St Maurilius, Archbishop of Rouen († 1067)

He was born in the diocese of Reims to a noble family where he began his studies which he continued in Liège. He then moved to Saxony where he taught at the church of Halberstadt. Maurilius then returned to France where he became a monk at the abbey of Fécamp (before 1030); wishing to lead a life of austerity, he retired to a small hermitage in Italy with Gerbert, the future Abbot of St Wandrille. He was there noticed by the lord of those lands, and appointed Abbot of St Mary in Florence. While he attempted to re-establish the rule in its strict application he came up against the hostility of the monks there and returned to Fécamp were he resumed his life as a monk. When, in 1055, Duke William nominated him for the post of Archbishop of Rouen, he was a virtuous and attentive prelate. In 1061 he presided at Caen over a provincial council with a view to putting a stop to private wars, and the Trêve de Dieu [God's Truce] was imposed under pain of excommunication. Under his episcopacy the work on the cathedral was completed and it was dedicated in 1063. Shortly before this he had moved the bodies of the Dukes Rollo and William to this location.

Bibliography :

- François Neveux. - La Normandie des ducs aux rois, Xe-XIIe s. - Rennes : Ouest-France, 1998.