Medieval Academy of America

Land Acquisition and the Use of the Mortgage Contract by the Cistercians of Berdoues
Author(s): Constance Hoffman Berman
Source: Speculum, Vol. 57, No. 2 (Apr., 1982), pp. 250-266
Published by: Medieval Academy of America
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2847456
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 SPECULUM 57,2 (1982)

Land Acquisition
and the Use of the MortgageContract
bythe Cisterciansof Berdoues
By Constance Hoffman Berman

The enormous success of the Cistercian order in the twelfthand early

thirteenthcenturiesowed much to the great popularityof Bernard of Clair-
vaux and to his leadership of the order. Between 1098, when Citeaux was
founded, and 1153, when Bernard died, the number of new foundations
increased more rapidly than at any other time in the order's history.The
difficulttask of acquiring sufficientpatrimony,however, although begun
during Bernard's lifetime,continued throughout the rest of the century.
Indeed, in most places, acquisition of land must have continued rightup to
the middle of the thirteenthcentury. This was certainlythe case for the
abbey of Berdoues: founded in southern France in the 1140s, the abbey
continuedto gatherland and propertyrightsup to the 1250s.
Althoughmuch can be attributedto the pietyof earlydonors to the order,
the successfulCistercian monasteryof the twelfthcenturyacquired its pat-
rimonythrough careful administrativetechniques. These included the re-
cording of each giftor sale to an abbey in a writteninstrumentand in many
cases the redaction of the writteninstrumentsor charters into cartularies.
The cartularieswere often arranged in sectionsconcerning particularprop-
erties,which made it easy to assess what rightswere owned and to locate the
proof of these rights when disputes arose. The survivingcartularies are
extremelyuseful tools formonasticand social historyin the middle centuries
of the medieval period.
CisterciancartulariesfromsouthernFrance record hundreds of donations
and other conveyances of propertyto the order. Charters record not only
donations of land, but sales or "disguised sales" of land to the monks: the
latterwere writtenin the language of donations, witha cash "gift"fromthe
monksrepresentingthe purchase price. Cartulariesalso record the exchange
or leasing of a piece of land by an abbey, the arbitrated settlementsof
disputes between the abbey and outsiders,and occasionallythe rentsdue on
holdings granted to the order. Cistercian charters generally describe the
existingstatusof the land and the rightsover it thatwere being conveyed to
the order: rightsof lordship or dominium,rightsof tenancy,ownership of
allodium, feudum, or beneficium.Charters reveal the fragmentationof own-
ership of particularrights:a quarter of the tithes,an eighthof the dominium,
and so forth.Occasionally a charterwill mentionthat the land in question is
in mortgage (in pignus) to another individual. In such cases the monastery
250

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 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians 251
would redeem for its own benefitand use the land pledged as a security,by
simplyrepayingto the originalcreditorthe amount of cash he had lent.'
Only rarelydid a Cistercianhouse mortgageland in order to gain needed
cash,2 and only rarelydid most houses of the order grant loans against the
surety of mortgages.3 A strikingexception to the latter is the Cistercian
house of Berdoues, which was situated in the Baise River valley on the
Gascon plain west of Toulouse. This house made extensive use of the
mortgage contract in its process of land acquisition, acquiring extensive
cultivablelands by making loans against the pledges of those real properties.
Well over two hundred mortgage contractsare found among the donations
and sales recorded in the monastery'scartulary.4For the most part, these
mortgages appear to have remained unredeemed. The types of land con-
veyed and individuals involved differlittlefromthose of the more conven-
tional land conveyances. Although many of the mortgage contractswere
recorded without dates, those acts recording mortgages with dates come
fromeverydecade covered by the cartulary- the 1140s throughthe 1250s.
There is nothing in the cartulary to explain why this abbey used the

1 Conclusions on the frequencyof mortgagesby the Cisterciansin southern France are based
on my continuingresearch on the order's cartulariesfor that region. In addition to the more
than 5,000 published and unpublished charters studied for my doctoral dissertation,"The
Cisterciansin the County of Toulouse: 1132-1249, the Order's Foundations and Land Acquisi-
tions" (Universityof Wisconsin,Madison, 1978), I have examined the chartersof Bonnevaux,
Leoncel, and Aiguebelle and the unpublished cartularyof Valmagne. In addition to those
mentioned in the dissertation,I would like to acknowledge the support of the American
Philosophical Society'sPenrose Fund, which provided funds for work on the Valmagne cartu-
lary,and the help of the archivistsof the ArchivesDepartementalesde l'Herault in Montpellier.
I am particularlygratefulto Prof. F. L. Cheyette,who added some clarificationto the vocabu-
lary used in this paper as well as makingother suggestionsconcerningthe use of the mortgage
in southernFrance.
2 An example is the pledging of land to Montarsinusof Calmont for 600 solidiby the monks

of Bonnecombe in the Rouergue in 1178. The land was recovered in gifts at the time of
Montarsinus'sdeath: Rodez, Bibliotheque de la Societe des lettres,sciences,et arts de l'Aveyron,
Cartulair.ede Magrin, no. 16 (1178) and no. 166 (1180).
3 The infrequentuse of the mortgageby the Cisterciansin southernFrance is clear fromtable

5 of my Ph.D. thesis (see note 1 above). Acts involving mortgages to Berdoues account for
roughly25% of the chartersin the cartulary,whereas acts for Bonnecombe in the Rouergue,
for which over a thousand pre-1250 acts survive, include only 12 mortgages, and acts for
Grandselve include 20 mortgages. The numbers for other houses are even more negligible.
Indeed, if the acts for Berdoues are excluded fromthe statistics,only about one percentof all
the other chartersstudied, or 48 of 4,442 acts, are mortgagesto the Cistercians.At Valmagne,
whose cartularyonly recentlybecame available to scholars, only a few acts are mortgages.
What is interestingin thatcartulary,however,are the numerous grantsof heavilyindebted land
to Valmagne by the foremostlords of the area. For a furtherdiscussionof the use of mortgages
by Valmagne, see my forthcomingarticle, "A Garden of Earthly Delights: The Valmagne
Cartulary."
4 That is, in more than a quarter of the eight hundred chartersfound in Cartulairede Berdoues,
ed. l'abbe Cazaurain(Paris, 1905).

