December posting meme: Sherlock medieval AU (part I)
In today's installment of the December posting meme, 
obopolsk requested a "short medieval Sherlock AU." I have attempted to oblige, although this is not short, and because it got out of hand, not complete. It probably also isn't quite what she was thinking of, because historical fiction is hard and requires a lot of research, whereas pastiche comes with built-in historical accuracy and is easy. More or less. Sort of easy.
You know how so far this month I've exhaustively explained how I arrived at my current research, and how my current research is based on monastic charters? Yeah, I present this with apologies to all Sherlock Holmes canons, to the former abbey of Marmoutier in general, and to Nantes: Archives départementales de Loire-Atlantique, H112 document 1 and H132 document 1, Rennes: Archives départementales d'Ille-et-Vilaine, 6H16 document 4, and Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Institut, MS 2383 document 1 in particular.
Also, as I said, this got out of hand, so this is only part one of Sherlock, the medieval AU cast in fake monastic charters. But I should also say that the monastic charters are not totally fake, because I have translated and borrowed some suitable all-too-real formulaic phrasings (with some light modifications because they're written in glorious and majestic and sonorously metrical Latin that is also nigh unto unreadable) from the actual charters listed above. It's totally what the eleventh-century monks of the French abbey of Marmoutier did when they wrote charters! And when I write the second fake charter, it will totally be based on one or both of the - oh yes - crime-narrative charters of Marmoutier I've encountered (Archives départementales d'Ille-et-Vilaine, 6H16 document 5 and 6H34 document 3). Warning for fake scholarly commentary as well.
Sherlock, the medieval AU cast in fake monastic charters
This interesting pair of charters from the abbey of Saint Martin records the foundation of the abbey's priory of Saint Bartholomew in the mid-eleventh century by Mycroft, viscount and castellan of the fortress of Diogenes, and a series of dramatic events that took place at the priory sometime in the decade following its foundation. They provide valuable insight into the origins of the family of powerful castellan lords that descended from Viscount Mycroft. Evidence elsewhere suggests that Mycroft was the second lord of the fortress of Diogenes, which he may have inherited from his father, or from a maternal uncle. The two charters do not provide any new evidence about Mycroft’s parents, whose origins and precise identities remain unknown, but they do provide unparalleled insight into the lives of Mycroft’s siblings: the eccentric monk Sherlock and a shadowy third brother, whose existence is only known from its mention in the pro anima clause of the first charter.
The first of the two charters is a formal, formulaic foundation charter that records Viscount Mycroft’s foundation of the priory of Saint Bartholomew. The properties and revenues with which Mycroft endowed the priory reveal much about both the economic foundations and the exercise of his lordship. In addition to the “place of his possession, constructed in honor of Saint Bartholomew,” which may indicate a church and monastic complex purpose-built to house the priory, Mycroft endowed his foundation with land, meadows, wood, and revenues. Unlike most similar foundations, whose initial endowments consisted primarily of land and only secondarily of revenue streams, Mycroft’s endowment for his priory was primarily composed of seigneurial revenues: tolls, mill fees, and market rights. Moreover, the charter reveals that Mycroft owned a bourg near his fortress. This type of proto-urban site, which tended to attract and concentrate local populations, could be very lucrative, and the proliferation of markets and fairs in Mycroft’s bourg suggests that his was very lucrative indeed. Taken as a whole, the charter’s snapshot of the types of wealth of which Mycroft disposed does not suggest the inheritance of fiscal lands and judicial rights that was typical of families descended from the Carolingian aristocracy. Rather, it suggests the intensive and efficient administration of an array of banal rights, perhaps the mark of Mycroft's own managerial hand, or that of a group of talented and forward-thinking seigneurial officials in his employ.
The foundation charter also provides useful information about members of Mycroft's family in his own generation. Consenting to Mycroft’s foundation was his wife, identified in this charter’s witness-list only as A (other sources record her name as Andrea, sometimes under the variant spelling Anthea). Mycroft’s widowed mother remains, unfortunately, unnamed. Of particular interest in this document, however, is the brief mention of Mycroft's otherwise-unknown second brother. All it is possible to glean from the reference to this second brother among the individuals whose souls Mycroft hoped his foundation would benefit is that he was almost certainly dead by the time of the foundation. Moreover, his death was probably not recent; recently-deceased immediate family members were often referred to by name in pro anima clauses. It is tempting to speculate, based on the unusually non-specfic formulation “other brother” (alius fratris), that he died in infancy.
