Vignory (Haute-Marne), Notre-Dame,
nave. Photograph courtesy of Whitney
S.Stoddard.
Aubert, Marcel. “L’église de Vignory: essai sur les dates de sa construction.” Mémoires de la
Société Nationale des Antiquaires de France 83(1954):165–69.
Ronot, Henry, and Philippe Dautrey. L’église de Vignory. Paris: Éditions du Cerf, 1951.
VIGUIER
. In the government of the Frankish kings and the Carolingian empire, the title vicarius
(Fr. viguier) designated widely the principal local deputy of the counts or dukes. After the
breakdown of royal authority in the 10th century, these viguiers continued to function,
particularly in the south, as officials under the regime of their hereditary overlords. The
status and power of the viguiers increased with the advent of royal government in
Languedoc in the 13th century. Although many of their judicial functions were assumed
by judges, they were endowed with broad executive powers in the administration of
districts (vicariae) under the royal seneschals. They received salaries that, for the greater
viguiers, afforded a handsome revenue. Until it was broken up in 1352, the viguerie of
Béziers remained the largest in the Midi, encompassing four episcopal cities, Béziers,
Narbonne, Agde, and Lodève. Few viguiers, nonetheless, advanced to the rank of
seneschal; most appear to have been recruited from the lesser nobility or in some cases
from among the nonnoble inhabitants of the region.
Alan Friedlander
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 1808