On the summit of a hill that overhangs the town, stood formerly the castle of the Earls of Brionne; and a portion of the building, though it be but an insignificant fragment, is still left. The part now standing consists of little more than two sides of the square dungeon, The walls, which are about fifty feet in height, appear crumbling and ragged, as they have lost the greater part of their original facing. Yet their thickness, which even now exceeds twelve feet, may enable them to bid defiance for many a century, to "the heat of the sun, and the furious winter's rages."--Nearly the half of one of the sides, which is seventy feet long, is occupied by three flat Norman buttresses, of very small projection. No arched door-way, no window remains; nor any thing, except these buttresses, to give a distinct character to the architecture: the hill is so overgrown with brush-wood, that though traces of foundation are discernible in almost every part of it, no clear idea can be formed of the dimensions or plan of the building. Its importance is sufficiently established by its having been the residence of a son or brother of Richard IInd, Duke of Normandy, on whose account, the town of Brionne, with the adjacent territory, was raised into an earldom. Historians speak unequivocally of its strength. During the reign of William the Conqueror, it was regarded as impregnable. This king was little accustomed to meet with disappointment or even with resistance; but the castle of Brionne defied his utmost efforts for three successive years. Under his less energetic successor, it was taken in a day. Its possessor, Robert, Earl of Brionne, felt himself so secure within his towers, that he ventured, with only six attendants, to oppose the whole army of the Norman Duke; but the besiegers observed that the fortress was roofed with wood; and a shower of burning missiles compelled the garrison to surrender at discretion.--The castle was finally dismantled by the orders of Charles Vth.
Brionne is known in ecclesiastical history as the place where the council of the church was held, by which the tenets of Berengarius were finally condemned. It appears that the archdeacon of Angers, after some fruitless attempts to make converts among the Norman monks, took the bold resolution of stating his doctrines to the duke in person; and that the prince, though scarcely arrived at years of manhood, acted with so much prudence on the occasion, as to withhold any decisive answer, till he had collected the clergy of the duchy. They assembled at Brionne, as a central spot; and here the question was argued at great length, till Berengarius himself, and a convert, whom he had brought with him, trusting in his eloquence, were so overpowered by the arguments of their adversaries, that they were obliged to renounce their errors. The doctrine of the real presence in the sacrament, was thus incontrovertibly established; and it has from that time remained an undisputed article of faith in the Roman Catholic church.
Footnotes:
[54] Vol. III. p. 187.--The engraving in the Antiquarian Repertory was made from a drawing in the possession of the late Sir William Burrell, Bart.
[55] The word Turold, in the tapestry, stands immediately over the head of a dwarf, who is holding a couple of horses; and it has therefore been inferred by Montfaucon, (Monumens de la Monarchie Française, I. p. 378.) that he is the person thus denominated. But M. Lancelot, in the Mémoires de l'Académie des Inscriptions, VI. p. 753, supposes Turold to be the ambassador who is in the act of speaking; and this seems the more probable conjecture. The same opinion is still more decidedly maintained by Father Du Plessis, in his Histoire de la Haute Normandie, II. p. 342.--"Sur une ancienne tapisserie de l'Eglise de Baieux, que l'on croit avoir été faite par ordre de la Reine Mathilde femme du Conquérant, pour représenter les circonstances principales de cette mémorable expédition, on lit distinctement le mot Turold à côté d'un des Ambassadeurs, que Guillaume avoit envoiez au Comte de Ponthieu; et je ne doute nullement que ce Turold ne soit le même que le Connétable. Le sçavant Auteur des Antiquitez de notre Monarchie croit cependant que ce mot doit se rapporter à un Nain qui tient deux chevaux en bride derriere les Ambassadeurs; et il ajoute que ce Nain devoit être fort connu à la Conr du Duc de Normandie. On avoue que si c'est lui en effet qui doit s'appeller Turold, il devoit tenir aussi à la Cour de son Prince un rang distingué; sans quoi on n'auroit pas pris la peine de le désigner par son nom dans la tapisserie. On avoue encore que le nom de Turold est placé là de maniere qu'on peut à la rigueur le donner au Nain aussi bien qu'à l'un des deux Ambassadeurs; et comme le Nain est appliqué à tenir deux chevaux en bride, on pourrait croire enfin que c'est le Connétable, dont les titres de l'Abbaïe de Facan nous ont appris le nom: Signum Turoldi Constabularii. Mais le Nain est très-mal habillé, il a son bonnet sur la tête, et tourne le dos au Comte de Ponthieu, pendant que les deux Ambassadeurs noblement vêtus regardent ce Prince en face, et lui parlent découverts: trois circonstances qui ne peuvent convenir, ni au Connétable du Duc, ni à toute autre personne de distinction qui auroit tenu compagnie, ou fait cortege aux Ambassadeurs."
