ABSTRACT
The evolving nature of medieval aristocratic life is recorded in stone and mortar in the castle at Beaugency, in parchment and ink in the cartulary of Notre Dame de Beaugency and manifest in the flesh and blood of the later Beaugency lords. Early in the fourteenth century, the canons of Notre Dame de Beaugency decided to collate and organize the records of the property, revenues, rents and tolls that made up the abbey's patrimony. In 1222, Simon II of Beaugency took an oath to the count in which he recognized the count's suzerainty over himself and his lordship. When an earlier count had tried to establish his dominion over Ralph I, Ralph offered to fight a judicial duel against the count himself to protect his independence. Ralph II issued a document that clarified all of the dues and revenues that the canons of Notre Dame de Beaugency had received from his ancestors in gift.
