ABSTRACT
In February 1147, a great council was held at Etampes to elect regents who would govern the kingdom in absence. The election was dominated by St Bernard, who declared in favour of Suger and William, count of Nevers, designating them the twin swords the ecclesiastical and the secular who would protect the realm. On 11 June 1147, during the Lendit fair, another great ceremony took place in the new church. After the ceremony itself, the king retired for a while to Suger's new dormitory; then he and a few of his intimates dined in Suger's new refectory with the monks. Among Suger's ecclesiastical colleagues, the co-regent Archbishop Samson of Reims had problems of his own. Suger's desire to hold a council with the pope in attendance had to wait until the Council of Reims in mid-March 1148. Gilbert had defended himself in Paris at Easter 1147. In the summer of 1148, Suger reformed the college of Ste-Genevieve.
