Everard II of Breteuil
Everard II of Breteuil[1] (fl. 1073–1096) was a count of Breteuil-sur-Noye and viscount of Chartres who renounced his inheritance to become a monk.[2][3] As the eldest son of Everard I of Breteuil and his wife Humberge,[4][5] he was the head of the House of Breteuil.[6] He succeeded his father sometime between 1061 and 1073.[7]
Guibert of Nogent, who knew Everard personally, called him "a man famous among the foremost of France".[8] Only one undated document—a charter of Bishop Gauthier Saveyr of Meaux—records Everard's brief tenure as viscount of Chartres.[3] In 1073, Everard experienced a religious conversion. Dispersing his gold and silver among the poor and giving his lands to his kin, he withdrew from the world to travel as a poor pilgrim before entering the abbey of Marmoutier.[2] He travelled abroad and worked for a time as a charcoal burner. He gave Marmoutier his half of Nottonville. This donation was confirmed by King Philip I in 1075 and by Count Theobald III of Blois in 1076.[9] Everard and his wife had no children.[3] His brother Hugh I of Le Puiset, who owned the other half of Nottonville, succeeded him as viscount.[2][9] His brother Waleran succeeded him at Breteuil.[9]
Guibert, writing around 1120, devoted a chapter of his Monodiae to Everard's conversion.[10] He saw Everard as the model for the conversion of Count Simon of Crépy in 1077.[11] Another account of the conversion is found in a charter of the abbey that is preserved as an original document.[5] When Everard returned from his wanderings and attempted to enter Marmoutier, he was rejected because he had not obtained the consent of his wife.[9] Abbot Bartholomew personally went to the castle of Le Puiset to negotiate her consent.[9] In the winter of 1095–1096, when Everard learned that his nephew, Everard III, was planning to join the First Crusade, Everard II reached out to him for a donation to Marmoutier. With his abbot's permission, he met his nephew at Blois sometime before February 1096.[12]
Notes
- ^ In French, his name may be spelled Évrard (Iogna-Prat 2002) or Ebrard (Dion 1884). In contemporary Latin, it was Ebrardus (Mabille 1874).
- ^ a b c Riley-Smith 1997, p. 47.
- ^ a b c Dion 1884, p. 13.
- ^ Riley-Smith 1997, p. 249.
- ^ a b Iogna-Prat 2002, p. 546.
- ^ Riley-Smith 1997, p. 47. The House of Le Puiset was a cadet branch of the House of Breteuil.
- ^ Dion 1884, p. 11.
- ^ Dion 1884, p. 13: vir inter primores Franciae famosus.
- ^ a b c d e Dion 1884, p. 14.
- ^ Iogna-Prat 2002, p. 542.
- ^ Iogna-Prat 2002, p. 545.
- ^ Riley-Smith 1997, pp. 123–124.
Bibliography
- Dion, Adolphe de (1884). Les seigneurs de Bretheuil en Beauvoises. Paris.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Iogna-Prat, Dominique (2002). "Évrard de Breteuil et son double: Morphologie de la conversion en milieu aristocratique (v. 1070–v. 1120)". In M. Lauwers (ed.). Guerriers et moines: Conversion et sainteté aristocratiques dans l'Occident médiéval (IXe–XIIe siècle). Collection d'études médiévales de Nice. Vol. 4. Brepols. pp. 537–557. doi:10.1484/m.cem-eb.4.2017047. ISBN 978-2-904110-35-1.
- Mabille, Émile (1874). Cartulaire de Marmoutier pour le Dunois. Henri Lecesne.
- Riley-Smith, Jonathan (1997). The First Crusaders, 1095–1131. Cambridge University Press.