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252 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues
mortgage contract so much more extensively than other Cistercian houses in
the region.
It is possible that there were even more pledges of land for loans than are
recorded in the cartulary, for presumably mortgages that had been re-
deemed would not have been recorded permanently in that book. Neverthe-
less, given the terms of the medieval mortgage, terms that caused it to be
condemned as usurious in the mid-twelfth century, there was a good chance
that a mortgage contract would stand unredeemed.5 In the medieval mort-
gage or donation in pignus, the fruits of the pledged land accrued to the
creditor without reducing the principal of the loan. In other words, what-
ever the land produced provided interest (or dividends) to the creditor (or
investor), rather than a reduction of the loan amount. The possibility that a
debtor would be able to redeem the land pledged was further reduced by
the stipulation that he could not redeem it a little at a time, but that the
entire amount of the loan had to be repaid at one designated date (in any
year), usually after the harvest. An example of such an act is the mortgaging
to Berdoues of property at Paderns in the honor called Bligemesture for 23
solidi of Morlaas by Arsivus of Montesquiou in 1213:
Sciendum est quod Assivus de Montesquiu per se et omnes suos presentes et
futurosmisit in pignus Gillelmo abbati Berdonarum et omni conventui ejusdem
loci presenti et futurototum hoc quod habebat et habere debebat per se vel per
aliam personam a Paderns in honore Bonohominis qui dicitur Bligemesture per
XXIII sol. morl. et quidquid de predicto pignore exierit et fratresBerdonarum
inde perceperintjam dictus Assivusdedit eis in elemosina ut non computetureis in
sortem. Terminus redimendi hujus pignoris est de martroren martror,espleitas
foras, datis prius XXIII sol. morl. fratribusBerdonarum. Hujus rei sunt testes:
Bernardus de Siurag.... Factum est hoc anno ab incarnationedomini MCCXIII.
... Petrushoc scripsit.6

Deprived of the revenue of the mortgaged property, borrowers were de-

pendent on other sources of wealth for the redemption of their pledge. On
the other hand, mortgages might be useful tools in certain situations: to raise
cash for military adventures, to place lands in safe hands while on Crusade,
to transfer land temporarily to a son-in-law in a dowry contract, to cement
social relationships. Without regard for its positive uses, however, the church
became increasingly critical of the mortgage contract from the mid-twelfth
century.7 Despite such ecclesiastical condemnations, the mortgage continued

5The firstcondemnation was by a formerCistercian,Pope Eugenius III: "Super eo quod a

nobis tua fraternitasrequisivit, scilicet an illi crimen usurarum [committant]qui ex pos-
sessionibus sibi pignore obligatis fructuspercipiunt,et postmodum recipiuntcapitale, breviter
tibi dixerim eos omnes usurarum criminibusobligari, qui plus recipiant quam fueritcapitale;
quidquid enim sortiaccidit,usura est" (PL 180:1567).
6 Cartulairede Berdoues,no. 119 (1213).
7See note 5 above.

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 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues 253
to be used by Berdoues; the only differencewas thatmost contractsbegan to
stipulatethatthe fruitof the land was to be considered a giftto the monks
a rather clumsy way of circumventingthe charge that interestwas being
paid.
Only the most powerful individuals or familiescould obtain loans under
the considerablyless onerous contractof the vif-gage.This contract,similarin
all other respects to the mort-gage, included the stipulation that a certain
portion (although perhaps not all) of the fruitof the land pledged would
serve to reduce the principal of the loan. There are only two clear indica-
tions of the vif-gagein the Berdoues cartulary.This does not necessarily
mean that it was not used more widely. Charters for such loans would not
normallysurvive - once redeemed, the parchment and all record of the
transactionwould probably have been destroyed.8It is possible, therefore,
that vif-gageswere considerably more common than the cartularyrecord
would suggest.
The close resemblance between the mort-gage and the vif-gage,however,
meant thatoccasionallythe powerfulwould claim securitiespledged by their
predecessors,statingthat the fruitsof the land had long since redeemed the
loan amount. Mireille Castaing-Sicardcites the use of this ploy (of claiming
that mortgageswere actuallyvif-gages)by Alphonse of Poitiersin the county
of Toulouse afterthe death of Count Raymond VII.9 Such reversals,as well
as the ecclesiasticalprohibitionagainst charginginterest,made the use of the
mortgage rather risky for a religious house. This may explain why the
contract is used infrequentlyby the majorityof Cistercian houses in the
south of France.10
The way in which the monks of Berdoues used the pignus or mortgage
contract,as far as the cartularyshows, suggests that their primaryinterest
was not in moneylendingper se, but in the consolidation of property- of
rightsto land and its revenues. This is demonstratedin a pair of mortgages
from the 1150s. In the first,dated 1156, the count of Astarac, Sanche,
pledged various propertiesin the region of Berdoues as securityfor a loan
of 285 solidiof Morlaas." The textof the act,
Sciendumestquod Sanciuscomesastaracensis bonoanimoet bona voluntate,bona
fideet sine dolo pro se et pro omnibussuccessoribus
suis presentibus
et futuris
misitin pignus Arnaldo abbati Berdonarumet conventuiejusdem loci pro

8 See discusion of these below; both are transactionsof the powerfulMontesquiou family.
9 Mireille Castaing-Sicard, Les contratsdans le trWsancien droit toulousain (Xe-XIIIe siecle)
(Toulouse, 1959), pp. 320-21.
10 See note 3 above.
11 The typicalcoinage mentioned is thatof Morlaas, the pennies or denariiof the viscountsof
Bearn, which had a disproportionate reputation in Gascony. See Mireille Castaing-Sicard,
Monnaiesfodales et circulationmonetaireen Languedoc (Xe-XIIIe siecles)(Toulouse, 1961), p. 25.
Thomas N. Bisson described Morlaas as a "profitable"or "productive"mint,similarto Melgueil;
see his Conservation
ofCoinage(Oxford, 1979), p. 7.

