E.Kay Harris
Benoît, Fernand. L’abbaye de Montmajour. Paris: Laurens, 1928.
Berenguier, R. Abbayes de Provence. Paris: Caisse Nationale des Monuments Historiques, 1960.
Labande, L.H. “Abbaye de Montmajour.” Congrès archéologique (Avignon) 76(1909):154–67.
Villard, André. Art de Provence. Paris: Arthaud, 1957.
MONTMORENCY
. The castellany of Montmorency, north-west of Paris, became the seat of one of France’s
most influential noble dynasties. The family had originated around Sens, where two of its
members held the archbishopric, but after their ouster from this region in the 10th century
Bouchard I le Barbu established himself near Paris on the Île-Saint-Denis. From there, he
threatened the holdings of the abbey of Saint-Denis until King Robert II (r. 996–1031)
intervened and installed him at the castrum of Montmorency some distance away.
From this base, the family grew steadily in importance. Bouchard’s son Aubry
(Alberic) and his grandson Thibaut were constables of France, and another grandson,
Hervé, became butler of France. Mathieu I (d. 1160) and Mathieu II (d. 1230) also both
served as constable. The second wife of Mathieu II was Emma, heiress to the lordship of
Laval in the county of Maine. A son of this marriage succeeded to Laval as Gui VII (d.
1267); Montmorency went to the older son, Bouchard V (d. 1243), who served Louis IX
at the Battle of Taillebourg (1242). The Laval branch of the family became politically
important in Brittany as well as Maine after Gui VII married the heiress of Vitré.
The senior line of the family continued to produce men who held high positions in the
royal government and women who married into the great lineages of Normandy and the
Île-de-France. Mathieu IV (d. 1304) was admiral and grand chamberlain. Jean I (d. 1325)
served French kings in wars in Flanders. Among his children were Charles de
Montmorency, marshal of France, and Jean, bishop of Orléans. In virtually every
generation after 1300, the head of the family was a royal councillor and chamberlain. At
length, in the mid-16th century, Montmorency became a duchy and peerage.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
[See also: LAVAL]
Bedoz, Brigitte. La châtellenie de Montmorency des origines a 1368: aspects féodaux, sociaux, et
économiques. Pontoise: Société Historique et Archéologique de Pontoise, du Val d’Oise, et du
Vexin, 1980.
MONTMORILLON
. Montmorillon (Vienne) is located on the Gartempe River in Poitou. La Hire (ca. 1390–
1443), companion-in-arms to Jeanne d’Arc, received the seigneurie of Montmorillon
from Charles VII on January 7, 1438, and was originally buried here.
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1200