Also of interest in the foundation charter is its information about Mycroft’s surviving younger brother Sherlock. This charter contains the unique instance of Sherlock’s surname, “the Black” (Scirloccus Niger). The surname may have been a reference to his hair colour, and thereby a sly comment on the etymolotical unsuitability of his first name, Sherlock, meaning “fair-haired.” Lending credence to the interpretation that Sherlock’s surname described his appearance is the fact that Mycroft was sometimes identified by the similar surname “the Red” (Mycroftis Rufus) in surviving documents dating from before he assumed his viscomital title.
In addition to this fascinating detail about Sherlock's appearance and appellation as a young man, the foundation charter records Sherlock's entry into the abbey of Saint Martin, where he went on to have an eventful career. Although historians have long theorized that Sherlock sought out the monastic life for the scholarly opportunities it offered him, this charter reveals a different and darker story. The postscript to Mycroft’s endowment of the priory describes how Sherlock was made a monk of Saint Martin during a serious illness, from which Mycroft feared he would die. It is unclear whether Sherlock had any input into Mycroft’s decision, or whether he was too ill to consent. Indeed, if it were not for the record of his later career, of which the second of the two charters of Saint Bartholomew provides a crucial piece, Sherlock’s ominous absence from the list of witnesses to the ratification of Mycroft’s foundation might suggest he had succumbed to his illness. As the second charter reveals, however, following his novitiate at Saint-Martin, Sherlock was sent back to his hometown to serve as prior of Saint Bartolomew. This second charter also preserves the earliest known evidence of Sherlock’s extraordinary partnership with his fellow monk, scribe, and eventual biographer, John son of Walter.
FOUNDATION OF THE PRIORY OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW BY MYCROFT VISCOUNT AND LORD OF THE FORTRESS OF DIOGENES
Any of the faithful, having been inspired by divine love to carry out the instruction of the Evangelist, by which each man having riches is mercifully warned to make for himself friends by the mammon of unrighteousness, by whom he may be be received into everlasting habitations, should strive through the distribution of his own property to give aid to the needy, and especially to the poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven, so that dying he may be received by friends of this kind into his everlasting abode. And having been agitated by contemplation of this salutary matter I, Viscount Mycroft, lord of the fortress of Diogenes, with the goodwill and assent of my wife and of my mother and my brother Sherlock the Black, resolved to entrust those things which I received in this world to my true creator, through the hands of paupers, so that I might earn it back with a hundredfold interest as my eternal reward.
Therefore, for the salvation of my soul and the souls of my father and other brother, I give and grant a certain place of my possession near my fortress, constructed in honor of Saint Bartholomew, with all the tithes and offerings and remaining revenues that belong to it or that should come into my possession, to those paupers, or brother monks who serve almighty God in the abbey of Saint Martin under Abbot Benedict. I likewise give four carrucates of land located near that place, and a meadow, and wood from my forest for the construction of the monks’ dwellings.
Additionally I give the tolls that arise from travellers and merchants passing the foot of my fortress, and also the bridge tolls and half of the fees of the mill next to the bridge; and also on the day of the market that is held every Wednesday in my bourg the monks will have the sales taxes of foreign merchants, and they will likewise have half of the taxes of foreign merchants during the first of the two fairs, which is on the feast of the Passage of Saint Martin; but on the other days, and during the second fair, which is on the feast of the Purification of the Virgin I will hold the sales taxes. And we transfer all these things, just as they have been set down in the succession of this narrative, as perpetual alms, to the use of the aforesaid brothers of Saint Martin.
Furthermore after the narrative of this donation, it happened by the will of God that my brother Sherlock was afflicted with a grave illness and weariness of life. While he lay on his couch in my hall, I, fearing that he was in peril of death, called to us a brother of Saint Martin, namely Michael of Stamford. And I gave to God and to Saint Martin and to his monks, for the sake of my brother’s soul, and so that he might receive the monastic habit from that brother, the whole chapel of Saint Mary at the Bourne, situated next to the bridge at the foot of the fortress, with its offerings and with half of the tithe of the fishery in the mill pond. And because of these things he was made a monk.
And indeed anything the aforesaid brothers may acquire by donation or by money within the bounds of my territory, they shall have and hold without any dispute by me or my heirs. And in order that this gift and agreement might continue inviolate forever, the ratification of these things was made with greatest honor in a gathering of many men at Saint Bartholomew, with these men watching and listening whose names are recorded below:
Lord Mycroft, who gave these things himself.
A. his wife.
His mother.
Harold, a squire.
Abbot Benedict of Saint Martin, who received them.
Michael of Stamford, a monk.
John son of Walter, a monk.
Martha, a nun of Saint Bartholomew.
And many others whose names would be excessively long to enumerate.
Part 2 to follow, to be tentatively scheduled for December 23.
