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medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture From: John Briggs <[log in to unmask]> > The rule of thumb is that a vidame was to a bishop (or count-bishop) as a viscount was to a count. Mmmmm.... only insofar as the Bishop (as an institution) was a property-owner and feudal overlord. there may have been exceptions (though i know of none), but the Vidame had no ecclesiastical functions nor standing --though there may have been instances where he was an _ex officio_ canon of the cathedral. as i said before, concerning Chartres at least, he usually appears as a witness, _ex parte episcopi_ among the Bishop's entourage, to some transfer of property or rights involving the Bishop. the most interesting example of this is the appearance of the Vidame, together with his wife and sons, as one of a great many witnesses to the concession which Bishop (St.) Ivo wrested from the hapless Count Stephen-Henry around about 1100, by which the latter gave up the _malas consuetudines_ concerning the Count's supposed right to thorougly pillage the Bishop's house and all his other properties upon the death of same. (i have some materials related to this little incident, which i'd be glad to send to anyone who might be intrested in it.) the witness list to this particular charter is perhaps the longest of any which i have seen from the period, with a large number of members of the Count's _fideles_ (in addition to his wife and sons, of course); and an equally large number of ecclesiastics, Dignataries and canons of the cathedral, local abbots, etc. as i mentioned earlier, the Vidame had a "tower" very close by the Bishop's "house" (which was probably an office complex as well), just off the apse of the cathedral, and the pillaging of the Bishop's property would have happened just below the Vidame's living room window, so he had a double interest in witnessing the Count's renunciation of this "bad custom". c ********************************************************************** To join the list, send the message: join medieval-religion YOUR NAME to: [log in to unmask] To send a message to the list, address it to: [log in to unmask] To leave the list, send the message: leave medieval-religion to: [log in to unmask] In order to report problems or to contact the list's owners, write to: [log in to unmask] For further information, visit our web site: http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/medieval-religion.html