the proudest relics of Norman antiquity. The following description of
it, as more copious than any other that has yet appeared, is transcribed
verbatim from the Tour[200] of that author:--"It is situated on a very
bold and lofty rock, broken into singular and fantastic masses, and
covered with luxurious vegetation. The keep which towers above it is of
excellent masonry: the stones are accurately squared, and put together
with great neatness, and the joints are small; and the arches are turned
clearly and distinctly, with the key-stone or wedge accurately placed in
all of them. Some parts of the wall, towards the interior ballium, are
not built of squared freestone; but of the dark stone of the country,
disposed in a zig-zag, or, as it is more commonly called, in a
herring-bone direction, with a great deal of mortar in the interstices:
the buttresses, or rather piers, are of small projection, but great
width. The upper story, destroyed about forty years since, was of a
different style of architecture. According to an old print,[201] it
terminated with a large battlement, and bartizan towers at the angles.
This dungeon was formerly divided into several apartments, in one of the
lower of which was found, about half a century ago, a very ancient tomb,
of good workmanship, ornamented with a sphynx at each end, but bearing
no inscription whatever. Common report ascribed the coffin to Talbot,
who was for many years governor of the castle; and at length an
individual engraved upon it an epitaph to his honor: but the fraud was
discovered, and the sarcophagus put aside, as of no account. The second,
or principal, story of the keep, now forms a single square room, about
fifty feet wide, lighted by circular-headed windows, each divided into
two by a short and massy central pillar, whose capital is altogether
Norman. On one of the capitals is sculptured a child leading a
lamb,[202] a representation, as it is foolishly said, of the Conqueror,
whom tradition alledges to have been born in the apartment to which this
window belonged: another pillar has an elegant capital, composed of
interlaced bands.--Connected with the dungeon by a stone staircase is a
small apartment, very much dilapidated, but still retaining a portion of
its original facing of Caen stone. It was from the window of this
apartment, as the story commonly goes, that Duke Robert first saw the
beautiful Arlette, drawing water from the streamlet below, and was
enamoured of her charms, and took her to his bed.--According to another
version of the tale, the earliest interview between the prince and his
fair mistress, took place as Robert was returning from the chace, with
his mind full of anger against the inhabitants of Falaise, for having
presumed to kill the deer which he had commanded should be preserved for
his royal pastime. In this offence the curriers of the town had borne
the principal share, and they were therefore principally marked out for
punishment. But, fortunately for them, Arlette, the daughter of one
Verpray, the most culpable of the number, met the offended Duke while
riding through the street, and with her beauty so fascinated him, that
she not only obtained the pardon of her father and his associates, but
became his mistress, and continued so as long as he lived. From her, if
we may give credence to the old chroniclers, is derived our English
word, _harlot_. The fruit of their union was William the Conqueror,
whose illegitimate birth, and the low extraction of his mother, served
on more than one occasion as a pretext for conspiracies against his
throne, and were frequently the subject of personal mortification to
himself.--The walls in this part of the castle are from eight to nine
feet thick. A portion of them has been hollowed out, so as to form a
couple of small rooms. The old door-way of the keep is at the angle; the
returns are reeded, ending in a square impost; the arch above is
destroyed.--Talbot's tower, thus called from having been built by that
general, in 1430 and the two subsequent years, is connected with the
keep by means of a long passage with lancet windows, that widen greatly
inwards. It is more than one hundred feet high, and is a beautiful piece
of masonry, as perfect, apparently, as on the day when it was erected,
and as firm as the rock on which it stands. This tower is ascended by a
staircase concealed within the substance of the walls, whose thickness
is full fifteen feet towards the base, and does not decrease more than
three feet near the summit. Another aperture in them serves for a well,
which thus communicates with every apartment in the tower. Most of the
arches in this tower have circular heads: the windows are square.--The
walls and towers which encircle the keep are of much later date; the
principal gate-way is pointed. Immediately on entering, is seen the very
ancient chapel, dedicated to St. Priscus, or, as he is called in French,
St. Prix. The east end with three circular-headed windows, retains its
original lines: the masonry is firm and good. Fantastic corbels surround
the summit of the lateral walls. Within, a semi-circular arch resting
upon short pillars with sculptured capitals, divides the choir from the
nave. In other respects the building has been much altered. Henry V.