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254 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues
CCLXXXV sol. morl. totumex integroquod habebat vel habere debebat per se vel
per aliam personam in casale de Sancto Caprasio et totum.... Hec omnia predicta
casalia et predictas terras predictus Sancius comes Astaraci predicto abbati et
predicto conventui misitin pignus cum ingressibuset egressibus,aquis, pascuis et
nemoribus,cum decimis et primiciiset cum omnibus ad venatum pertinentibusut
habeant et possideant libere et quiete sine omni sua et suorum contradictione
quamdiu in ipsorum pignere fuerit.Et debet inde facere bonam et firmamgaren-
tiam de omnibus amparatoribus predictis fratribusBerdonarum. Terminus redi-
mendi pignerisest de martroren martrorespleitasforesdatis prius CCLXXXV sol.
morl. predictisfratribusBerdonarum. Hujus pigneris et garentie testes sunt: Ar-
naldus de Lapalu. . . Factum est hoc in manu Gillelmi auxitani archiepiscopi in
capitulo canonicorum auxiensis, anno Verbi incarnatiMCLVI, regnante Lodovico
rege Francorum,12

is very similar in form to that of a donation or sale. Not only were the
pledged properties mentioned, but so were the guarantors and the terms -
that it could be redeemed any year on All Saints' upon repayment of the
entire debt.
The accompanying transaction reveals the consolidation by Berdoues of
rights to the pledged land and neighboring holdings. Pictavin of Marrast,
who held the vicarial rights and lordship over the same casaux and land
which Berdoues had acquired in pledge from the count of Astarac, granted
these rights in mortgage:
Sciendum est quod Peitavinusde Marrast,bono animo et bona voluntate. .. misit
in pignus Arnaldo abbati Berdonarum et conventuiejusdem loci pro CL et [I] sol.
morl. las Begairias et las Senorias omnium casalium et terrarum quas fratres
Berdonenses tenebant in pignus de Sancio comite astaracensi. . . . Hoc predictum
pignus predictus Peitavinus affirmavitfratribusBerdonarum per Gillelmum ar-
chiepiscopum auxitanum, per Boamundum fratremSancii comitis astaracensiset
per ipsum Sancium comitemastaracensem in quorum manu hoc totumfactumest
anno MCLVII....13

This mortgage for 151 solidi of Morlaas and the earlier one for 285 solidi
appear never to have been redeemed. Berdoues seems to have safely ac-
quired full control of those properties at the price of the two loans, consid-
erably less than the selling price of the land.
Although lack of funds may have encouraged the monastery to acquire
land on such terms, it is less easy to explain why borrowers did not choose
instead to sell their land outright. There are no obvious legal provisions that
would have prevented outright sale, and there are numerous other acts in
the cartulary in which Berdoues did purchase land outright. Given that
Berdoues could probably have paid the actual market value of these proper-
ties if the owners had insisted, the transfer by mortgage can only be inter-
preted as indicating that the debtors had hopes of one day redeeming their
12 Cartulairede Berdoues,no. 94 (1156).
13
Ibid., no. 106 (1157).

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 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians 255
lands, or that the debt was intended for temporary expenditures which
would yield more profit(constructionof a mill or other rural improvements,
or militaryadventure), or that for some reason the owner was temporarily
unable to manage the land in question and wished the monks to do so while
he was away or until an heir came of age. However, when the sums were
large, redemptionbecame increasinglyless likely,as in the case of the count
of Astarac's mortgage to Berdoues of lands at Tels for 1,500 solidi.14 Here,
too, the abbey appears to have been using miortgagesto consolidate its rights.
In 1185 50 solidihad been loaned to Gerald of Bilsan against land at Tels,
and in 1 190 another 50 solidiwas paid by Berdoues for a mortgageover land
rightsheld thereby Peter of Bilsan.15
The example of the Montesquiou family shows how a single powerful
familybecame increasinglyindebted to the monks of Berdoues.16 In 1184
Raymond Aimeric of Montesquiou, Pictavina his wife, and Raymond
Aimeric their son gave in pignus to Berdoues all the land they had from
Mazeras up to Tels. This included property at Doms, St.-Clem, Paderns,
Mazeroles, and Saulouer; also included were tithes pertaining to two
churches at Ulms and one at St.-Clem. For this grant, Raymond Aimeric
received 1,200solidiof Morlaas, the entiresum to be paid back before any of
the land could be redeemed, with the exception of the land at Paderns,
which could be redeemed for 100 solidiif the familydecided to rebuild its
castlethere:
Terminusredimendihujuspignorisestde martror e martror,espleitasforas,datis
prius mille CC sol. morl. habitatoribusBerdonarum,salvo semperomnijure
fratrum Berdonarumpostvendicatovel priusvendicato.Hoc tamensciendumest
de totopredictopignorequod RaimundusAimericusvel domina Peitavinanec
aliquissuccessorumeorumnon possuntnec debeantsolverealiquampartempre-
dictorumpignerumnisi prius donaverintinsimulMCC sol. morl.habitatoribus
Berdonarum.Excipiturveroab hoc pactoterrade Padernsquam possuntrecupe-
rarepredictiimpigneratores Berdonarum,si
datispriusC sol. morl.habitatoribus
fortecastrumrehedificare voluerint;hoc tamende martrore martror, espleitas
foras.17

In a separate charter in 1185, Pictavina, wife of Raymond Aimeric,

confirmed her donation in pignus of her rights in the same places and
received an additional 100 solidi,raisingthe redemptionprice on the land to
1,300solidi:

14
Ibid., no. 98 (1188).
15
Ibid., nos. 599 (1185) and 602 (1190).
16 The Montesquiou familyis described by Benoit Cursente: "Le chateau de Montesquiou

n'est que tardivementmentionne par les textes,vers la findu XII si&cle.Son existence,depuis
au moins la fin du XI siecle, est toutefoiscertaine, en raison de la puissance considerable des
seigneurs de Montesquiou, peut-etreissus d'une branche laterale des comtes de Fezensac." Les
castlenauxde la Gascognemedaevale (Bordeaux, 1980), p. 145.
17 Cartulairede Berdoues,no. 104 (1184).

