Medieval Sourcebook:
Three Disputes involving the Cathedral Chapter of Notre-Dame of Chartres, 1215-1224
1. Dispute of 1215
Peter of Paris, Manasses of Orleans, and Garinus of Senlis, all bishops by the grace of
God, send greetings in the Lord to all those to whom these letters may come. We want to
make known that a dispute erupted between the Chapter of Chartres, on the one hand, and
the noble man Theobald, count of Blois and Chartres, on the other, because the provost of
the same count of Chartres seized Laurence, the servant of Hugh, one of the canons of
Chartres, and detained him in captivity; moreover, even when asked, he refused to return,
produce or acknowledge Laurence. [The Chapter and Count were also at odds] over the fact
that he had seized horses and certain men of the church, under the claim of vicarial
rights, and had detained them in captivity; moreover, when asked, he refused to return or
acknowledge them. Moreover, concerning the collection of fines for crimes, and for men
[who have been] mutilated and hanged [for crimes], [the right to decide the jurisdiction
over these matters] has been promised to us by the parties, under the pain of 300 marks,
to be paid by that party who does not want to abide by our sentence or the sentence of of
two of us. When, therefore, we proceeded to render our judgment, that the provost, having
been commanded by the said Count, shall render to the same Chapter the fine for the
matters mentioned above with his own hand, excepting the hereditary rights of the Count
and those of the Church of Chartres, we want and state that if the provost, Hugh Saugiers,
or the marshal or the castellan of Chartres, when asked about any man mutilated and
hanged, shall neither return, produce or acknowledge him, they shall personally bring a
living healthy serf [in lecto?] of the count of Blois from the place of the Forks to the
Mother Church of Chartres; this shall be done on the feast of the blessed Mary Magdalene,
in the third hour, and the said serf shall remain there forever and shall become the
property of the church of Chartres. We command that the count shall cause the provost of
Chartres to give 20 pounds of money of Chartres to the wronged men for the imprisoned
horses and men, and 10 pounds of the same money to the sister of the dead Laurence who was
hanged. The aforesaid provost shall also take such a fine in his own hands to the canon of
Chartres whose servant Laurence was. When these things have been done, the said count and
clerks and their men shall remain in peace; and for these matters, no one shall be held to
pay or make any other amends. As memory of this decision, we caused the present letters to
be sealed with our seal. Done at Melun, in the year of the lord 1215, in the month of
July.
Source: Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres, ed. E. de
Lepinois and Lucien Merlet, 3 vols., Societe archeologique d'Eure-et-Loir (Chartres:
Garnier, -1865), no. 218, 2:77-78. Translated by Richard Barton.
2. Dispute of 1221
Henry, archdeacon of Chartres, greetings in the Lord to all those to whom the present
letters may come. Let it be known to all of you that a dispute broke out between the
Chapter of Chartres, on the one hand, and Matthew, mayor [major] of Perraut [farm of
Souance, canton Nogent-le-Rotrou], Ralph and Robert, brothers, and Milesende, Richolde and
Mary, sisters of this Matthew the major, on the other hand, concerning a certain
tilled-land and meadow located at Ballolium-Pigni. Geoffrey of Poncé had possessed these
lands in the name of the Church of Chartres for a long time without any claim against him,
and he had given them in perpetual alms to the service of the same church in the
Chapter-house of Chartres in our presence. The dispute between the chapter and the
aforesaid Matthew, major, and his brother and sisters was resolved in this way: Matthew,
his brothers and sisters, and their children, namely Willotus and Amelota the sons of the
major, Willotus and Ralf sons of Richoldis, and Robin son of Ralph brother of the major,
all gathered in the Chapter-House of Chartres and completely put aside their claim to the
land and field in favor of the church of Chartres, binding themselves with oaths that if
they had or used to have any right in the said land and field, they would claim nothing
other than it. On top of this, the said major gave whatever he held from the church of
Chartres to the Chapter as his counter-pledge that he, his brothers and sisters, and their
heirs would guarantee the security of the said land and field for the church of Chartres
against all comers. As testimony of this matter, and at the petition of the said major and
his brothers and sisters, we caused these letters to be drawn up and to be strengthened by
the character of our seal. Given in the year of the lord 1221, in the month of July.
Source: Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres, ed. E. de
Lepinois and Lucien Merlet, 3 vols., Societe archeologique d'Eure-et-Loir (Chartres:
Garnier, -1865), no. 239, 2: . Translated by Richard Barton.
3. Dispute of 1224
We decree to each and all, both laypersons and clerics, who have convened for the
purpose of electing a Dean, that the stalls of the mercers that used to be among the
columns [in capitellis], shall be located in the cloister, on the southern side, between
the stair of the church and the greater tower. We decree this in such a way that all
rights of justice over the stalls and the houses in which they are located and the mercers
themselves shall belong to the chapter, and he who shall be elected Dean will not be able
to claim otherwise; these rights shall be possessed by the Chapter in full liberty as they
now are, in the place where they are today located, that is on the plot that used to
belong to Archdeacon Milo. Done in the year of the Lord 1224, in the month of May, on the
octave of the Ascension of the Lord.
Source: Cartulaire de Notre-Dame de Chartres, ed. E. de
Lepinois and Lucien Merlet, 3 vols., Societe archeologique d'Eure-et-Loir (Chartres:
Garnier, -1865), no. 246, 2:103.
Source.
All translated by Richard Barton, 1998
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