Yves de Bellême

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Yves de Bellême was Bishop of Sées from 1035 to around 1071. He was thus a contemporary of Wilhelm the Conqueror and the bishops in his vicinity, Odo von Bayeux and Geoffroy de Montbray .

biography

Yves as Bishop of Sées is only attested from 1046/48, although it can be assumed that he has been in charge of the diocese since 1035. The historian Ordericus Vitalis paints a flattering picture of himself: he calls him tall and well-formed , educated and knowledgeable , spiritual , eloquent and friend of peace , and thus contrasts him with the other members of the Bellême family . Nevertheless, he seems to have been a typical bishop of the time - as well versed in military matters as in spiritual ones, and thus heavily involved in the problems of the time.

Around 1047 he seems to have supported the revolt of his nephew Arnoul de Bellême against his brother Guillaume II Talvas de Bellême , which ended with the expulsion of the Lord of Bellême. Arnoul and Yves shared the rule of Bellême; a short time later, around 1048/49, Arnoul was murdered.

Around the same time, Yves Sées had to recapture the center of his diocese, which had been occupied by robber barons, the Soreng. Ordericus Vitalis these men had transformed the cathedral of Sées into a den of thieves, a stable and a brothel. Yves had to besiege the city and set fire to a tower (although it is unclear whether a tower of the cathedral or a tower of the Roman city walls is meant). Unfortunately, the fire spread to the cathedral. The Soreng fled, but a ruin was returned to Yves.

In 1049 Yves took part in the Council of Reims , on which Pope Leo IX. accused him of having set fire to the cathedral. As a punishment, Yves had to promise her restoration. In order to get the necessary funds, Yves left Normandy , went to southern Italy and even to Constantinople , and looked for rich Normans living there . On his return he was able to commission the work on the new cathedral, but he did not live to see the completion. At the same time, he started the restoration of the Saint-Martin monastery in Sées , together with his niece Mabile de Bellême and her husband Roger II. De Montgommery .

Joseph Decaens suspects that Yves is also responsible for founding the Motte von Sées.

literature

  • Joseph Decaens, "L'évêque Yves de Sées", dans Pierre Bouet et François Neveux (dir.), Les évêques normands du XIe siècle , Actes du colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (1993), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 1995, Pp. 117-137
  • Gérard Louise, “La Seigneurie de Bellême, Xe-XIIe siècle. Dévolution des pouvoirs territoriaux et construction d'une seigneurie de frontière aux confins de la Normandie et du Maine à la charnière de l'an Mil ”, Le Pays bas-normand , 3-4, 1993
  • François Neveux , La Normandie, des ducs aux rois (Xe-XIIe siècle) , Rennes, Ouest-France, 1998

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Orderic Vital, Histoire de la Normandie , éd. Guizot, 1826, Volume II, p.40
  2. Perhaps members of the Bellême family, as Gérard Louise suspects, who supported Guillaume II Talvas against Arnoul and Yves
  3. Interpolations Ordericus Vitalis in the Gesta Normannorum Ducum des Wilhelm von Jumièges
  4. Joseph Decaens, "l'évêque Yves de Sées", dans Pierre Bouet et François Neveux (ed.), Les évêques normands du siècle Xe , Actes du colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (1993), Presses Universitaires de Caen, 1995 , P. 137