This entry was originally posted at http://monksandbones.dreamwidth.org/775888.html. Talk to me here or there, whichever you prefer.
obopolsk requested a "short medieval Sherlock AU." I have attempted to oblige, although this is not short, and because it got out of hand, not complete. It probably also isn't quite what she was thinking of, because historical fiction is hard and requires a lot of research, whereas pastiche comes with built-in historical accuracy and is easy. More or less. Sort of easy.
You know how so far this month I've exhaustively explained how I arrived at my current research, and how my current research is based on monastic charters? Yeah, I present this with apologies to all Sherlock Holmes canons, to the former abbey of Marmoutier in general, and to Nantes: Archives départementales de Loire-Atlantique, H112 document 1 and H132 document 1, Rennes: Archives départementales d'Ille-et-Vilaine, 6H16 document 4, and Paris: Bibliothèque de l'Institut, MS 2383 document 1 in particular.
Also, as I said, this got out of hand, so this is only part one of Sherlock, the medieval AU cast in fake monastic charters. But I should also say that the monastic charters are not totally fake, because I have translated and borrowed some suitable all-too-real formulaic phrasings (with some light modifications because they're written in glorious and majestic and sonorously metrical Latin that is also nigh unto unreadable) from the actual charters listed above. It's totally what the eleventh-century monks of the French abbey of Marmoutier did when they wrote charters! And when I write the second fake charter, it will totally be based on one or both of the - oh yes - crime-narrative charters of Marmoutier I've encountered (Archives départementales d'Ille-et-Vilaine, 6H16 document 5 and 6H34 document 3). Warning for fake scholarly commentary as well.
Sherlock, the medieval AU cast in fake monastic charters
This interesting pair of charters from the abbey of Saint Martin records the foundation of the abbey's priory of Saint Bartholomew in the mid-eleventh century by Mycroft, viscount and castellan of the fortress of Diogenes, and a series of dramatic events that took place at the priory sometime in the decade following its foundation. They provide valuable insight into the origins of the family of powerful castellan lords that descended from Viscount Mycroft. Evidence elsewhere suggests that Mycroft was the second lord of the fortress of Diogenes, which he may have inherited from his father, or from a maternal uncle. The two charters do not provide any new evidence about Mycroft’s parents, whose origins and precise identities remain unknown, but they do provide unparalleled insight into the lives of Mycroft’s siblings: the eccentric monk Sherlock and a shadowy third brother, whose existence is only known from its mention in the pro anima clause of the first charter.
The first of the two charters is a formal, formulaic foundation charter that records Viscount Mycroft’s foundation of the priory of Saint Bartholomew. The properties and revenues with which Mycroft endowed the priory reveal much about both the economic foundations and the exercise of his lordship. In addition to the “place of his possession, constructed in honor of Saint Bartholomew,” which may indicate a church and monastic complex purpose-built to house the priory, Mycroft endowed his foundation with land, meadows, wood, and revenues. Unlike most similar foundations, whose initial endowments consisted primarily of land and only secondarily of revenue streams, Mycroft’s endowment for his priory was primarily composed of seigneurial revenues: tolls, mill fees, and market rights. Moreover, the charter reveals that Mycroft owned a bourg near his fortress. This type of proto-urban site, which tended to attract and concentrate local populations, could be very lucrative, and the proliferation of markets and fairs in Mycroft’s bourg suggests that his was very lucrative indeed. Taken as a whole, the charter’s snapshot of the types of wealth of which Mycroft disposed does not suggest the inheritance of fiscal lands and judicial rights that was typical of families descended from the Carolingian aristocracy. Rather, it suggests the intensive and efficient administration of an array of banal rights, perhaps the mark of Mycroft's own managerial hand, or that of a group of talented and forward-thinking seigneurial officials in his employ.
The foundation charter also provides useful information about members of Mycroft's family in his own generation. Consenting to Mycroft’s foundation was his wife, identified in this charter’s witness-list only as A (other sources record her name as Andrea, sometimes under the variant spelling Anthea). Mycroft’s widowed mother remains, unfortunately, unnamed. Of particular interest in this document, however, is the brief mention of Mycroft's otherwise-unknown second brother. All it is possible to glean from the reference to this second brother among the individuals whose souls Mycroft hoped his foundation would benefit is that he was almost certainly dead by the time of the foundation. Moreover, his death was probably not recent; recently-deceased immediate family members were often referred to by name in pro anima clauses. It is tempting to speculate, based on the unusually non-specfic formulation “other brother” (alius fratris), that he died in infancy.
Also of interest in the foundation charter is its information about Mycroft’s surviving younger brother Sherlock. This charter contains the unique instance of Sherlock’s surname, “the Black” (Scirloccus Niger). The surname may have been a reference to his hair colour, and thereby a sly comment on the etymolotical unsuitability of his first name, Sherlock, meaning “fair-haired.” Lending credence to the interpretation that Sherlock’s surname described his appearance is the fact that Mycroft was sometimes identified by the similar surname “the Red” (Mycroftis Rufus) in surviving documents dating from before he assumed his viscomital title.
