ded the
performers with a gratuity of ten sols, a sum equivalent, at that time,
to ten bushels of wheat.

About the year 1515, an attempt was made by the superior, Isabel of
Bourbon, to curtail the indulgences of the sisterhood, by keeping them
more closely confined, increasing the number of fast-days, and generally
introducing a system of greater rigor. But the nuns remonstrated against
the innovation, and had recourse to the Bishop of Bayeux, alledging the
injustice of their being called upon to submit themselves to
regulations, to which they had not originally subscribed. The prelate,
who felt the point to be a delicate one, refused to decide; and the
matter ended in an appeal to the Pope, who, finally, allowed the nuns to
retire into other convents, where they might enjoy the freedom they
claimed.

When, after the capture of Caen by Edward, in 1346, the inhabitants
resolved upon fortifying the town anew, the abbeys of St. Stephen and of
the Trinity, both of which lay in the suburbs, were excluded from the
line of circumvallation; and the consequence was their exposure to
insults and pillage. The monks and nuns were therefore obliged to look
to their own defence; and, upon King John's coming to Caen, eight years
afterwards, they obtained from him letters patent, authorizing them to
encircle their convents with walls, towers, and fosses of their own.
Hence originated the strange anomaly of a fortress and nunnery within
the same precincts. The sisterhood, alarmed at their situation, sold
their plate, and even the shrines of their relics, to provide for their
safety; and permission was afterwards granted them to levy contributions
upon their vassals, for the purpose of expediting and completing the
task.--In the reign of Henry VI. during the wane of the British power in
France, orders were issued by the monarch for the dismantling of the
fort of the Trinity, lest it should be seized by the inhabitants of the
neighborhood, who were endeavoring to get possession of Caen. But the
abbess resisted the royal edict; and, under an apprehension, lest the
attempt to carry it into effect should induce her to open the gates to
the insurgents, her resistance was allowed to be effectual.--King
Charles repeatedly took up his quarters in this monastery, while his
army was laying siege to Caen, in 1450, and mention continues to be made
of the fortress till the commencement of the following century; but
after that time, it appears to h