The Deeds of Louis the Fat

459 Pages·1992·1.14 MB·English

by  Suger

title: The Deeds of Louis the Fat
author: Suger.; Cusimano, Richard; Moorhead, John
publisher: Catholic University of America Press
isbn10 | asin: 0813207584
print isbn13: 9780813207582
ebook isbn13: 9780813210391
language: English
Louis--VI,--King of France,--1078-1137,
subject France--History--Louis VI, 1108-1137,
France--Kings and rulers--Biography.
publication date: 1992
lcc: DC88.5.S813 1991eb
ddc: 944/.022/092
Louis--VI,--King of France,--1078-1137,
subject: France--History--Louis VI, 1108-1137,
France--Kings and rulers--Biography.
Page iii
The Deeds of Louis the Fat
Suger
Translated with Introduction and Notes by Richard Cusimano and
John Moorhead
Page iv
Copyright © 1992
The Catholic University of America Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
The paper used in this publication meets the minimum requirements
of American National Standards for Information SciencePermanence
of Paper for Printed Library materials, ANSI Z 39.481984.
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA
Suger, Abbot of Saint Denis, 10811151.
[Vita Ludovici Grossi Regis. English]
The deeds of Louis the Fat / Suger; translated with
introduction and notes by Richard Cusimano and John
Moorhead.
p. cm.
Translation of: Vita Ludovici Grossi Regis.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Louis VI, King of France, 10781137. 2. France
HistoryLouis VI, 11081137. 3. FranceKings and rulers
Biography.
1. Cusimano, Richard, 1939 . II. Moorhead, John, 1948
III. Title.
DC88.5.S813 1991
944'.022'092dc20
[B] 91-25427
ISBN 0-8132-0757-6.ISBN 0-8132-0758-4 (pbk.)
Page v
Contents
Preface vii
Abbreviations ix
Chapter Titles in the Text xii
Introduction 1
The Deeds of Louis the Fat 21
Endnotes 161
Index 215
Page vii
Preface
Suger's Deeds of Louis the Fat is a key source for twelfth-century
French history, and it was in the conviction that it should be made
available to students and other readers who do not wish tackle the
author's demanding Latin that we began, unbeknownst to each other,
to translate it some years ago. On discovering that we were working
independently on the same text we decided to combine forces, and the
work here presented is the result of a happy collaboration. The
introduction and notes to the text have been written primarily with the
needs of students in mind. We have felt exonerated from going into
great detail by the recent appearance of some excellent writing in
English, in particular the papers read at the symposium held in New
York in 1981 to commemorate the nine-hundredth anniversary of
Suger's birth.
The notes to the text have been divided: those supplying lengthier
commentary and additional sources are the endnotes; those giving
parenthetical comments and identifications of important persons and
places are footnotes. In addition, we have wished to provide as many
references to other primary sources as possible, in particular those
which amplify Suger's account; and with the interests of students in
mind, we have cited translations, even though we realize that these are
not satisfactory in all respects. Finally, we have not attempted
consistency in the way we have translated personal namesfor example,
Theobald and Matthew are English forms, whereas Garlande is
French, and Pagan and Drogo are forms close to the Latin. In selecting
the forms, we have sought simply to represent personal names as they
are most often seen in English, or in a manner that seemed most
natural.

Page viii
We wish to thank Gabrielle M. Spiegel, Andrew W. Lewis, and
Charles T. Wood, who read the manuscript for the Catholic University
of America Press. Their comments and suggestions for change have
been a great help to us in the preparation of this work. And without
the assistance and support of Mary Kooyman, Doris Theall, Pamela
Stroup, and Jeff Rogers, our efforts in completing our task would have
been much more difficult.
Page ix
Abbreviations
Works By and Editions of Suger
De De administratione and De
admin. consecratione; see Panofsky for
and edition used; the portions of the De
De admin. not contained in Panofsky are
consec. cited from Lecoy.
Lecoy A. Lecoy de la Marche, ed., Oeuvres
complètes de Suger, Paris, 1887
Molinier Auguste Molinier, ed., Vie de Louis
le Gros par Suger, Paris, 1887
PanofskyErwin Panofsky, Abbot Suger on the
Abbey Church of St. Denis and Its
Art Treasures, rev. ed. by Gerda
Panofsky-Soergel, Princeton, 1979
Waquet Henri Waquet, ed., Vie de Louis VI le
Gros, Paris, 1929
Primary Sources and Series
Abelard The Letters of Abelard and Heloise,
trans. Betty Radice, Harmondsworth,
1974
A-S The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, trans.
Chron. Dorothy Whitelock, David C.
Douglas and Susie I. Tucker, London,
1961
Bernard,The Letters of St. Bernard of
ep. Clairvaux, trans. Bruno Scott James,
London, 1953
Chron. La Chronique de Morigny
Mor. (10951152), ed. Leon Mirot, 2d ed.,
Paris, 1912
Galbert Galbert of Bruges, The Murder of
Charles the Good, Count of Flanders,
trans. James Bruce Ross, rev. ed.,
New York, 1967
Page x
Gesta Gesta Francorum et aliorum
Francorum Hierosolimitanorum, ed. and
trans. Rosalind Hill, London,
1962
Guibert Self and Society in Medieval
France: The Memoirs of Abbot
Guibert of Nogent, ed. and rev.
trans. John F. Benton, New York,
1970
Henry of The Chronicle of Henry of
Huntingdon Huntingdon, trans. T. Forester,
London, 1847
J-W P. Jaffé and G. Wattenbach,
Regesta Pontificum Romanorum,
vol. 1, Leipzig, 1885
MGH Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Odo of Odo of Deuil, De Profectione
Deuil Ludovici VII in Orientem, ed. and
trans. Virginia Gingerick Berry,
New York, 1948
OV The Ecclesiastical History of
Orderic Vitalis, ed. and trans.
Marjorie Chibnall, Oxford,
196980 (references are to the
volume and page number of the
old edition by Le Prévost,
supplied in the margin to
Chibnall's text)