repaired it in 1418, and it has been since dilapidated and restored. A
pile of buildings beyond, wholly modern in the exterior, is now
inhabited as a seminary, or college. There are some circular arches
within, which shew that these buildings belonged to the original
structure.--Altogether the castle is a noble ruin. Though the keep is
destitute of the enrichments of Norwich or Castle-Rising, it possesses
an impressive character of strength, which is much increased by the
extraordinary freshness of the masonry. The fosses of the castle are
planted with lofty trees, which shade and intermingle with the towers
and ramparts; and on every side they groupe themselves with picturesque
beauty. It is said that the municipality intend to _restore_ Talbot's
tower and the keep, by replacing the demolished battlements; but I
should hope that no other repairs may take place, except such as may be
necessary for the preservation of the edifice; and I do not think it
needs any, except the insertion of clamps in the central columns of two
of the windows, which are much shattered."
NOTES:
[198] At the same time that no record whatever has been preserved
relative to the date of the building of the castle at Falaise, the
Norman chroniclers have carefully recorded the æras of the erection of
the other castles in the neighborhood. That of Domfront, according to
them, was built A.D. 1011 and 1014, by the Counts of Alençon; that of
Caen, by William the Conqueror, but much increased by his son, Henry I.;
that of Vignats, a league and a half from Falaise, about the year 1096,
during the dukedom of Robert, by Robert of Montgomery, Count of Alençon,
and Viscount of Hiêmes and of Falaise; and that of Argentan, by Henry I.
King of England, by way of protection against his son-in-law, Geoffrey
Plantagenet.--_Recherches Historiques sur Falaise_, p. 22.
[199] According to Langevin, p. 30, Talbot likewise added to the castle,
some noble apartments, ornamented with paintings, which also passed
under his name, and of which some portions were still standing a few
years ago.
[200] Vol. II. p. 266.
[201] This print has lately been copied into _Mr. Dibdin's Tour_, vol.
II. p. 11.
[202] Mr. Turner appears to be in error with regard to this capital: Mr.
Cotman, who examined it more attentively, found the child to be holding
_two animals_ in a leash; and he supposes them to be greyhounds,
comparing them with a very similar piece of sculpture upon one of the
capitals in the bishop's palace, in the castle at Durham, erected by the
Conqueror.--See _Carter's Ancient Architecture_, I. pl. 17, fig. P.
PLATE XCI.
INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF CREULLY.
[Illustration: Plate 91. INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH OF CREULLY.]
Creully, whose church has been here selected for publication, as a
favorable specimen of genuine Norman architecture, is a small
market-town of the diocese of Bayeux, situated about six miles to the
east of the city of that name, and fifteen miles north-west of Caen. It
is an ancient barony, having been honored with that distinction by Henry
I. in favor of his natural son, the Earl of Glocester, many of whose
descendants, according to Masseville, were still living in Normandy in
the eighteenth century, and bore the name of Creully. The same author
makes mention of the Lords of Creully, on more than one occasion, in the
course of his Norman history.--They are to be found in the list of the
barons that accompanied Duke Robert to the Holy Land, in 1099; and when
the Genoese, in 1390, called upon the King of France for succours
against the infidels of the coast of Barbary, and the pious monarch sent
an army to their relief, under the command of the Duke of Bourbon, the
name of the Seigneur de Creully stands prominent among those who
embarked upon that unfortunate expedition. Again, in 1302, the Baron of
Creully held the fifth place among the nine lords from the bailiwick of
Caen, who were summoned to sit in the Norman exchequer.
From the days of the Earl of Glocester to the breaking out of the French
revolution, the barony of Creully continued to be held by different
noble families. In the early part of the eighteenth century, when
Masseville published his work, it was in the hands of the heirs of M. de
Seigneley-Colbert, who likewise possessed other considerable domains in
Normandy. The last that had the title was a member of the family of
Montmorenci.--His emigration caused the estate to be confiscated, and
sold as national property; but the baronial castle is now standing, and
displays, in two of its towers, and in a chimney of unusual form, a
portion of its ancient character. The rest of the building is modernized
into a spruce, comfortable residence, which, in 1818, was occupied by an
English general of the name of Hodgson.[203]
The writer of this article has met with no records connected with the
church of Creully.--Externally, it is wholly modernized; but within, the
nave, side-aisles, and choir, are all purely Norman, except at the
extremities. The piers are very massy; the arches wide and low; the
capitals covered with rude, but remarkable sculpture, which is varied on
every pillar; and the walls are of extraordinary thickness.
