Vézelay, the hill abbey of Mary Magdalene, is lord of its town and answers to no order, bishop, prince or lord, only to Rome, to which it pays a yearly due.
Bernard preached the Second Crusade below its walls in 1146, and Philip and Richard set out from here on the Third in July 1190. Its townsmen have revolted again and again: they killed Abbot Artaud in 1106, rose in 1152 with the counts of Nevers behind them, and rose again in 1167. Louis VII broke their commune by 1155, then after 1167 gave them written liberties.
The counts of Nevers never stop pressing the abbey.
Who holds it
- Name
- Hugh (Hugues)
- Title
- Abbot of Vézelay
- Since
- 1198
- Confidence
- high
Elected unanimously by his monks in 1198; dies in 1206. His successor Gilbert is deposed by Innocent III in 1207 for embezzlement, simony and incontinence, and the next abbot, Walter, has to restore order while the count of Nevers blockades the town.
What it holds
- Vézelay: lordship of the hill town and its pilgrims' market
- Villages and lands of the abbey round the hill (not detailed here)
- Exemption: no bishop, order or lay lord over it; direct dependence on Rome
How it was acquired
Exemption from bishop, order and lay lords in return for a yearly due to Rome; the townsmen's liberties settled by Louis VII after 1167.
How things stand that morning
Held, with a new abbot and a restless town.
Wealth
The pilgrimage to Mary Magdalene, which dominates its kind in Europe until rival relics are recognized at Saint-Maximin in 1279, and the trade it brings.
Threats
- The counts of Nevers
- The townsmen's ambitions
- Disorder inside the abbey (the next abbot will be deposed in 1207)
Advocates and rivals
The counts of Nevers (now Peter of Courtenay), who backed the townsmen's commune and will blockade the town again; the bishops of Autun, who claim jurisdiction; the townsmen.
Where the sources disagree
Evidence: The exemption, the revolts and the royal judgements are well attested; the abbey's lands outside the town are not detailed here. One French Wikipedia text dates the Third Crusade meeting to 1191; the departure from Vézelay was July 1190.
On the map: Only the town's commune is drawn.
Primary sources for Nevers
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- Chronicle of Robert of Auxerre, Robert of Auxerre (Robert of Saint-Marien) (about 1190 to 1211; continued at Saint-Marien to 1227). A universal chronicle whose last twenty years are contemporary and well informed from Burgundy and the Auxerrois. Read online
- The Acts of Philip Augustus, with Delisle's Calendar, Various (the French royal chancery) (1179 to 1223). The king's own charters and treaties for the year: the peace of Peronne with Baldwin IX in January 1200, the treaty of Le Goulet with John on 22 May 1200, the marriage settlement for Louis and Blanche, the privilege for the scholars of Paris, grants to towns, abbeys and Norman lords, and the first acts of the king's new acquisitions in the Vexin, Evreux and Berry. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.