under whose hands it at
first suffered the same destruction as the other religious houses in
Neustria, and afterwards rose, like them, from its ashes, with increased
splendor and opulence. The immediate successors of Rollo rebuilt the
abbey, but without restoring it to its original destination. Richard II.
conferred it, with all its dependencies, upon the more favored monks of
Fecamp; and, in the donation, he makes use of the strong expression, "ut
ex eo facerent quicquid vellent, tamquam ex proprio alodo." The union of
the two establishments was, however, but short lived: either under the
same prince, or, as some authors say, under his son Robert,
Montivilliers once more resumed a state of independence, and became once
more the retreat of holy virgins. The duke was moved to this step by the
solicitation of his aunt Beatrice, who retired hither, and took the
veil, and presided over the sisterhood; and the monastery of St. Taurin
at Evreux was, on this occasion, ceded to Fecamp, in exchange for
Montivilliers. A portion of the charter is preserved in the _Neustria
Pia_; and, according to this work, the instrument was subsequently
ratified by the signatures of William the Conqueror, and of Philip le
Bel. At different times, various papal bulls were issued, for the
purpose of placing the abbey of Montivilliers under the especial
protection of the holy see, and of granting it sundry privileges and
immunities. These are also recorded in the same publication. One of
them, originating in a dispute between the archbishop of Rouen and the
abbess of Montivilliers, is but little to the credit of either party. It
represents the lady-abbess as by no means free from irregularities in
the performance of her office; it charges one of her nuns with dissolute
life; and it arraigns the primate himself of being the cause, if not the
immediate instrument, of scandal:--"Siquidem, ex parte abbatissae fuit
propositum et probatum, quod quidam, qui cum eodem archiepiscopo et suis
praedecessoribus venerant ad monasterium memoratum, turpia quaedam et
illicita commiserunt contra honestatem observantiae regularis, in
scandalum plurimorum: volumus et mandamus, ut, cum archiepiscopus
Rothomagensis ad monasterium ipsum, causa visitationis, accesserit, ab
ingressu claustri aliarumque domorum, in quibus habitant moniales,
familiam suam taliter studeat coercere, quod de caetero similia non
contingant. Ipse quoque archiepiscopus, ejusdem monasterii claustrum