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256 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues
Hoc totum,ut predictumest,predictaPeitavinamisitin pignuspredictoabbatiet
predictoconventuicum ingressibus et egressibus,
aquis. . .. Sciendumtamenest,
quod predictifratres Berdonarumtenentpredictasterrasjure pignorispro milleet
CC sol. morl.a predictaPeitavinaet a RamundoAimericode Montesquiumarito
ipsiuset a filiiset filiabusipsorumet cum istiscentumsol. suntmilleet CCC sol.
18

The land mortgages in those two acts appear to have remained unre-
deemed during the lifetimesof Raymond Aimericand Pictavina.
However, in 1204, their sons began to make claims against Berdoues for
the land in question, which stretchedfrom Mazeras to Tels on both sides of
the Baise River ("infra Mazeras et Tels ante Baisiam et retro'").J9In that
year, to end theirclaims, Berdoues gave 150 solidito RaymrondAimeric the
youngerand to his brotherArsivuswho togetherpromised to make no more
claims for that land against the abbey. The 150 solidi that Berdoues gave to
the boys to end their claims seems not to have affected the amount of
indebtedness,neitherreducing it nor increasingit; it was simplya "handout"
by the monks to keep the legal heirs to the land from causing further
difficulties.20Before the year was out, however, the younger Raymond
Aimeric fell ill; wishingto make a giftto Berdoues at the time of his illness
(and apparently being without cash), he made a "gift" of 200 solidi to
Berdoues by increasinghis indebtednessover the land which his parents had
originallymortgaged:
Sciendum est quod Ramundus Aimericusdictus filiusRaimondi Aimericide Mon-
tesquiu in tempore illo quo langore gravi detentus erat cognoscens se multum
peccasse apud Dominum et homines et etiam apud fratresBerdonarum, multum
penituitet bono animo et bona voluntate,bona fide et sine omni retentionepro se
et pro omnibus successoribussuis presentibuset futurisdonavit,concessitet absol-
vit Deo et beate Marie et predictisfratribusBerdonarum CC sol. morl. pro emen-
datione et restitutionemalorum factorumque fecerat domui Berdonarum super
omnes terras cultas et incultas quas predicti fratreshabent et tenent pro dono et
pignore a Ramundo Aimerico fratre ejus et a se ipso. Hoc donum laudavit,
concessit atque firmavitin eodem loco et Arsivus fraterejus et sic ambo fratres
fecerunt donum suum amore Dei et remissione peccatorum suorum et pro be-
neficiismissarumet orationum que fieripoterunt in domo Berdonarum in quibus
recepti sunt participesin vita et in morte; et debent inde facere bonam et firmam
garentiamde omnibus amparatoribuspredictishabitatoribusBerdonarum.21

Clearly, the grant of 200 solidi over lands already mortgaged to Berdoues

"8 Ibid., no. 105 (1185).

19 Ibid., no. 109 (1204).
20
"[E]t predicti duo fratresRaimundus Aimericus, scilicet,et Arsivus habent pactum cum
predictis fratribusBerdonarum, ut nichel [sic] possint clamare vel demandare in omni domo
Berdonarum sive in omnibus pertinentiisejus donec predictosCL sol. morl. persolvantpredictis
fratribusBerdonarum et hoc de martroren martror,espleitas foras." Ibid., no. 109 (1204).
2
1Ibid., no. 107 (1204).

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 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues 257
simplyincreased the debt against the original pledge to Berdoues. The gift
made by Raymond Aimeric the younger was not a payment of cash in
recognition of prayers or medical care by the monks; instead, he made
amends for past wrongs by increasing the debt owed them. Raymond
Aimeric did not survive his illness, and on his deathbed he made another
bequest to Berdoues, including land at Faised and Ponchanum and pasture
rightsfor the abbey's flocks.That bequest was an outrightgiftratherthan a
mortgage.22Thus, rather than recovering the lands mortgaged by their
parents, the sons of Raymond Aimeric of Montesquiou by 1204 had in-
creased the amount of the debt owed to Berdoues and had alienated addi-
tional lands. On the other hand, they had also managed to extort 150 solidi
in cash fromthe abbey's coffers.23
The family'sindebtedness increased under the survivingson, Arsivus of
Montesquiou. Ten times between 1207 and 1230 he made additional
mortgageson his land. In 1207 he increased the amount of the mortgageat
Paderns to 150 solidi,in order to acquire a horse worth 50 solidi.24In 1210,
withhis sisterand her daughter, Arsivusgave all his rightsover the castle of
Paderns and its surroundings for a mortgage of 500 solidi. In this case he
specifiedthat all fruitsof that holding should become giftsto Berdoues, as
well as that if he died withoutlegitimateoffspringthe holding would revert
outrightto the abbey.25In 1212, before going to Spain to fightthe Saracens,
he mortgaged rightsat La Fita, in the casal of Barraz, and in the casal of
Sansospois to Berdoues for 160 solidi.26In 1213 he increased that mortgage
to 240 solidi and confirmed that the fruits of that land were not to be
computed against the principal but accepted by Berdoues as a gift.27There
is no indicationthatany of these holdingswas redeemed by the family.

22
Ibid., no. 108 (1204).
23
This was a common practicein a societywhere militarypower had fewchecks. The violence
of twelfth-century Gascony and the antagonismbetween monks and warriors,but also the piety
of the population, are evident in documents contained in the Berdoues cartulary.One finds
donors who stole the abbey's cattlebut later made elaborate recompense,others who bargained
for rightsto retireto the abbey when they were widowed, even one who asked that his son be
fed wheneverhe came to one of Berdoues's granges. In the most dramaticcase murder resulted
when a local man was asked by Berdoues to establishthe boundaries of a grange. Ibid., nos. 516
(1152), 798 (1212), 256 (1238), and 470 (1154).
24
Ibid., no. 115 (1207).
25 "Preterea sit manifestumquod predictus Arsivus bono animo et bona voluntate pro se et

pro omnibus successoribus suis presentibus et futurisdedit et concessit Deo et beate Marie
Berdonarum et Gillelmo abbati et omnibus fratribusillius loci totumpredictumpignus, castrum
videlicetde Paderns cum omnibus pertinenciissuis, si sine infante legitimo obierit antequam
castrumde Paderns a pignore persolveretur."Ibid., no. 114 (1210).
26 "Sciendum est quod Arsivus de Montequiu dictus filiusRamundi Aimerici de Montequiu
tempore illo quo pro amore Dei ad Ispanias ad expugnandos Sarracenos ivit. Ibid., no. 112
(1212).
27 "Et quicquid de predicto pignore exieritet fratresBerdonarum inde perceperint,totumdat

in elemosinam ArsivuspredictusDeo et beate Marie Berdonarum ita quod nichilpossit fratribus

Berdonarum computariin sortem." Ibid., no. 113 (123).

