Robert de Torigni (fl. c. 1142/1180)

- Interpolations to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum
- Chronicle

Robert de Torigni, the renowned abbot of Mont-Saint-Michel, was born in Torigni-sur-Vire (Manche) in 1106. In 1128 he entered the monastery of Bec-Hellouin, which was led by abbot Boson, a friend of Lanfranc of Pavia and Anselm of Aosta, who taught at this abbey before becoming Archbishops of Canterbury. His passion for letters and books led the abbot to give him responsibility for the library. In 1154 he was elected abbot of the monastery of Mont-Saint-Michel, which he led with genuine administrative flair until 1186, when he died. He resolved the problems that had dogged the abbey before his nomination and turned his friendship with the Anglo-Norman king Henri II Plantagenet to advantage in re-establishing and even extending the assets of the monastery on the Mount. He undertook a major programme of construction, especially in the west and south of the Romanesque abbey church: he built a hostelry, an infirmary, abbey accommodation and the two towers on the façade of the church.

But it was above all through his writing and love of books that he made his reputation. While he was librarian at Bec-Hellouin, he provided additions to the Gesta Normannorum Ducum by Guillaume de Jumièges, which recounted the life and exploits of the first seven Dukes of Normandy, from Rollo to William the Conqueror. He even added an eighth book devoted to King Henri I Beauclerc (1100-1135). He also wrote a Chronique on the model of that by Sigebert de Gembloux: it relates the main events in the history of the abbey of Mont-Saint-Michel and presents a historical panorama of the Anglo-Norman kingdom between 1100 and 1182. He also composed a treatise on the monastic orders of Normandy, and continued the compilation of the Annales of the Mount for the period 1135 – 1173. He also left a number of minor works: letters, catalogues, and prefaces to several works, including one to the Natural History by Pliny the Elder.

At the same time he was an enthusiast and collector of books, to the extent that under his incumbency as abbot the Mont-Saint-Michel was considered to be the "City of books". Unfortunately, the collapse in the 12^th century of the north tower of the abbey church where a large number of works were stored, led to the loss of a significant proportion of the library of the Mount. 

Pierre Bouet
OUEN - Office universitaire d'études normandes
Université de Caen

 

EDITIONS

- Chronique : L. Delisle, Chronique de Robert de Torigni, 2 vol., Rouen, 1872-1873.
- De immutatione ordinis monachorum : L. Delisle, Chronique…, t. 2, p. 181-206.
- Interpolations aux Gesta Normannorum Ducum de Guillaume de Jumièges, éd. J. Marx, Rouen-Paris, 1914, p. 199-334

 

STUDIES

- Gibson, M. " History at Bec in the Twelfth Century ", in Mélanges R.W. Southern, Oxford, 1981, p. 167-187.
- Foreville, R. " Robert de Torigni et Clio ", in Millénaire monastique du Mont-Saint-Michel, éd. R. Foreville, t. 2, Paris, 1967, p. 141-153.