Cartulaire de l'Abbaye de Conques en Rouergue

The Abbey Church of Sainte-Foy of Conques, located in the south-west of France, was a stop on the pilgrimage route to Santiago de Compostela. A masterpiece of Romanesque art, it was constructed from the second half of the eleventh century, and completed around 1120. Today, the thoroughly restored church is part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The abbey’s cartulary, containing 548 charters and other documents written between 801 and 1180, was rediscovered and edited by French archivist and palaeographer Gustave Desjardins (1834-1902), and published in 1879. These original documents not only provide information relating to the history of the abbey, but also yield valuable facts about the customs, the institutions, and the status of properties between the ninth and twelfth centuries. This volume, which includes an introduction putting the cartulary into its historical context, remains an essential reference for medievalists.