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258 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians
In charters for 1214, however,it becomes apparent that Arsivus not only
had borrowed money fromBerdoues against mortgageson his land, but also
had employed the more advantageous vif-gagecontractin his dealings with
the monks. As explained by William,abbot of Berdoues, in a charter dated
1214, the abbey had loaned a total of 590 solidito Arsivusagainst the surety
of lordship over the villa of Serres. The lordship rightshad been producing
50 solidi annually for Berdoues; because these payments had reached the
totalof the loans made, thevilla of Serres was now freeof obligation:
Sciendumest quod Gillelmusabbas Berdonarumdictustotusqueconventusejus-
dem domusaccommodaverunt Assivode MontesquiuCCL sol. morl.,alia viceCC
sol., alia vice C, alia vice XC, et sic suntDXC super omniajura et superomnes
dominationesquas ipse habet et habere debet a Serres,tali tamenpacto quod
domuset fratresBerdonarumrecuperentin pace singulisannis L sol. morl.sine
omni contradictione de reditibuspredicteville de Serres donec habeant re-
cuperatossuos predictossol. morl.,quibus recuperatispredictavilla remaneat
liberasineomniobligatione pignorisAssivopredicto.28

Arsivus did not hold the revenue fromthat lordship for long. In 1215 he
again granted it to Berdoues in exchange for a horse, recognizing that he
also owed an additional 200 solidithere:
Sciendumestquod Arsivusde Montesquiucomparavit unumpullumequinumde
domo Berdonarumper L sol. morl. et quia illos ad presensdare non potuit
Berdonarum,dedit eos illis super omniajura et pignoraque fratres
fratribus
Berdonarumtenentjamdiua Serras,a predictoArsivoper CC sol. morl.29

In 1220, the villa or castrumof Serres was again pledged; this time in the
clearestcontractof vif-gagethatthe cartularycontains:
Sciendumest et memorieretinendum quod ego Assivusde Montesquiugratiset
bona voluntate,dono, concedo et fideliter absolvoper me et et [sic]per omnes
meos presenteset futures[sic] Deo et beate Marie Berdonarumet tibiGillelmo
abbatiet omniconventuipresentiet futuroDC sol. morl.supertotumcastrumde
Serriscum omnibussuis pertinentiis, tali vero pacto quod hominesde Serris
donnentet persolvant annuatimL sol. morl.habitatoribus Berdonarumde martro
e martro. . . donec DC predictisol. in pace persolvanturpredictisfratribus
Berdonarum.... Hoc totumsicutpredictumest laudo et affirmo ego Arsivuset
libere diffiniotibi Gillelmoabbati predictoBerdonarumet omni conventuiut
predictum castrumet omniajura et dominiajam dicticastrisintin tua potestateet
fratrumBerdonarumdonec DC sol. predictimorl.persolvantur. . . et ut hoc
totumsicutjam dictumest firmiusteneatur,ego Arsivusde Montesquiufacio
jurareduobushominibus de Serris.... 30

The terms of this contractfor vif-gageprovided that Berdoues would hold

28 Ibid., no. 117

(1214).
29
Ibid., no. 120 (1215).
30 Ibid., no. 118(1220).

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 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues 259
both the castle and the villa of Serres until the 600 solidi loan had been
repaid from revenues.31 Generally, such a contract concerning a vif-gage
would not have been included in the cartulary,because the land was ulti-
mately redeemed; however, a long-termtenure and a continuing dispute
over the rightsat Serres with the Montesquiou familyprobably caused the
monksto record these contractsamong theirpermanentrecords.32
As in the case in which Raymond Aimeric of Montesquiou at the time of
his death increased his family'sindebtedness to Berdoues by simplyadding
200 solidi to the amount owed to the abbey, donations to Berdoues some-
times took the form of a pledge of indebtedness over certain property.In
such cases, a mortgage contractwas writtenup, but the donor received no
loan in return for his pledge; he simplygranted the mortgage over certain
lands in lieu of cash for admission into the prayersof the monastery,burial,
or other benefitsof a spiritualnature. Heirs of someone making such a gift
on his deathbed had the option of redeeming the land by paying the
specifiedamount; repaymentwas made just as if thiswere the redemptionof
land pledged in exchange fora loan.
In some cases, such giftsof mortgageover land actuallyincreased the debt
on land already mortgaged to Berdoues, as was the case in the gift by
Raymond Aimeric of Montesquiou. In other cases, mortgages were given
as giftsover entirelynew properties- for example, rightsgiven in 1208 by
Bernard of Lorda when he entered the abbey:
Sciendumest quod Bernardusde Lorda quando suscepithabitumreligionisin
domo Berdonarum,bona voluntate, bona fide,sineomniretentione pro se et pro
omnibussuccessoribus et futuris
suispresentibus, donavit,concessitet absolvitDeo
et beateMarieBerdonarumet Gillelmoabbatiet conventui ejusdemlocipresentiet
futuroCCC sol. morl.in casali del Canted,quod casale est in villaque vocatur
Astugaet in casalidevantArriuquod casale estin villaque vocaturOrlescum hac
conditionequod nullushomo nec feminapossitrecuperarepredictacasalia nisi
priusdatisCCC sol. de bonismorlanishabitatoribusBerdonarum.33

In thiscase Berdoues was in turnallowed to grantthe casaux in question in

mortgage.34A smaller giftin the formof a mortgage mightbe made when
someone lay ill and dying:
Sciendumest quod ArnaldusRamundusde Casted, in illa infirmitate de qua
mortuusest positus. . . donavitet reliquitin elemosinamDeo et beate Marie
Berdonarumet conventuiejusdemloci presentiet futuroXXX sol. morl.super
omnejus suumquod habebatin ecclesiade Barrax,id estin quartamipsiusecclesie
partem,in decimiset primiciis ut
et in omnibusaliisrebusad illampertinentibus,

31 It is the periodic reductionthatmakes thisa vif-gageratherthan a mortgage.

32
Disputes are mentionedin Cartulairede Berdoues,no. 123 (1217).
33 Ibid., no. 43 (1208).
34 "Hec predicta casalia possunt Berdonenses inpignerare cui voluerint,quando voluerint,
salvojure illorumqui sunt tornerpredictorumcasalium." Loc. cit.