[56] This tower is figured, but very inaccurately, by Gough, in his Alien Priories, I. p. 22.--The cupola which then surmounted it is now gone; and the cap to the turret, which served as the staircase, has strangely changed its shape.
[57] Alien Priories, I. p. 24.
[58] "Nam antea, sub tempore sex ducum vix ullus Normannorum liberalibus studiis adhæsit; nec doctor inveniebatur, donec provisor omnium, Deus, Normannicis oris Lanfrancum appulit. Fama peritiæ illius in totâ ubertim innotuit Europâ, unde ad magisterium ejus multi convenerunt de Franciâ, de Wasconiâ, de Britanniâ, necne Flandriâ."--Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni, p. 519.
[59] A question always existed, whether the Empress was really buried here, or at the abbey of Ste Marie des Prés, at Rouen. Hoveden expressly says, that she was interred at Rouen: the chronicle of Bec, on the other hand, is equally positive in the assertion that her body was brought to Bec, and entombed with honor before the altar of the Virgin. The same chronicle adds that, in the year 1273, her remains were discovered before the high altar, sewed up in an ox's hide.--Still farther to substantiate their claim, the monks of Bec maintained that, in 1684, upon the occasion of some repairs being done to this altar, the bones of the empress were again found immediately under the lamp (which, in Catholic churches, is kept constantly burning before the holy sacrament,) and that they were deposited once more in the ground in a wooden chest, covered with lead.--The Empress was a munificent endower of monasteries, and was at all times most liberal towards Bec. William of Jumieges says, that it would be tedious to enumerate the presents she made to the abbey, but that the sight of them gave pleasure to those strangers who have seen the treasures of the most noble churches. His remarks on this matter, and his account of her arguments with her father, on the subject of her choice of Bec, as a place of her interment, deserve to be transcribed.--"Transiret illac hospes Græcus aut Arabs, voluptate traheretur eadem. Credimus autem, et credere fas est, æquissimum judicem omnium non solùm in futuro, verumetiam in præsenti seculo, illi centuplum redditurum, quod seruis suis manu sicut larga, ita devota gratantèr impendit. Ad remunerationem verò instantis temporis pertinere non dubium est, quòd, miserante Deo, sopita adversa valetudine, sanctitatem refouit, et Monachos suos, Monachos Beccenses, qui præ omnibus, et super omnes pro ipsius sospitate, jugi labore supplicandi decertando pene defecerant, aura prosperæ valetudinis ejus afflatos omninò redintegravit.--Nec supprimendum illud est silentio, imò, ut ita dicatur, uncialibus literis exaratum, seculo venturo transmittendum; quòd antequam convalesceret postulaverat patrem suum, ut permitteret eam in Cœnobio Beccensi humari. Quod Rex primo abnuerat, dicens non esse dignum, ut filia sua, Imperatrix Augusta, quæ semel et iterùm in urbe Romulea, quæ caput est mundi, per manus summi Pontificis Imperiali diademate processerat insignita, in aliquo Monasterio, licèt percelebri et religione et fama, sepeliretur; sed ad civitatem Rotomagensium, quæ metropolis est Normannorum, saltem delata, in Ecclesia principali, in qua et majores ejus, Rollonem loquor et Willelmum Longamspatam filium ipsius, qui Neustriam armis subegerunt, positi sunt, ipsa et poneretur. Qua deliberatione Regis percepta, illi per nuncium remandavit, animam suam nunquam fore lætam, nisi compos voluntatis suæ in hac duntaxat parte efficeretur.--O femina macte virtutis et consilii sanioris, paruipendens pompam secularem in corporis depositione! Noverat enim salubrius esse animabus defunctorum ibi corpora sua tumulari, ubi frequentiùs et devotiùs supplicationes pro ipsis Deo offeruntur. Victus itaque pater ipsius Augustæ pietate et prudentia filiæ, qui ceteros et virtute et pietate vincere solitus erat, cessit, et voluntatem, et petitionem ipsius de se sepelienda Becci fieri concessit. Sed volente Deo ut præfixum est, sanitati integerrimæ restituta convaluit."--Duchesne, Scriptores Normanni, p. 305.