and other ecclesiastical corporations, universities, and powerful families intent on
gathering evidence of their rights and land-holdings by copying into parchment codices,
or occasionally rolls, private charters, royal diplomas and papal bulls, and other materials
(e.g., censiers, or rent books) concerning that family, abbey, or bishopric and its holdings
in a particular district. The relationship between the private cartulary and the original
charters and other documents was often complex. In some cases, the first drafts were
made directly into the volume and then charters were copied out for the parties involved;
more often, the cartulary constitutes the copy (or even reconstruction, sometimes forgery)
of documents written down at a considerably earlier date.
Constance H.Berman
[See also: CHARTER]
Pryor, John H. Business Contracts of Medieval Provence. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of
Mediaeval Studies, 1981.
CAS ROYAUX
. The development and expansion of royal justice in the 13th century led the French
crown to extend royal jurisdiction at the expense of others, like the church or the great
seigneurs. One of the methods was to place more emphasis on the category of cases
known as cas royaux, in which only royal courts had jurisdiction. The concept was not
new, but the ability of royal courts to claim such a monopoly and enforce it with respect
to an expanding list of cases came only during the 13th century. The cas royaux included
those involving lèse majesté, rebellion, counterfeiting the royal seal or coinage, violation
of royal safeguard, the conduct of royal officials, amortissements, peerages, and royal
forests.
John Bell Henneman, Jr.
Perrot, Ernest. Les cas royaux. Paris: Rousseau, 1910.
CASSEL
. The town of Cassel (Nord), a stronghold in medieval Flanders that Count Arnulf I
rebuilt after the Norse raids of the 9th century, was the scene of two important battles.
The first of these was in 1071, when Robert the Frisian defeated the forces of Philip I of
France and thereby secured the county of Flanders. The second battle occurred in 1328,
after Count Louis I appealed for help to the new king of France, Philip VI. A rebellion of
several years’ duration had forced Louis out of Flanders, and Philip VI, who lacked a
clear title to the throne and needed the count’s support, agreed to render aid. The
Flemings had shocked the French with their victory at Courtrai in 1302, and when they
attacked the royal army near Cassel on August 23, 1328, they achieved some initial
Medieval france: an encyclopedia 336