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260 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians
fratresBerdonarumhabeantet accipiantde illa quicquid ad jus suum pertinet
suis
doneca successoribus
libereet quiete,sineomnisua et suorumcontradictione,
predictiXXX sol. morl.fratribusBerdonarumdentur.35

In this gift,from 1179, the revenues of the quarter of a church's revenues

were to be considered a giftfromthe donor:
habuerintvel acceperintin sortem
Et quicquid de illa quamdiu illamtenuerint,
predictorum XXX sol. fratribusBerdonarumnon computetur, sed in elemosina.36

In a fewinstancesthe gratuitouscharacterof such giftsto Berdoues must be

questioned; the mortgage "gift"was one means by which an impecunious
individual mightmake amends for wrongs done to the abbey. Thus, Sanche
Garsia of Manas pledged 300 solidi over a holding at Monts to Berdoues,
which was to be considered payment for the horse that Sanche had stolen
from the monks.37Similarly,Gassias Arnaldus of Serres made a giftto the
abbey worth 23 solidi by mortgaging land at two places, thereby making
amends forthe horse he had taken fromBerdouesA38
The mortgagewas used primarilyto convey rightsover land to Berdoues,
but it was also used to transferother rights. For example, in about ten
percent of the acts churches and titheswere mortgaged to the abbey. Some
examples include the transferof the tithesof the church of Ulms to Ber-
doues by Vitalis of Mazeroles for a loan of 15 solidi,39or the grant by
Garreriusof Cadiran of a mortgage over the church and land of Toreus in
return for 33 solidi.40In another contractJordan of St.-Roman mortgaged
the tithesof Ozalt to Berdoues for 50 solidi.41In 1209, Vitalis of Arbeissan
was given 100 solidi for a mortgage on the church of Artigamezan.42
Mortgagingchurch revenues to the Cisterciansof Berdoues was one way in
which local individuals could rid themselvesof the taintof illicitlay own-
ership of church property.
More than thirtycontracts recorded in the Berdoues cartularyconcern
mortgages of pasture, mostlyfor small sums. In most cases these are con-
veyances of general pasture rightswithinthe holdings of the debtor, but in
a few cases the location of pasture rightswas specified: Ladevesa, Garan,
Moster,Seuches, and Pardiac.43Their value ranged fromthe 5 and 10 solidi
granted for mortgageson pasture rightsto Stephan of Gavian and William

35 Ibid., no. 60 (1179).

36 Loc. cit.
37 "Pro una equa quam violenterabstuleratfratribusBerdonarum." Ibid., no. 46 (1185).
38 "Pro emendamento unius eque quam abstulerathabitatoribusBerdonarum." Ibid., no. 152
(1183).
39 Ibid., no. 156 (1167).
40 Ibid., no. 217 (1205).

41Ibid.,no. 535 (n.d.).

42 Ibid., no. 530 (1209).

43 Ibid., nos. 303 (1211), 308 (1214), 325 (1214), and 347 (1228).

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 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians 261
Arnald of Pontiano to the 100 and 300 solidigranted for mortgages on
pasture rightsto Vitalisof Baliasag and WilliamArnald of la Sera.44The last
of these is very similarto the normal contractof donation - except that it
includes a redemptionclause:
Sciendumest quod GillelmusArnaldusde Sasera . . . misitin pignusArnaldo
abbati Berdonarumet conventuiejusdem loci presentiet futuropastencoset
erbaggeset omnemespleitamlignorumet arborumad opus cabanarumet ignium
et liberumintroitum et exitumper omnes terrassuas quas habebatet habere
debebatper se vel per aliam personamdels Baradz de Guisiriz,entroal casse
monialde Tornos et de una Baisia usque ad aliampro CCC sol. morl.et de istis
predictisCCC sol. morl.C habuitin denarioset CC in uno equo qui eratmulto
majorisprecii. ...4

In this case, the donor received part of the loan amount in cash, but the rest
was in the formof a horse "worthmuch more."
Mortgages were used not just for acquisitions of land surrounding the
monastery,but for acquisitions at outlying farms or granges as well. It
appears that certain estates and locales were more susceptibleto transferby
mortgage than others. Berdoues's acquisitions of lands for the grange of
Esparciac, for example, include a large number of holdings originally
granted to the monks by way of mortgage,rather than by outrightgiftor
sale.46 In contrast,lands in the immediate vicinityof the grange of Cuelas
came almost exclusivelyby purchase and gift.Nearby, in the villaor parish
of Durfort,lords and cultivatorsalike graduallylost control of theirland to
Berdoues throughmortgaging.For example, Williamof Maurencs raised 70
solidifrom the abbey in 1198 by pledging his homestead in Durfort,which
he had just received fromhis mother:
Sciendumestquod Na Lazeiz dez Baraz in bona et plena memoriasua anteomnes
et supra omnes filiossuos et filiassuas donavitfiliosuo Willelmode Maurencs
unum casale a Durfort,quod casale vocaturde Villalongacasale et predictus
Gillelmusde Maurencsbono animoet bona voluntate... misitin pignusAugerio,
abbatiBerdonarumet conventuiejusdemloci presentiet futurototumex integro
predictum casalede Villalonga. . . pro LXX sol. morl.,quos predictusGillelmus de
Maurencspersolvita Samatanpro fratresuo Espan quem miseratin pignus,ut
habeantet possideanthoc predictumcasale integraliter predictihabitatores Ber-
donarumlibereet quietesineomnisua et suorumcontradictione dum in pignere
tenuerint;. . . hoc predictumpignuslaudavitet audargavitNa Lazeis dez Baraz
predictiWillelmide Maurencsmateret priorissaBoniloci.Hoc predictumpignus
laudavitet audorgavitGeraldusde Porastro,pro se et pro uxore sua Polonia,
sororepredictiWillelmide Maurencs.Hoc totumfuitfactumet firmatum in manu
et presentiaAzemaride Deusadiuda, bajuli Vitalisde Montagud,comitisas-
mandamentoet assensuipsiuscomitis.Hoc totumsicutpredictum
taracensis, est,

44 Ibid., nos. 332 (n.d.), 274 (1163), 310 (n.d.), and 302 (1151).
45 Ibid., no. 302 (1151).
46 For example, ibid., nos. 415 (1152), 427 (n.d.), and 395 (n.d.).

