rious
denominations.

During all these early ages, the monastery of Jumieges continued to be
accounted one of the most celebrated religious houses in France. Its
abbots are repeatedly mentioned in history, as enjoying the confidence
of sovereigns, and as charged with important missions. In their number,
was Hugh, grandson of Pepin le Bref, or, according to other writers, of
Charlemagne. Here also, Tassilo, Duke of Bavaria, and his son, Theodo,
were compelled to immure themselves, after the emperor had deposed them;
whilst Anstruda, daughter of Tassilo, was doomed to share his imperial
bed.

An aera of misfortune began with the arrival of the Normans. It was in
May, in the year 841, that these dreadful invaders first penetrated as
far as Rouen, marking their track by devastation. On their retreat,
which almost immediately succeeded, they set fire to Jumieges, as well
as to the capital. In their second invasion, under Ironside and
Hastings, the "fury of the Normans" was poured out upon Neustria; and,
during their inroad, they levelled Jumieges with the ground[14]. But the
monks saved themselves: they dispersed: one fled as far as St. Gall;
others found shelter in the royal abbey of St. Denis; the greater part
re-assembled in a domain of their own, called Haspres, in Flanders,
whither they carried with them the bodies of St. Aicadrus and St. Hugh:
there too they resided till the conversion of their enemies to
Christianity.

The victorious fleet of Rollo first sailed in triumph up the Seine, in
the year 876. According to three monkish historians, Dudo of St.
Quintin, William of Jumieges, and Matthew of Westminster, the chieftain
venerated the sanctity of Jumieges, and deposited in the chapel of St.
Vast, the corpse of the holy virgin, Hameltruda, whom he had brought
from Britain. They also tell us that, on the sixth day after his
baptism, he made a donation of some lands to this monastery.--The
details, however, of the circumstances connected with the first,
diminish its credibility; and Jumieges, then desolate, could scarcely
contain a community capable of accepting the donation. But under the
reign of the son and successor of Rollo, the abbey of Jumieges once more
rose from its ashes. Baldwin and Gundwin, two of the monks who had fled
to Haspres, returned to explore the ruins of the abbey: they determined
to seclude themselves amidst its fire-scathed walls, and to devote their
lives to piety and toil.--In pursuing the