Le cartulaire de l’abbaye du Palais Notre-Dame (XIIe et XIIIe siècles) Édition critique

The Palais Notre-Dame abbey is located in Limousin, in the town of Thauron, about five kilometers from Bourganeuf, near the Thaurion river and the Courson forest. Contemporary of the abbeys of Aubepierres, Bonlieu, Bénévent, Prébenoit and Aubignac, it is one of the many establishments attached to the order of Citeaux. In reaction to a Benedictine monasticism considered too involved in feudal society, eremitic movements appeared at the end of the 11th century. Its development in Haute-Marche owes a lot to Saint Géraud. Born in Sales de Fulcon and d’Aldearde, this hermit from Périgord retired to solitude after being ordained a deacon. The bishop of Limoges, Eustorge (1106-1137), sensitive to the hermit vocations that Géraud gave birth to, encouraged the emergence of these new establishments. In Haute-Marche, the apostolate of Géraud has also given rise to some vocations; the town of Bourganeuf was beginning to form and a small group of faithful gathered around Aimic de Quinzat who founded a hermitage on his land in Petit-Quinzat, near Mont-de-Transet. It was to him that Géraud entrusted the community. In 1134, Aimeric donated this land to Dalon Abbey. The hermitage then became a monastery headed by Father Roger. When the latter died in 1159, the second abbot of Dalon, Amélien, chose to join the order of Citeaux, founded by hermits at the end of the 11th century, and advocating the virtues of simplicity and agricultural work. In 1160, Amélien appointed Bernard first abbot of the Palace and the abbey was affiliated to the Cistercian Order two years later, in 1162. His cartulary, still little known and little studied, has so far remained unpublished. Rich in 352 acts, it provides most of what we can still know today about the medieval history of the abbey. The manuscript, held in London, is presented and edited here to provide immediate access to students and researchers interested in working on medieval Aquitaine.