Crusader, Castration, Canon Law: Ivo of Chartres' Letter 135

The Catholic Historical Review VOL. LXXXVJULY, 1999No. 3 CRUSADER, CASTRATION, CANON LAW: IYO OF CHARTRES' LETTER 135 BY Bruce C. Brasington* In memoriam Stephan Kuttner Introduction In his famous Wimmer Lecture, Stephan Kuttner described medieval canon law as the effort to bring "harmony from dissonance."1 In the following , I wish to honor his memory by examining how one bishop sought that most elusive harmony within a particularly difficult decision . Shortly after 1100, Bishop Ivo of Chartres (fil 15) heard the plea for mercy from a veteran crusader, Raimbold Creton, whom Ivo had earlier sentenced to severe penance for having arranged the castration of a monk. The result of Ivo's decision was a letter to Pope Paschal II, number 135 in the bishop's collected correspondence. In reading letter 135—reconstructing the context of the crime, the penance imposed by Ivo, and how the bishop now treated the knight's request for dispensation —we discover the violence of the early twelfth century and an unexpected legal, social, and political consequence of the nascent crusading movement. We also encounter a remarkable pastor and judge who sought mercy -within justice. *Dr. Brasington is an associate professor of history in West Texas A&M University, Canyon. He presented an earlier version of this paper at the 1996 Annual Meeting of the Medieval Academy of America. He wishes to thank members of the WTAMU Interdepartmental Colloquium for criticism and advice. 'Stephan Kuttner,Harmonyfrom Dissonance (Wimmer Lecture 10 [Latrobe, Pennsylvania , I960]). 367 368CRUSADER, CASTRATION, CANON LAW: IVO OF CHARTRES' LETTER 135 Letter 135 In letter 135 (see appendix), Ivo informs Pope Paschal II that he sends Raimbold,veteran ofJerusalem, to receive papal judgment.2 Raimbold had been "driven by the devil" to castrate a monk-priest of the monastery ofBonnevale.Apparently the victim had earlier beaten some of Raimbold's men for having stolen hay. This "unheard-of" crime had merited severe punishment by the bishop: disarmament, followed by a fourteen-year penance involving fasting and almsgiving. Raimbold had agreed, only to beg later for permission to take up arms again because of harassment from his enemies. Fearing this might establish a precedent for "easy indulgence," Ivo now reserves the decision to Paschal, whom he asks to consider Raimbold's difficult journey to Rome when hearing his plea for mitigation. Letter 135 is obscure. It is undated, though ca. 1103-1104 seems most plausible.3 It is also the unique witness to this case and Ivo's judgment . There is no further mention of Raimbold in Ivo's correspondence , and thus we know little about him and nothing about his trip to Rome, if indeed it was ever undertaken. One suspects that he did not go. While his chronology is likely skewed, Oderic Vitalis tells us that Raimbold fell sometime prior to 1103 while fighting on behalf of Countless Adela of Blois.4 Recently, C. J. Tyerman considered Raimbold's story—a "squalid career "—proof of the minimal impact of the First Crusade on the brutal 2Pi1VoI. 162, cols. 144D-145A. On Paschal and the crusading movement in the aftermath of the First Crusade see Carlo Servatius, Paschalis II (¡099-1118) ("Päpste und Papsttum,"Vol. 14 [Stuttgart, 1979]), pp. 253-259. 'The letter commonly appears in the main, chronologically-arranged, branch of the tradition among letters dating from this period. See Rolf Sprandel, Ivo von Chartres und seine Stellung in der Kirchengeschichte ("Pariser Historische Studien," Vol. 1 [Paris, 1962]), p. 191, and Chibnall, n. 4 below. On Ivo's letters, see also Bruce C. Brasington, "Some New Perspectives on the Letters of Ivo of Chartres," Manuscripta, 37 (1993), 168-178. Oderic Vitalis, Historia ecclesiastica, 11.35, ed. Marjorie Chibnall (Oxford, 1969-1981), VI, 158, and n. 1: "Ibi tunc Raimboldus Creton qui primus in expugnatione Ierusalem ingressus est, strenuissimus miles subito proh dolor occisus est." Other entries attesting to Raimbold's fame won at Jerusalem may be found in Petrus Tudebodus,"Imitatus et continuatus historia peregrinorum" in Recueil des historiens des croisades (Paris, 1841-1906), III, 218-219; Ralph of Caen,"Gesta Tancredi," ibid., p. 689; Albert ofAachen, "Historia Hierosolymitana," ibid., IV, 410; Baldric of Dol,"Historia Jerosolimitana," ibid., p. 49, ?. 12;?.71,?.7;?. 102...