The earliest known list of excommunicates from ducal Normandy

Abstract

Of the many additions made by the canons of Rouen cathedral to the Anglo-Saxon manuscript known today as the Benedictional of Archbishop Robert, the shortest is a list of 17 persons who are recorded as having been either ‘summoned’ (vocandi) or ‘excommunicated’ (excommunicandi). Although known to scholars for almost two centuries, the list has never been analysed to any great extent, despite the fact that it not only contains the earliest Norman register of excommunicates in existence, but is also apparently unique within the history of the Anglo-Norman realm. This article examines the list in detail for the first time, and addresses some of the most fundamental questions concerning the rationale behind its creation, its place within the history of excommunication in ducal Normandy, and the identity of the people it names. It will also be argued that the first (and largest) part of the list, the entirety of which is traditionally dated to the reign of Robert Curthose (1087–1106), was most likely compiled during the reign of his father, William the Conqueror (1035–87).