NOTES:
[203] _Turner's Tour in Normandy_, II. p. 264.
PLATES XCII.--XCIV.
CATHEDRAL AT COUTANCES.
[Illustration: Plates 92-93. CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, AT
COUTANCES.
_West Front._]
The diocese of Coutances, embracing the north-western portion of Celtic
Gaul, appears to have been the last part of the country that was visited
by the light of Christianity; but its historians boast that the tardy
approach of the rays of gospel-truth has been more than compensated by
their subsequent brilliancy; for that in no other of the Norman dioceses
has the sun of revelation blazed with equal splendor, or given birth to
fruits of equal excellence. Thus, according to Rouault,[204] as early as
the fifth century, and during the whole of the two following, and a
portion of the eighth, the Côtentin was so celebrated, by reason of the
great number of saints, who were either natives of the country, or had
retired thither as to a place of safe retreat, that it was regarded as
being honored with the divine favor, beyond any other district in
France. No fewer than fifteen holy men, enshrined in the Roman calendar,
are said to have resided there at or near the same period; and, while
their lustre irradiated the episcopal mitre, its beams extended to the
remote fastnesses of the desert of Scycy, near Granville, then
celebrated for the sanctity of its hermits. At a time not long
subsequent, St. Algeronde and Theodoric, both of them bishops of
Coutances, and the martyrs, Leo, Philip, and Gervais, three natives of
Carentan, became principal instruments towards the conversion of the
heathen Normans. History also records, that it was in the house of St.
Clair, one of the protectors of this diocese, that the treaty was
finally concluded, in conformity with which, the chief of the infidels
was, with his followers, admitted within the pale of the church.
The foundation of the see of Coutances is commonly supposed to have
taken place about the middle of the fifth century, during the latter
years of the papacy of Celestine I. and of the reign of Pharamond, in
France. The see lays claim to the proud distinction of having enriched
the beatified calendar with the names of at least fifteen of its
bishops; of having added one to the list of the successors of St. Peter;
of having supplied six cardinals to the holy college; and of having
produced an equal number of martyrs. And if to this catalogue, already
great, be joined the many anchorites of Scycy and of Nanteuil, who have
been promoted to the episcopal dignity, _a whole legend_, to use the
words of a pious author, may be filled with the lives and the miracles
of the holy men of Coutances.
In turning from the ecclesiastical to the secular annals of the diocese,
the barons of the Côtentin scarcely occupy a less distinguished place.
The histories of the Crusades, in particular, abound with their
exploits. Hauteville, near Coutances, boasts to have given birth and
title to Tancred, of immortal memory; who, either himself, or by his
descendants, founded the kingdoms of Naples and Sicily, and reigned over
almost the whole of Italy; while, with their victorious forces, they
exterminated the Saracens, protected the holy see, supported the Cretans
in the east, and carried their conquering arms to the utmost confines of
the Greek empire. To them, also, the chivalrous institution of the
Golden Fleece owes its origin; and so extraordinary were their exploits,
that they might pass for fabulous, had they occurred in a more remote
age, and did not the concurring testimony of historians unite to stamp
them with the seal of truth.
According to the ecclesiastical division of France before the
revolution, the diocese of Coutances was bounded to the south by that of
Avranches, and to the east by that of Bayeux, while, in the two
remaining divisions, its limits were circumscribed by the ocean.[205] At
present, it includes the whole department of La Manche; the suppression
of the bishopric of Avranches having added considerably to its
extent.--In Roman Gaul, Coutances was included in the province called the
_Lugdunensis secunda_: but, on the subject of the foundation or early
history of the city, authors are, as commonly happens, much at variance,
ascribing to it, according to their fancies or their prejudices, very
different degrees of antiquity. Those who are most disposed to do it
honor in this respect, contend that it was the capital of the tribe
mentioned by Cæsar, in his _Commentaries_, under the name of _Unelli_;
and called by Pliny, _Venelli_; and by Ptolemy, _Veneli_. They are
guided in this opinion exclusively by locality. Others, with a greater
appearance of probability, at least as far as any reliance may be placed
upon etymology, maintain that Coutances had no existence before the days
of the Emperor, Constantius Chlorus, father to Constantine the Great.
