, 60

Limay, 52, 53

Louise of Silly, Abbess of Almenèches, 150

M

Maine, its history, 224 _et seq._; its modern division, 225; architectural borderland between Normandy and Anjou, 226

Malger, Count of Mortain, 104

Mantes, 51, 53

Matilda of Flanders, Queen, her church of the Holy Trinity at Caen, 8; married to William at Eu, 58

Matilda, daughter of Richard the Fearless, marries Odo of Chartres, 170; dispute about her dowry, _ib._

Matilda, Abbess of Almenèches, 143

Mayenne, 57, 58, 225, 230, 231

Montacute, siege of, raised by Geoffrey of Mowbray, 67; Norman name of Leodgaresburh (Lutgaresburg), 105

Mortagne, 101

Mortain, its position, 101, 102; site of the castle, 103; its history, 104; foundation of Saint-Evroul at, 105

Mortemer, battle of, 35; its position, 38, 39; reason for its historic interest, _ib._; surprise of the French at, 40

N

Næodunum, 190, 198. _See_ Jublains

Neufbourg, 110

Neufchâtel-en-Bray, its hills and cheeses, 39

Names, confusion of, 100, 101, 154, 155

Nomenclature, personal, in Normandy, affected by Hundred Years' War, 5; local traces of Danish, in Normandy, 6; in Gaul, 63

Normandy, its points of likeness with England, 3, 4, 41; compared with France proper, 3; Teutonic elements in, 5, 6; traces of Danish local nomenclature in, 6; its ecclesiastical buildings, 8; compared with those of France proper, 9, 23, 24; restoration and destruction in, 17-20, 29; importance of its early history, 33; its political absorption by France, 41, 218

Normans and English, original kindred of, 5-7; in England, English fusion of, 15; in Normandy, French fusion of, _ib._

Notre-Dame, Avesnières, 233

Notre-Dame, Domfront, 57

Notre-Dame, Saint-Lo, 83-85

Notre-Dame, Verneuil, 178

Notre-Dame de La Couture, Abbey of, Le Mans, 209, 220, 226

Notre-Dame de la Place, Argentan, 136

Notre-Dame-du-Pré, Le Mans, 209, 220, 226

O

Odelerius, sends his son Orderic to Saint-Evroul, 162

Odo, Bishop of Bayeux, his work at Bayeux, 26, 28

Odo II., Count of Chartres, refuses to give up his wife's dowry, 170; defeated, 171

Orderic (Vital), at Neufbourg, 110, 119; at Saint-Evroul, 143, 160, 162

_Oximenses_, use of the name, 140

P

Palgrave, Sir Francis, quoted, 39, 64, 101, 226

Periers, 72

Petit, Mr., quoted, 1

Puiseux, M.L., quoted, 33

Q

Querqueville, church of, 68, 69; origin of the name, 69

Quilly, 53, 54

R

Rennes, 55

Richard the Fearless, Duke of the Normans, educated at Bayeux, 2

Richard the Good, Duke of the Normans, fortifies Tillières, 170; his dispute with Odo of Chartres, _ib._

Richer of Laigle, his character and death, 156

Robert the Magnificent (the "Devil"), Duke of the Normans, castle of Falaise attributed to, 13-15

Robert, Duke of the Normans, eldest son of William, 54; his march to Tinchebray, 119; his captivity, 123; defeated by Robert of Bellême, 143

Robert, Count of Meulan, son of Roger of Beaumont, 91, 179, 181, 184; at Tinchebray, 122

Robert, Count of Mortain, 103, 105, 106

Robert of Bellême, at Tinchebray, 120, 121; banished by Henry, 141; his treatment of Almenèches, 142; defeats Robert, 143; his imprisonment, _ib._

Robert of Grantmesnil, Abbot of Saint-Evroul, 162

Robert of Torigny, quoted, 122, 137

Robert the Bigod, accuses William of Mortain of treason, 105

Robert Wiscard, 91, 92, 98, 181

Roger I., Count of Sicily, 92, 98

Roger of Beaumont, 91, 179, 180

Roger of Montgomery, Earl of Shrewsbury, 140, 141

Roger of Poitou son of Earl Roger, 137, 141, 142

Rolf, his settlement, 5, 36

Rouen, its French character, 2, 6; death of William the Conqueror at, 51

S

Saint Andrew, Chartres, 209

Saint Canice, Kilkenny, central tower of, compared with that of Dol, 25

Saint Cross, Saint-Lo, 85-87

Saint-Evroul, 143; his story, 162; his name, 163; memorials and relics of, 167

Saint Evroul Abbey, home of Orderic, 143, 160, _et seq._; restored by families of Geroy and Grantmesnil, 162; pillaged by order of Hugh the Great, 164; its architectural remains, 165-167

Saint-Evroul, Mortain, its foundation, 106; its architectural features, 106-108

Saint German, Argentan, 127, 131-136

Saint Gervase, Falaise, 16, 173

Saint James, topographical use of the name, 77; fortified by William the Conqueror, _ib._, 78; won back by Henry the Ætheling, _ib._; its position, _ib._; site of William's castle, 79

Saint John, Verneuil, its tower, 176, 177

Saint Julian's, Le Mans, contrasted with cathedral church of Chartres, 200 _et seq._; Romanesque work at, 206, 207; Angevin style in, 226. _See_ also Le Mans.