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262 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues
predictusWillelmusde MaurencsdebetfacerelaudareIspano de Maurencsfratri
suo.47

This is a particularlyinterestingcontract,for it records the transferof land

from mother to son, tells us that William used the money to redeem land
elsewhere that his brotherhad used as securityfor a loan, and includes the
confirmationby those familymembersand by William'sbrother-in-law. That
this act was done in the presence of the count's bailiffshows that this is the
transferof land by a wealthyand noble memberof society.The participation
by other familymemberssuggeststhatthe grantingof a pledge or mortgage
to a monasteryin returnfor a loan was, like a donation or sale of land to a
monastery,a means of linkingthe familyto the prayersand benefitsof that
house. The debtor and lender relationshipis a warm one, as in the cases in
whichthe debtor entered Berdoues as a monk,and impliesties of friendship
not found in modern creditrelationships.
Also at Durfort, in 1213, Caian, Filiolus, Vezianus, and Vitalis of Selan,
probably a familyof farmersthere, mortgaged their rightsin that villa to
Berdoues for 40 solidi.48Odo of Casarels and his son granted a mortgage
over land there in the same year for 60 solidi.49However, it was really in
1215 thatBerdoues consolidated its rightsin thatvilla withthe acquisitionin
mortgage of the dominiumand other rightsto the castrumof Durfort and
rightsover men and women in the surroundingarea:
Notumsit omnibushominibusqui hoc audierintquod Bernardusdez Baraz et
Arnalduset Petrusdez Baraz,fratresejus, per se et per omnessuos presenteset
futuros
miserunt in pignusmonasteriobeateMarieBerdonarumet Gillelmoabbati
et omni conventuiejusdemloci, presentiet futuro,totumhoc ex integroquod
habebantet haberedebebantet aliquo modoad eos pertinerevideturin castrode
Durfort et in omnibus terminiiset pertinentiisejus, in terriscultis et incultis,in
hominibus et feminis,in serviciis,in quistis et usaticis,in pascuis et nemoribus et
in aliis omnibus juribus et dominationibusquecumque ad eos aliquo modo perti-
nent et pertinerevidenter[sic] pro D et XXII sol. morl.... Factum est hoc totum
et firmatumin manu domini Centulli, Comitis astaracensis,qui debet inde esse
bonus defensorde omnibus amparatoribusfratribusBerdonarum.50

It is noteworthythat the men of that villa and castrummay stay there and
work for Berdoues, or they may leave and go to other estates belonging to
Bernard of Baraz and his brothers,theirlords:
Si tamen homines qui sunt vel fueruntde villa et castro de Durfortin aliis villisvel
in castris manserint et servire voluerint Bernardo des Baraz et fratribussuis
serviant,eis si servirevoluerint.Sed si laboraverintaliquid in toto territoriovel in
pertinentiisde Durfort,faciant fratribusomnia servicia que debebant facere Ber-

47 Ibid., no. 456 (1198).

48 Ibid., no. 458 (1213).
49 Ibid., no. 460 (1213).
50 Ibid., no. 454 (1215).

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 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians 263
Hujus rei sunttestes:Arsivusde Montesquiuet
nardodez Baraz et suis fratribus.
Giraldusde Marrencset Giraldus,filiusejus et Petrusde Sobaianet Arnaldusde
Bugar. 51

The importance of the individuals involved is underlined by the confirma-

tion before the count of Astarac and the presence of Arsivus of Montes-
quiou.
For the grange of Algars,although there were several mortgagesconcern-
ing propertyat Algars itself,more noticeable are those for adjoining prop-
ertyat St.-Medard. These include a mortgageof foursolidimade by Gassias
Arnaldus at St.-Medard, a mortgageof a singlesoliduson land at St.-Medard
by Anerius of Comaiera, and a mortgage of four solidi and four denaraion
rightsthereby WilliamBernard of Mazeres.52For the grange of Aujan there
is a similarconcentrationof mortgages on land at Samaran. These ranged
fromthe 5 solidigranted to Caldaron of Logorchan and the 3 solidi granted
to Frumentus of Stelan to 233 solidi for rights in the Puy of Samaran
mortgaged by Galardus of Stelan.53 Such instances suggest that in some
territoriesit had become as customaryto grantland in mortgageas to give it
in donation or sale, while in other places the mortgagewas used less often.
There is perhaps a correlation between the more frequent granting of
mortgagesfor certainvillae and specificconditionsof tenure. It is also likely
that such individuals as the brothersof Baraz, who mortgaged lordship at
Durfort,were concerned to maintain their patrimonyintact and used the
mortgage because of temporarycircumstancesor because ownership rights
were too dispersed by inheritanceto allow a tidy process of alienation and
regroupingof lands.
Mortgagesor giftsby way of mortgagewere sometimesmade during a last
illness or aftera parent's death in order to secure burial at Berdoues. They
were also made to ensure reception into the house as a member.54Some
mortgageswere made that could be redeemed by relativesupon returning
from Spain; in such cases the monks would have been acting as adminis-
tratorsof holdings belonging to absent familymembers.55However, despite
a traditional association between mortgage and Crusade, only a few acts
indicate that the primarypurpose of the mortgagewas to meet the expenses
of a Crusade or to ransom prisoners. In most cases extraordinarycircum-
stanceswere not mentioned; instead, mortgagingseems to have simplybeen

51 Loc. cit.
52
Ibid., nos. 519 (n.d.), 520 (n.d.), and 521 (n.d.).
53Ibid., nos. 652 (n.d.), 657 (n.d.), and 656 (n.d.).
54Ibid., nos. 207 (1178), 228 (1200), 198 (1210), 190 (1212), 213 (1214), 263 (1234), 257
(1235), 276 (n.d.), 328 (1185), 411 (1186), 367 (1204), 346 (1236), 489 (1211), 493 (1211), 495
(1214), 563 (n.d.), 584 (1234), 615 (n.d.), 608 (1203), 683 (1164), 761 (n.d.), 781 (1200), 783
(1209), 784 (1209), 813 (1237), and 754 (1210).
5 Ibid., no. 25 (n.d.).