There have also not been wanting writers who have referred its origin to
Constantine himself, or who have maintained that it was indebted for its
name to its _constant_ and vigorous opposition to the Roman power. The
second of these opinions appears to have obtained general credence in
the time of Ordericus Vitalis, who, in speaking of Constantius,
expressly says, "Hic in Neustriâ civitatem condidit, quam a nomine suo
_Constantiam_ nominavit." Ammianus Marcellinus adds strength to the same
belief, when he calls Coutances, _Constantia castra_. It is probable
that the city was in reality the seat of the Emperor's camp, at the time
when he was about to lead his forces into Britain.
Of the future progress of the town, and the steps by which it rose to
its present eminence, no account whatever is left. History, so profuse
in details respecting many other places in Normandy, far inferior in
size and in distinction, has done little more with regard to the capital
of the Côtentin, than record the bare facts,--that it was pillaged by
the Normans in 888; was sold by Duke Robert to his brother, Henry I. in
1087; was taken by the Count of Anjou, in the twelfth year of the
following century; was, thirty years subsequently, surrendered to the
Empress Maude; was wrested from John, by Philip-Augustus, in 1202; in
1418, opened its gates to the victorious arms of Henry V.; and, after
remaining for thirty-one years in the hands of the English, was finally
re-united to the crown of France. In 1465, Coutances lost its military
character: its walls were then destroyed, and the fortifications rased,
by order of Louis XI. as a punishment upon the inhabitants for their
conduct, in aiding the treasonable attempt of Charles, the brother of
the monarch, to obtain forcible possession of the dukedom of
Normandy.[206] Not long subsequently, Francis I. gladdened the city with
the royal presence, on his return from his pilgrimage to Mont St.
Michel, in 1487; and his grandson, Henry III. bestowed upon it the
distinction of being the capital of the bailiwick; soon after which, it
suffered severely during the religious wars, especially when it fell
into the power of the Calvinists, in 1562. Those merciless religionists
pillaged it with an unsparing hand, even consigning a portion of it to
the flames: they sacked the churches, and carried off the prelate, whom
they forced to accompany them upon an ass, with his face turned to its
tail.
Of the bishops of Coutances, it will be sufficient here to mention
three--Richard de Longueuil, who was nominated in 1455, one of the four
commissioners to revise the process of the Maid of Arc, and declared
her innocent; Nicholas de Briroy, who, at the end of the following
century, obtained from the Pope, Paul V. in return for his extensive
charities, the enviable title of _Father of the Poor_; and Geoffrey de
Montbray, a prelate honored with the especial favor of the Conqueror, to
whom he frequently rendered the most essential service, as well in arms
as in peace. He it was, who performed mass in the Norman camp,
preparatory to the battle of Hastings, and who preached at the
coronation of the monarch, from whom he is said, by Ordericus Vitalis,
to have received no fewer than two hundred and eighty manors in England.
