General Notes

FIMA p 29 "the Cluniac monasticism that had originated in the abbey ofClu
ny founded by william IV the Pious.  . . . It was no coincidence that an a
bbot of Cluny should have written the Life of Gerald, count of Aurillac, a
nother famous pilgrim to Rome, who had resisted pressure from the du
ke of Aquitaine and retained comital independence for the greater glo
ry of God.  The monks were the true rivals to ducal power in Aquitaine.  T
he king of the Franks certainly posed no threat.  He had not so much as be
en seen there for a long while.  . . . Robert the Pious did visit Aquitain
e, it is true; but he went as a visitor, laden with presents--a heavy go
ld dish and precious textiles--in the hope of seeing the skull of St Jo
hn the Baptist.  Other great lords were also present, among them Odo of Bl
ois and the duke of the Vascones, and Adhemar of Chabannes emphasizes t
he precedence accorded Robert at the head of the procession.  As far as Wi
lliam of Aquitaine was concerned, however, Robert was no more than a disti
nguished visitor, to be treated with all due respect.  It is interesting t
hat Robert II avoided the "kingdom" of St Martial in his final pilgrima
ge south of the Loire, traveling through quieter areas instead--the Bourbo
nnais, the Auvergne and the Cevennes of southeastern France.
This was to be the direction of future Capetian expansion.  Territori
al aggrandizement in other directions was blocked by powerful rulers.  No
ne of them could equal the king's authority; only Robert and his son and a
ssociate, Henry, bore the title 'rex'.  There were many kingdoms in Gau
l, but only one king, the king of the Franks, who owed his incontestable p
reeminence to the unction of his coronation."