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264 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians
a common way for local landholders to raise cash and one of the ways in
whichBerdoues mightput togetherlandholdings.
Whatever the reasons for which someone might mortgage his land to
Berdoues, it is quite clear that Berdoues accepted as pledges for loans only
those properties that would somehow enhance the monastic patrimony.
Mortgages do not form a separate section of the cartulary;instead, theyfit
into the mnajorgeographicallyorganized divisions of the volume. This sug-
gests that the propertiesinvolved were genuinely of use to the abbey in its
developmentof compact estatesor granges.
In all, 233 mortgages over land were granted to Berdoues against loans
varyingfroma fewsolidito several thousand; an additional 15 acts concern
increases in the amounts of those mortgages. Giftsby way of mortgages or
pledges on land account for another 54 acts in the cartulary;these were not
negligiblebequests, but could be as large as several thousand solidi.56Few of
these pledges were ever redeemed, for if theyhad been, the charterswould
have been destroyed before the cartulary(which dates to later than 1250)
was redacted. Moreover,acts concerninglands thatwere redeemed afterthe
cartulary was drawn up would have been erased or crossed out in the
volume itself.
There is littleto indicate that redemption was expected by the monks of
Berdoues. Indeed it was to their advantage if the mortgages remained
unredeemed, since thiswould allow them to retain usufructof the pledged
land, which they had acquired for only a fractionof the actual value. The
monks may well have decided to accept the risk of holding less than com-
plete titleto the land in returnfor the obvious financialbenefitto the abbey.
Nevertheless,their use of the mortgage contract was unusual among the
Cistercians. Most Cistercian houses saw to it that their acquisitions were
secured byconfirmationsfromeveryconceivable familymember.57
The contractsin the Berdoues cartulary reveal that the total cash ex-
pended for mortgagesconsiderablyexceeded cash spent on purchases by the
abbey. From the date of foundation until the 1250s, the abbey spent only
13,845 solidi on outrightpurchases. In contrast,it lent 26,622 solidi against
mortgages.58This gives credence to the theorythat the mortgage contract
was a very advantageous means for Berdoues to obtain land. Indeed, it is
difficultto understand why the practice of acquisition by mortgage was not
more widespread among the Cisterciansin southern France, an area where
the mortgage was a particularlyimportanttool for transferringland rights
and for creatingsolidarityamong lay and ecclesiasticalleaders.

56
See above, notes 37 and 38, and Arsivusof Montesquiou's grantof 2,000 solidzito Berdoues
througha mortgagein 1245: Cartulairede Berdoues,no. 590 (1245).
57For example, giftsby daughters like Pagesa, who gave all her rightsat Foissa for 2 solidiin
175, or by Sarzma of St.-Severin,who gave all her rightsat Foissa in 176. Bibliothequenationale
MS lat. 11008 (Grandselve cartulary),nos. 147X (1175), 148X (1176), and IX (1160).
58 This totalincludes sums given in mortgageas giftsto the abbey.

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 The Cistercians
ofBerdoues 265
Chronological examination of amounts expended by Berdoues shows that
therewas a temporarydecline in both purchases and loans during the 1190s.
This decline is probably explained by legislationpassed by the order's gen-
eral chapter barring furtherexpenditures for land (which was only heeded
for a few years).59That mortgages and purchases alike were affectedsug-
gests that both were more responsive to the internal policies of the abbey
and the order than to any external demand for cash or credit from local
lords.
Students of local legal traditionshave found that ecclesiasticalcondemna-
tion of the mortgagecontractdid not immediatelylessen itsuse in the region
of Toulouse.60 The Berdoues cartularysuggeststhatthiswas also true in the
obscure region of Gascony where Berdoues was located. There is no evi-
dence, such as thatcited by Genestal forregionsof northernFrance, thatthe
mortgage contractwas superseded by the grantingof annuities as sureties
for loans.61 Although several giftsof such perpetual rents are found in the
cartulary,62there is no indication that they replaced the mortgage.
Mortgages only fell into disuse with the coming of northernersto the south
afterthe Albigensianwars.63
Grantingof loans against mortgages,then,seems to have been an essential
part of Berdoues's land acquisition program. The buyingof mortgagesover
land was probably always cheaper than outright purchase and may have
been favoredby owners who hoped to redeem theirpledged land. However,
since the termsof the contractgave the fruitsto the lender, redemptionwas
difficult,and Berdoues seems to have felt quite secure in its holding of
mortgagedproperties.There is no indicationof effortsto purchase residual
rightsof redemption from the original debtors; on the other hand, their
heirs oftensold offsuch rightsto Berdoues as a means of gaining additional
cash - a process initiatedby heirs ratherthan by the abbey.64
Transient conditions in this region of Gascony, so near to the Pyrenees
and the events of the reconquest of Spain, may have made the use of the
mortgageprevalentfor two reasons. First,landowners and monasteriesalike
may have preferred the mortgage when relatives were too far away to
consent to outright sale. Secondly, and more importantly,perhaps, the
landowner with dreams of militaryadventure and reconquest may have
mortgaged land fullyexpecting to return fromhis travelswith a fortuneto
redeem it.

59Statutacapitulorum generaliumOrdinisCisterciensis ab anno 1116 ad annum 1786, ed. J.-M.

Canivez (Louvain, 1933), 1:1190, no. 1.
6 oCastaing-Sicard,Contrats, pp. 3 18-19.
61 R. Genestal,R6le desmonasteres commeetablissementsde credit,etudieen Normandiedu XIe a lafin
du XIIIe siecle(Paris, 1901), pp. 75 ff.
62 See, for example, Cartulaire de Berdoues,no. 87 (n.d.), the giftby the count of Astarac of an
annual rentof 50 solidi.
63
Castaing-Sicard,Contrats, p. 378.
64
See note 20 above.

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266 ofBerdoues
The Cistercians
Whatever the reason for its use, the entries of the Berdoues cartulary
prove withoutdoubt that this contract,which had been condemned by the
papacy, was stillin everydayuse by Cistercianmonks in at least one part of
rural Europe.

CATHOLIC UNIVERSITY OF AMERICA

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