The present population of Coutances amounts to between eight and nine
thousand inhabitants. The remains of the noble aqueduct in the
neighborhood, though commonly ascribed to the times of Roman power, are
said to be with more justice referable to a nobleman of the family of
Haye-Paisnel, and to have been erected in the thirteenth century. The
principal feature and great ornament of the city is its noble cathedral,
which, regarded as a whole, may, in the opinion of M. de Gerville,
challenge a comparison with any other in France. Its architecture,
according to the same able antiquary, affords a satisfactory proof that
the pointed arch was really used in France, full half a century before
the epoch generally assigned to its introduction. Upon this latter
subject, there has already been an opportunity of speaking in the
present work, while treating of the Church of Lisieux; and the opinion
there stated by Mr. Turner, must be allowed to derive the strongest
confirmation from the cathedral of Coutances. The point is one that has
frequently exercised the ingenuity of architects, and of the learned:
the concluding portion, therefore, of this article, will be principally
devoted to that subject.[207]
It was, in the twelfth century, according to Mr. Whittington, that "the
pointed arch began to shew itself in the edifices of France and the
neighboring countries;" and, having originated in the east, naturally
followed this direction in its course towards England. On the other
hand, the sentiments of another, at least equally learned, author, the
reverend Dr. Milner, have been given on more than one occasion, that the
architecture, commonly denominated Gothic, really commenced in England,
but did not appear till after the year 1130; the pointed arches in the
church of St. Cross, erected by Henry of Blois, bishop of Winchester,
and brother of King Stephen, being probably the earliest specimen of the
kind that is any where to be found. M. de Gerville combats this latter
opinion, by adducing the churches of Mortain and of Coutances; the first
of them, like St. Cross, an example of the mixed style, its upper arches
being semi-circular, its lower pointed; the other, wholly of the latter
description. The church of Mortain was founded in 1082, and must have
been sufficiently finished for the performance of divine worship, within
nine years after that period; as it is expressly recorded that Geoffrey
de Montbray, bishop of Coutances, who died in 1093, was present at the
ceremony of the consecration. With regard to the cathedral of Coutances,
there is fortunately in existence a highly-curious document, written by
an eye-witness to the building of the church, and printed in the _Gallia
Christiana_[208] from the black book or chartulary of the diocese, which
was compiled by order of John d'Essey, who wore the mitre in the middle
of the thirteenth century. The memoir commences by reciting a portion of
the hardships undergone by the see of Coutances, in common with other
parts of the north of France, from the Norman invasion; and then tells
how Herbert II. who succeeded to the episcopal throne in 1020, expelled,
_as useless and illiterate_, the canons in possession of the church of
Coutances, and took the whole of the ecclesiastical revenues into his
own hands, because "_sibi minùs urbani minùsque faceti videbantur!_" It
goes on to state, that his successor, Robert, far from restoring what
had been seized under so extraordinary a plea, alienated the property by
parcelling it out among his kindred; but that, notwithstanding this, a
beginning was made in his time towards the erection of the church, which
was founded by the Countess Gonora, widow of Duke Richard II. with the
aid of contributions from various quarters.[209]
To Robert, in the year of our Lord, 1048, succeeded the celebrated
Geoffrey de Montbray, who finally completed the great work commenced by
his predecessor. The first stone of the cathedral had been laid in 1030;
the dedication took place in 1056, and was performed in the presence of
the Duke himself, the archbishop, his suffragans, and a large proportion
of the Norman nobility. Some English barons likewise crossed the sea to
attend upon the occasion. The vigor of Geoffrey's character was never
more strikingly exemplified, than in connection with this fabric.[210]
In the earliest years of his prelacy, he undertook a voyage to Apulia,
for the express purpose of obtaining from Robert Guischard, and his
companions in arms, pecuniary assistance towards the building; and,
during the whole course of a long life, he appears to have been
unremitting in his endeavors to add whatever might contribute to its
dignity, its splendour, and its utility.[211] The following lines,
traced by his dying hand, well mark the man himself, and the temper of
the age, and the prevalence of the ruling passion:--"Gaufridus,
misericordia Dei, Constantiensis episcopus, omnibus sub christiana
regeneratione degentibus, tam clericis quam laïcis, salutem,
prosperitatem et pacem. Constantiensem ecclesiam quam hucusque licet
indigne tenueram, tamen miserante Deo, populo meæ pravitatis augmentum
et honorare studui, et extrema...... eam amplius factis adjuvare nequeo
verbis quantum tutari et defensare cupio. Quicumque igitur qui sub
christiana professione vocatus, præfatam ecclesiam honorare, consolari
et defensare voluerit, auctoritate Domini nostri Jesu Christi ejusque
sanctissimæ genetricis, in apostolica nostraque confirmatione
benedictus, ab eodem Domino nostro Jesu Christo omnium bonorum
retributore mercedem recipiat in futuro, et anima ejus inter choros
angelorum et archangelorum, apostolorum et martyrum, confessorum et
virginum requiem possideat in paradiso. Quod si aliquis irreverens et
contumeliosus, avaritiæ vel cupiditatis stimulis agitatus, eam de terris
suis, sive legibus et consuetudinibus, sive ornamentis absque justa et
necessaria eidem ecclesiæ ratione et clericorum assensione, minorari et
decurtare præsumpserit, ab his omnibus suprascriptis ordinibus
maledictus, et perpetuæ damnationis anathemate circumseptus, priusquam
vita decedat terribilissimi divini examinis judicio prosequente, omnibus
in commune tanti sacrilegii violator appareat, et in perpetuum cum Juda
traditore, et Herode, Pilato et Caipha, cunctisque sanctæ ecclesiæ
adversariis ignem æternum possideat, semperque cum diabolo et angelis
ejus crucietur, nec ullam in secula seculorum misericordiæ scintillam
mereatur, nisi priusquam anima illa tenebrosa de corpore exierit
resipuerit, et ad satisfactionem venerit. Fiat, amen."