Saint-Lo (Manche), town and church of, 83-87

Saint-Lo, Rouen, 80

Saint Martin, Argentan, 131, 134-136

Saint Martin, Laigle, 157, 158

Saint Martin-in-the-Vale, Chartres, 209

Saint Mary Magdalen, Verneuil, its fine tower, 175, 176

Saint Michael in Peril of the Sea, 44, 55

Saint Nicolas, Beaumont-le-Roger, 181, 182

Saint Nicolas, Coutances, 87, 88

Saint Peter, Abbey, Chartres, 209

Saint Peter, Coutances, 85, 87, 88; compared with Saint German, Argentan, 131

Saint Price, near Laval, 234

Saint Ouen, Rouen, 24

Saint Remigius, Tinchebray, 119

Saint Saviour, castle and abbey of, 70, 71

Saint Stephen's, Caen, 8, 26

Sainte-Susanne, 156, 234

Saxons, settlement of, at Bayeux, 5

Silchester and Jublains, compared, 189-191

Sillé-le-Guillaume, 234

Surnames of places, 91, 92; misunderstood, 100, 101, 154-156

T

Talbot, John, Earl of Shrewsbury, his tower at Falaise, 11, 15, 16

Tancred of Hauteville, his home, 90, 95, 97, 98

Tillières, its position and history, 169-171; church at, 172, 173

Tinchebray, battle of, an English victory, 115, 116, 120; site of the battle, 117

V

Val-ès-dunes, battle of, a victory of the Roman over the Teuton, 35; site of the battle-field, 36, 37

Valognes, 69, 70

Varaville, battle of, 60

Verneuil, its position, 173; castle and donjon at, 174, 175; churches at, 175-178

Vimont, M. Eugène, his book on Argentan, 128, 136

Vire, 112

W

Wace, value of his description of the battle of Val-ès-dunes, 37, 38; quoted, 114, 169

Wells, west front of cathedral church compared with that of Coutances, 25; east end compared with Dol, 31

William Longsword, Duke of the Normans, Danish education of his son, 2; wins the Côtentin, 66

William the Conqueror, his church of S. Stephen at Caen, 8; his birthplace, 10, 12; his attempt at learning English, 12; modern estimate of in Falaise, 13; present at the dedication of Odo's church at Bayeux, 28; results of his personal qualities, 34; seeks help of Henry I. of France, 34, 35; burns Mantes, 52; his marriage to Matilda at Eu, 58; Domfront submits to, 56; fortifies Ambrières, 57; his conquest of Mayenne, _ib._, 230; takes Arques, 59; his surprise of the French at Varaville, 61; his escape from Valognes, 70, 114; fortifies Saint James, 77-79; gives the lands of William of Mortain to his half-brother Robert, 105; opposition of Le Mans to, 212

William Rufus, bids Bishop Hildebert pull down the towers of Saint Julian's, 132, 208

William, Count of Arques, his fortress, 59

William, Count of Mortain, 104; his lands given to Robert, 105; founds l'Abbaye Blanche, 109; with Duke Robert at Tinchebray, 119, 120, 121; taken prisoner, 123; his alleged blinding, _ib._

William of Saint-Calais, use of the surname, 155

William Patry, receives Harold at La Lande, 115

William the Lion, King of Scots, does homage to Henry II. at Falaise, 11

THE END.

RICHARD CLAY AND SONS, LIMITED, LONDON AND BUNGAY

FOOTNOTES:

[1] Lecture viii. p. 314.

[2] _Methods of Hist. Study_, Lecture vi. p. 235.

[3] _Crewkerne Inaugural Address_, 1871.

[4] _Life of E.A. Freeman_, vol. i. p. 293.

[5] _Ibid._, vol. ii. p. 137.

[6] See Petit's _Architectural Studies in France_, p. 2.

[7] Cf. the following passage in Mr. Freeman's article in _The Saturday Review_, August 3, 1867: "The primitive Saxons of Bayeux, the Danes of Rolf and of Harold Blaatand, the English colonists who remained in the fifteenth century, have among them left a marked stamp on the people. This last cause cannot have been an unimportant one, when we hear that in the town of Caen alone there are twenty-four families bearing the name of Langlois. French and Norman are not very uncommon names in England, but they are hardly found in the same proportion."