In addition to this fascinating detail about Sherlock's appearance and appellation as a young man, the foundation charter records Sherlock's entry into the abbey of Saint Martin, where he went on to have an eventful career. Although historians have long theorized that Sherlock sought out the monastic life for the scholarly opportunities it offered him, this charter reveals a different and darker story. The postscript to Mycroft’s endowment of the priory describes how Sherlock was made a monk of Saint Martin during a serious illness, from which Mycroft feared he would die. It is unclear whether Sherlock had any input into Mycroft’s decision, or whether he was too ill to consent. Indeed, if it were not for the record of his later career, of which the second of the two charters of Saint Bartholomew provides a crucial piece, Sherlock’s ominous absence from the list of witnesses to the ratification of Mycroft’s foundation might suggest he had succumbed to his illness. As the second charter reveals, however, following his novitiate at Saint-Martin, Sherlock was sent back to his hometown to serve as prior of Saint Bartolomew. This second charter also preserves the earliest known evidence of Sherlock’s extraordinary partnership with his fellow monk, scribe, and eventual biographer, John son of Walter.
FOUNDATION OF THE PRIORY OF SAINT BARTHOLOMEW BY MYCROFT VISCOUNT AND LORD OF THE FORTRESS OF DIOGENES
Any of the faithful, having been inspired by divine love to carry out the instruction of the Evangelist, by which each man having riches is mercifully warned to make for himself friends by the mammon of unrighteousness, by whom he may be be received into everlasting habitations, should strive through the distribution of his own property to give aid to the needy, and especially to the poor in spirit, whose is the kingdom of heaven, so that dying he may be received by friends of this kind into his everlasting abode. And having been agitated by contemplation of this salutary matter I, Viscount Mycroft, lord of the fortress of Diogenes, with the goodwill and assent of my wife and of my mother and my brother Sherlock the Black, resolved to entrust those things which I received in this world to my true creator, through the hands of paupers, so that I might earn it back with a hundredfold interest as my eternal reward.
Therefore, for the salvation of my soul and the souls of my father and other brother, I give and grant a certain place of my possession near my fortress, constructed in honor of Saint Bartholomew, with all the tithes and offerings and remaining revenues that belong to it or that should come into my possession, to those paupers, or brother monks who serve almighty God in the abbey of Saint Martin under Abbot Benedict. I likewise give four carrucates of land located near that place, and a meadow, and wood from my forest for the construction of the monks’ dwellings.
Additionally I give the tolls that arise from travellers and merchants passing the foot of my fortress, and also the bridge tolls and half of the fees of the mill next to the bridge; and also on the day of the market that is held every Wednesday in my bourg the monks will have the sales taxes of foreign merchants, and they will likewise have half of the taxes of foreign merchants during the first of the two fairs, which is on the feast of the Passage of Saint Martin; but on the other days, and during the second fair, which is on the feast of the Purification of the Virgin I will hold the sales taxes. And we transfer all these things, just as they have been set down in the succession of this narrative, as perpetual alms, to the use of the aforesaid brothers of Saint Martin.
Furthermore after the narrative of this donation, it happened by the will of God that my brother Sherlock was afflicted with a grave illness and weariness of life. While he lay on his couch in my hall, I, fearing that he was in peril of death, called to us a brother of Saint Martin, namely Michael of Stamford. And I gave to God and to Saint Martin and to his monks, for the sake of my brother’s soul, and so that he might receive the monastic habit from that brother, the whole chapel of Saint Mary at the Bourne, situated next to the bridge at the foot of the fortress, with its offerings and with half of the tithe of the fishery in the mill pond. And because of these things he was made a monk.
And indeed anything the aforesaid brothers may acquire by donation or by money within the bounds of my territory, they shall have and hold without any dispute by me or my heirs. And in order that this gift and agreement might continue inviolate forever, the ratification of these things was made with greatest honor in a gathering of many men at Saint Bartholomew, with these men watching and listening whose names are recorded below:
Lord Mycroft, who gave these things himself.
A. his wife.
His mother.
Harold, a squire.
Abbot Benedict of Saint Martin, who received them.
Michael of Stamford, a monk.
John son of Walter, a monk.
Martha, a nun of Saint Bartholomew.
And many others whose names would be excessively long to enumerate.
Part 2 to follow, to be tentatively scheduled for December 23.
This entry was originally posted at http://monksandbones.dreamwidth.org/775888.html. Talk to me here or there, whichever you prefer.