And the clergy were not wanting in their endeavors to do honor to the
memory of so noble a benefactor. As the Roman historians and the Mantuan
bard concur in attesting the various prodigies that foretold the
approaching end of Julius Cæsar, so the monkish chroniclers relate that
earth and sky united in presaging the death of Geoffrey; and, though
they could not succeed in obtaining for his name admission into the
calendar, they would allow of no doubt as to his reception into heaven;
the details of which were communicated in a vision to one of the monks
of Cerisy.--"There appeared to me," said the monk, "a palace of
transcendent magnificence, in which a queen was seated, of more than
earthly beauty, surrounded by a numerous court; and, while each in his
turn was making his obeisance, suddenly a messenger arrived, exclaiming
aloud, 'Madam, Geoffrey, bishop of Coutances, is here, and is at this
moment mounting the steps of the palace.' No sooner were the tidings
heard, than she descended from her seat to meet the prelate; and, having
welcomed him with a most gracious salutation, caused her attendants to
disrobe him of his cope and boots, and then, taking the veil from her
own head, wiped the wounds upon his body, and, leading him by the hand,
conducted him to her room of state, and placed him near to herself upon
the throne." The decease of the prelate, which took place on the
following day, left no doubt as to the interpretation or the inspiration
of the vision.
Of the identity of the church built by Geoffrey with that now standing,
it is impossible to entertain a reasonable doubt. The details, and they
are many, contained in the document above quoted, all correspond with
the present building. A still more decisive proof is afforded by the
silence of succeeding historians, who could never have passed unnoticed
so important a fact as the rebuilding of a cathedral, the repairs of
which they have recorded on various occasions. The principal of these
took place during the prelacy of Sylvester de la Corvelle, and were
occasioned by the wars of Edward III. in the course of which, the
edifice incurred the most imminent danger, and would probably have been
destroyed in 1356, had not the timely arrival of the French troops
caused the invading army to raise the siege of the city. A battering
ram, used upon that occasion, was still shewed in Coutances, in the
beginning of the last century. The king of France bestowed upon the
chapter, in 1372, a sum of six hundred livres, in gold, for the express
purpose of repairing the church, "_bellis attritâ et imminutâ_." At that
time the Lady-Chapel was added; the great windows were inserted in the
aisles; the exterior part of the choir towards the palace was built; and
a portion of the work of the western front, between the towers, was
repaired, and probably altered. This last has in particular tended to
mislead the antiquary;--but to sum up the account, in the words of M. de
Gerville,--"En y regardant plus attentivement, un antiquaire exercé
facilement démêlera l'ancienne partie de l'édifice, qui est encore de
beaucoup la plus considérable. Cette ancienne partie offre un modèle
bien caractérisé de fenêtres en lancettes. C'est surtout aux deux tours
occidentales qu'on en voit des plus étroites. Celles de la tour, ou
lanterne, sont géminées. Ces lancettes, que les antiquaires Anglois
rapportent au regne de Henry II. se montrent ici dans un édifice
antérieur à ce prince de prés d'un siècle; et, ce qui est encore plus
surprénant, elles y sont sans aucun mélange d'architecture Romane ou
Saxonne."[212]
[Illustration: Plate 94. CATHEDRAL CHURCH OF NOTRE DAME, AT COUTANCES.
_Elevation of the Nave._]
In the interior of the building, (_plate ninety-four_) the same
uniformity of style prevails as in the exterior; and if, in conjunction
with the cathedral of Coutances, be considered that of Lisieux, a
contemporary building, and so much alike in character, that it may
reasonably be doubted if they were not the production of the same
architect, it will scarcely be assuming too much, to say that the date
of the introduction of the pointed architecture in France, may safely be
placed as early as the middle of the eleventh century.
NOTES:
[204] _Abrégé de l'Histoire des Evêques de Coutances_, p. 48.