Thirteenth-Century Cartularies from Auxerre

FAIN: FT-56457-09

Constance Brittain Bouchard
University of Akron, Main Campus (Akron, OH 44325-0001)

Much of our modern understanding of medieval history comes from a close study of cartularies. A cartulary is a collection of documents (in Latin)-- charters, grants, confirmations, the settlement of quarrels created by a churchman or nun during the Middle Ages, by gathering together the diverse pieces of parchment in the archives, organizing them, and copying them out in an orderly way. Even when the original documents are lost, as too many are, modern scholars can learn about family relationships, the exercise of power, and the uneasy intersection of church and state through studying the medieval copies of the originals preserved in cartularies. In summer 2009 I propose to prepare three thirteenth-century cartularies from Auxerre for publication: the bishop's cartulary, long thought lost but recently rediscovered, and two smaller cartularies, from the cathedral chapter and the nunnery of St.-Julien. Auxerre was one of the principal cities of medieval France's heartland.