Henry, Bishop of Bayeux, to William, Abbot of Saint-Étienne at Caen, 1172.

Manuscript charter on vellum. 415 x 300mm. 28 lines.

The Benedictine monastery at Caen in Normandy was founded by William the Conqueror in 1064, and he was buired in the abbey church some twenty years later. Saint-Étienne is still one of the greatest Romanesque churches in France. A century after the Abbey's founding, the monks embarked on a major renovation of the monastic complex. Our unusually well-preserved vellum charter grants the Abbot and his successors the title to several churches and a share in their revenue in order to provide a funding stream for the building project. This sweeping assignment of church property is introduced with the note, "The remedy of letters is helpful against the inconvenience of forgetfulness, and whatever the weakness of memory or the passage of time leaves out, is recalled by the benefit of writing." The bold, clear writing illustrates the gradual transition to the Gothic hand most people imagine to be typical of medieval manuscripts.