[8] On the foundation of the abbeys of St. Stephen and of the Holy Trinity, see _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. (2nd ed.), p. 106, _et seq._

[9] See Mr. Freeman's article on "Beauvais and Amiens" in _Sketches from French Travel_ (Tauchnitz edition), and _History of the Cathedral Church of Wells_, p. 116.

[10] See Mr. Freeman's article on "Restoration and Destruction in France," _Saturday Review_, June 8, 1861.

[11] On Odo's work see also _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 209, and note, p. 210.

[12] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. pp. 235, 236.

[13] Mr. Freeman alludes to M.L. Puiseux's _Siège et Prise de Rouen par les Anglais_, &c., which was reviewed by him in _The Saturday Review_, June 8, 1867.

[14] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 249, _et seq._

[15] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. 154, _et seq._

[16] On the foundation of Fécamp, see _Norman Conquest_, vol. i. p. 253.

[17] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 286.

[18] See also p. 228.

[19] See also p. 229.

[20] See also p. 230.

[21] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. p. 226.

[22] _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii., p. 122, _et seq._

[23] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. i. pp. 216, 217.

[24] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii., p. 175.

[25] For the story of this derivation see Mr. Freeman's article on "South Pembrokeshire Castles" in _English Towns and Districts_, p. 46.

[26] On French nomenclature see also Mr. Freeman's article on "French and English Towns," pp. 35, 36, in _Historical Essays_, fourth series, and _Sketches from French Travel_, p. 99.

[27] On the relation of the Channel Islands to England, see _Norman Conquest_, vol. i. p. 187.

[28] On the relief of Montacute by Bishop Geoffrey, see _Norman Conquest_, vol. iv. p. 278.

[29] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. pp. 242, 243.

[30] See above, p. 21.

[31] See also p. 88.

[32] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. p. 233, note.

[33] Cf. S. James, near Taillebourg. (_Sketches from French Travel_, p. 296.)

[34] See _The Reign of William Rufus_, vol. i. p. 321.

[35] See above, p. 75.

[36] See above, p. 67.

[37] See _Sketches from French Travel_, p. 35.

[38] See p. 179.

[39] _Historical Essays_, third series, pp. 446-451.

[40] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. pp. 261, 607.

[41] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 287.

[42] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 288.

[43] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iv. pp. 170, 272. For the legend of the Holy Rood see _Old English History_, p. 271, and Mr. Freeman's article on "Montacute" in _The Saturday Review_, September 9, 1871.

[44] See Mr. Freeman's account of Kirkstall in _English Towns and Districts_, p. 294.

[45] See p. 119.

[46] _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 246.

[47] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iii. p. 466.

[48] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. v. p. 175.

[49] See _Historical Essays_, Fourth Series, pp. 139, 140.

[50] See p. 208.

[51] See _The Reign of William Rufus_, vol. i. pp. 463, 464.

[52] See _The Reign of William Rufus_, vol. ii. p. 96.

[53] On the force of the word _tyrant_ see _History of Sicily_, vol. ii. p. 50.

[54] See above, p. 123.

[55] See above, pp. 110, 119.

[56] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. iv. p. 496

[57] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 227.

[58] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. pp. 201-203.

[59] See _The Reign of William Rufus_, vol. i. p. 184.

[60] See _Sketches from French Travel_, p. 266.

[61] See Mr. Freeman's article on "Silchester" in _English Towns and Districts_, p. 159.

[62] See _English Towns and Districts_, p. 163.

[63] See article on "Beauvais and Amiens" in _Sketches from French Travel_, p. 87.

[64] See _The Reign of William Rufus_, vol. ii, pp. 297, 298, 654.

[65] See _Sketches from French Travel_, pp. 114, 117.

[66] On the foundation of the _commune_ of Le Mans and the treachery of Geoffrey of Mayenne, see _Norman Conquest_, vol. iv. p. 551, _et seq._

[67] See _Norman Conquest_, iii. p. 192.

[68] See above, p. 209.

[69] See above, p. 57.

[70] See _Norman Conquest_, vol. ii. p. 209, _et seq._

[71] See comparison of Laval with Guildford in Mr. Freeman's article on "Some Early Buildings in Sussex and Surrey" in _The Guardian_, August 22, 1883.

TRANSCRIBERS NOTE:

Every effort has been made to replicate this text as faithfully as possible, including obsolete and variant spellings. Obvious typographical errors in punctuation have been fixed. Corrections [in brackets] in the text are noted below:

Page 14 Val-des-dunes [Val-ès-dunes] Page 15 Bayeaux [Bayeux] Page 57 Ambières [Ambrières] Page 64 Cotentin [Côtentin] Page 238 Edgar [Eadgar] Page 240 Alminèches [Almenèches]