A letter from Eleanor of Aquitaine (1199)

Translated letter:

Eleanor, by the grace of God humble queen of England, duchess of Normandy, of Aquitaine, and countess of Anjou, to all bishops, abbots, counts, barons, provosts and bailiffs, and to all the faithful, in the future as well as the present, of all Aquitaine, greetings in true salvation. Your whole community should know that William of Mauze, at our will and request, and for the salvation of the soul of his dearest lord king Richard, our son, that he might swiftly obtain mercy from the Lord, gave and granted, and confirmed by his charter and seal, to God and the church of blessed Mary of Fontevrault and the nuns serving God there, in free, pure, and perpetual alms, a hundred pounds of Angevin money, for the ladies' tunics and not for any other use, from his whole land of Marans, to be paid by him and his heirs annually to that church: a thousand sous on the festivity of St. John the Baptist and a thousand sous on the nativity of the Lord. He granted and promised God and us and swore it with his own hand on holy objects, moreover, that if he or his heirs failed to pay said hundred pounds to that church of Fontevrault, that would allow us and our heirs or successors to seize the whole land of Marans completely and to hold it until they had satisfied said church appropriately. The convent of that church granted him and his wife and their heirs spiritual benefit from the whole order of Fontevrault. He made this binding gift, moreover, in the church of Fontevrault in our hand, on the day that our dearest son king Richard was buried; and over holy objects he swore himself and his heirs bound to the honor and advantage of the church of Fontevrault and the salvation of the soul of his dearest lord king Richard, with perpetual freedom, before these witnesses: Maurice, bishop of Poitou, William, bishop of Anjou, Hugo bishop of Lincoln, Milo abbot of Pinu, Luke abbot of Torpeniac, Aymeri vicount of Toarc, Guido his brother, William of Rupibus, Peter Saveri. Enacted in the year of the incarnation of the Word, 1199.

Original letter:

Alienor, Dei gratia humilis Anglie regina, ducissa Normannie, Aquitanie, et comitissa Andegavie, omnibus episcopis, abbatibus, comitibus, baronibus, prepositis et ballivis et omnibus fidelibus suis, tam presentibus quam futuris, totius Aquitanie, salutem in vero salutari. Noverit universitas vestra quod Willelmus de Manse, ad voluntatem et petitionem nostram, et pro salute anime karissimi domini sui regis Richardi, filii nostri, ut citius a Domino misericordiam obtineret, dedit et concessit, et sua carta et suo sigillo confirmavit, Deo et ecclesie beate Marie Fontis Ebraudi et monialibus ibidem Deo servientibus, in liberam, puram et perpetuam elemosinam, centum libras Andegavensis monete, ad tunicas dominarum et non ad alium usum, super totam terram suam de Marant, reddendas a se et ab heredibus suis annuatim eidem ecclesie: mille solidos in festivitate beati Johannis Baptiste et mille solidos in nativitate Domini. Concessit autem et promisit Deo et nobis, et propria manu sua super sancta juravit, quod si ipse vel heredes sui deficerent in solutione dictarum centum librarum eidem ecclesie Fontis Ebraudi, liceret nobis et heredibus sive successoribus nostris ex integro saisire totam terram de Maraant, et tenere quousque predicte ecclesie congrue satisfacerent. Conventus vero ejusdem ecclesie concessit ei et uxori sue et heredibus eorum spirituale benefitium totius ordinis Fontis Ebraudi. Hoc autem donum tenendum fecit in ecclesia Fontis Ebraudi in manu nostra, die quo sepultus fuit karissimus filius noster rex Richardus; et super sancta juravit a se et heredibus suis perpetua libertate tenendum, ad honorem et profectum ecclesie Fontis Ebraudi, et salutem anime karissimi domini sui regis Richardi, coram his testibus: Mauritio episcopo Pictavensi, Willelm episcopo Andegavensi, Hugone episcopo Linconensi, Milone abbate de Pinu, Luca abbate Torpeniaci, Aymerico vicecomite Toarcii, Guidone fratre suo, Willelmo de Rupibus, Petro Saveri. Actum anno Verbi incarnati MCXCIX.

Historical context:

Eleano confirms the gift made by William de Mauze of 100 pounds a year to the abbey, for the soul of his former lord, Richard, Eleanor's son, who was buried there. William had claimed his lands back from Eleanor, who granted them in return for the gift, but Eleanor specifies that the money will be used exclusively to buy shifts for the nuns. William's gift is declared in a separate document in which he explains how he got the land back from Eleanor and presented the gift to her, "in manu domine regine," BEC 19.333-34. Richard had seized several important chateaux and fiefs in Poitou and Aunis when he was released from prison in Germany. After his death, the dispossessed lords asked Eleanor to restore them, which she did for the most part, in order to gain their support for her son John against her grandson Arthur of Brittany. In some cases, she took their oath, in others, money. Marchegay cites a brief passage from another 1199 charter of Eleanor's in which she declares that Rudolph/Ralph of Maleon, came to her after Richard's death, and asked her to give back Talmont with its appurtenances, which she did in order to gain his oath to her son John: "Noverit universitas vestra quod Radulphus de Maleone, post mortem karissimi filii nostri regis Richardi, venit ad nos apud Loudunum, et requisivit a nobis ut reddamus ei Talamundum cum pertinentiis suis, etc. Nos quoque voluimus habere sermentum suum, quod nobis erat necessarium et filio nostro Johanni" (BEC 19.333).

Printed source:

M. P. Marchegay, "Chartes de Fontevrault concernant l'Aunis et la Rochelle," 2nd series, BEC 19 (1857-58), 334-35.

Date:

1199