PRESUMABLY STAYING THERE AS ROBERT'S GUEST.136 AN AGREEMENTMADE...

1162, presumably staying there as Robert's guest.

¹³⁶

An agreementmade between Robert and his tenant, Robert de SerigneÂ, between 1156and 1161, was con®rmed in the king's presence. The agreementprovided that Robert de Serigne should have the right of refuge(receptacula) in the barony of Vitre against anyone but the king ofEngland. Robert de Vitre also attested an undated charter of Henry IImade at Mortain.

¹³⁷

Andrew de VitreÂ, who succeeded his father in 1173, took part inmilitary action in Brittany in support of Henry II, probably in the 1168campaign.

¹³⁸

After 1181, Andrew actively supported the regime ofDuke Geoffrey. In a letter, Andrew addresses the duke, `Dominus suuskarissimus Gaufredus, Deo gracia Britannie dux'.

¹³⁹

This account of three major barons who supported Angevin rule inBrittany demonstrates that it is not safe to assert that `all the Bretonbarons' opposed Henry II, and the preceding account of rebelliousbarons establishes that most of them rebelled only for limited periodsand over speci®c grievances.The support of the Church was an extremely important factor in theAngevins' success in Brittany. The ®rst instance of Henry II acting inrelation to Brittany is his intervention in the contest over the metropo-litan status of Dol, in 1155. In spite of this beginning, the kingsubsequently played little active role in the church in Brittany, neitherpatronising monasteries nor interfering in the elections of abbots andbishops to any great extent.The king appears to have been unconcerned with the internaloperations of the Breton church. He was interested only when therewas an `extra-Breton' element, as in the Dol case. This is furtherillustrated by his patronage of the abbey of Saint-Sulpice-la-ForeÃt,discussed below. This was the only Breton monastery which the kingactually patronised; he made only single grants or con®rmations to ahandful of other Breton monasteries. Henry II patronised Saint-Sulpice,however, not as lord of Brittany, but as count of Anjou and king ofEngland. Yet when the relics of Saint Petroc were recovered and shown

136

BM Lansdowne mss 229, f. 114r and 259, f. 70r.

137

A. Bertrand de Brousillon (ed.),

La Maison de Laval, 1020±1605,

i, Paris, 1895, pp. 114±5;

M. Brand'honneur, `Le lignage, point de cristillisation d'une nouvelle coheÂsion sociale: Les

Goranton-Herve de Vitre aux XI, XIIe et XIIIe sieÁcles',

MSHAB

70 (1993), 65±87 at 80±1;

Actes d'Henri II, no.

cclxxi.

138

Bertrand de Brousillon, `Testament', p. 53.

139

Bertrand de Brousillon,

Maison de Laval, I, p. 123. See

Charters, Ge24.

to Henry II in England, the king took a rib, which he had encased insilver and sent it back to the abbey of Saint-MeÂen, an act which showssome regard for this otherwise obscure Breton establishment.

¹⁴⁰

There are few known acta of Henry II concerning Breton monas-teries. The earliest is a charter for the abbey of Redon, con®rming itspossessions in `Media' and in GueÂrande, made at Thouars.

¹⁴¹

It wasprobably made in October 1158, when Henry II visited Thouarsimmediately after taking possession of Nantes.

¹⁴²

The king also granteda charter of con®rmation to the abbey of Saint-Pierre de RilleÂ, nearFougeÁres, in 1166.

¹⁴³

Another con®rmation, for the nunnery ofLocmaria at Quimper, was made at Le Mans in 1172.

¹⁴⁴

In addition tothese con®rmations, there is a single record of Henry II initiating a grantto a Breton monastery, an undated charter recording the king's grant ofa fair to the abbey of Le Tronchet.

¹⁴⁵

The con®rmations for Redon and Rille and the grant to Le Tronchetwere all, no doubt, politically motivated. The charter for Redon was anopportunity for the king to exercise his new-found authority in thecounty of Nantes. The con®rmation for Rille was given at the siege ofFougeÁres, when Henry II defeated the abbey's lay-protector and patron.The canons needed royal assurance that their rights would be preserved,and at the same time offered Henry II the opportunity to be seen as amerciful victor and protector of the church. The grant to Le Tronchetmay be seen in the context of the king's seizure of nearby Combourfrom Ralph de FougeÁres in 1164. The undated charter could have beenmade at any time after Combour was taken into the king's hand. Themost likely scenario, though, is that the monks petitioned Henry II forthis grant in the late summer of 1166, when he visited Dol in the courseof his triumphal progress from Rennes to Mont Saint-Michel.

¹⁴⁶

Although by this time Henry II was de facto duke of Brittany, he stillneeded support in the Dol area. The events of 1173 demonstrate thatRalph de FougeÁres had not abandoned his claims there.

140

DRF, p. 186.

141

Preuves, col. 657 (the source for

Cart. Redon, p. 744, note 2, and

Actes d'Henri II, no.

cclix);

Redon, Hotel de la Ville ms AA1, f. 165v, no. 523.

142

Delisle (Actes d'Henri II, no.

cclix) attributed this charter to 1166, when Henry II stayed at

Thouars after Conan IV's abdication. The earlier date is preferable, as the monks of Redon

would have hastened to obtain a con®rmation from the new `count of Nantes'.

143

Calendar of Patent Rolls, Henry III, 1247±58, pp. 382±3.

144

AD FinisteÁre 27H 2; C. Fagnen, `Etude d'un privileÁge d'Henri II en faveur du prieure de

Locmaria, aÁ Quimper',

Gwechall, le Finisterre autrefois: Bulletin de la socieÂte ®nisterienne d'histoire et

d'archeÂologie

1 (1978), 37±64.

145

BN mss fr. 22319, p. 238 and 22325, p. 621 (both after a 1279

vidimus

of John, bishop of Dol);

Actes d'Henri II, no.

ccccxxxv.

146

RT,

i, pp. 361±2.

There are also two charters of Henry II regarding the subordinationof the Breton monastery of Saint-Magloire de Lehon to Marmoutier.Both were made at Chinon, at a full assembly of the royal curia, in