Page:Readings in European History Vol 1.djvu/217

 I Feudalism 181 Moreover, I acknowledge that I hold from thee and from the said monastery, as a fief, the castle of Termes in Nar- bonne; and in Minerve, the castle of Ventaion, and the manors of Cassanolles, and of Ferral and Aiohars ; and in Le Roges, the little village of Longville ; for each and all of which I render homage and fealty with hands and mouth to thee, my said Lord Abbot Leo and to thy successors; and I swear upon these four gospels of God that I will always be a faithful vassal to thee and to thy successors and to St. Mary of Grasse in all things in which a vassal is required to be faithful to his lord ; and I will defend thee, my lord, and all thy successors, and the said monastery, and the monks present and to come, and the castles and manors and all your men and their possessions against all malefactors and invaders, of my own free will and at my own cost, and so shall my successors do after me ; and I will give to thee power over all the castles and manors above described, in peace and in war, whenever they shall be claimed by thee or by thy successors. Moreover, I acknowledge that, as a recognition of the above fiefs, I and my successors ought to come to the said monastery at our own expense, as often as a new abbot shall have been appointed, and there do homage and return to him the power over all the fiefs described above. And when the abbot shall mount his horse, I and my heirs, vis- counts of Carcassonne, and our successors ought to hold the stirrup for the honor of the dominion of St. Mary of Grasse; and to him and all who come with him, to as many as two hundred beasts, we should make the abbot's purvey- ance in the borough of St. Michael of Carcassonne, the first time he enters Carcassonne, with the best fish and meat, and with eggs and cheese, honorably, according to his will, and pay the expense of shoeing the horses, and for straw and fodder as the season shall require. And if I or my sons or their successors do not observe towards thee or thy successes each and all the conditions declared above, and should come against these things, we desire that all the aforesaid fiefs should by that very fact be