Paul Marchegay – författare

Trained at the École Royale des Chartes at the Sorbonne, Paul Marchegay (1812-1885) dedicated his life to publishing the rich manuscript history found in the archives in his native Anjou. Volume 1 contains a collection of important texts by religious and lay authors written about the Angevin dynasty in its early years, dating from roughly the tenth to twelfth centuries. The most important manuscript printed in this collection is the Gesta Consulum Andegavorum. It is the only printed version of this manuscript, although modern scholars consider Marchegay's edition to be of poor quality. The collection also includes the only biography written about Geoffrey 'le bel' (Plantagenet), Count of Anjou, by Jean, a twelfth-century monk at Marmoutier. This book retains an interest for modern readers because it includes rare printed manuscripts, and also because descendants of the family, the Plantagenets, became the ruling monarchy in England.

Trained at the École Royale des Chartes at the Sorbonne, Paul Marchegay (1812-1885) was the archivist for the department of Anjou. A native of the area, and a member of the Industrial Society of Angers, Marchegay dedicated his career to publishing manuscripts on the region's history. Published in 1871, Volume 2 contains notes on the manuscripts published in Volume 1, and alerts readers to other historical sources. The introduction is by Émile Mabille (1828-1874), a leading archivist in the manuscript department at the Bibliothèque National in Paris. The most important text in these volumes is the Gesta Consulum Andegavorum. It is the only printed version of this work available, however, modern scholars consider Marchegay's edition to be of poor quality. This book retains an interest for modern readers because it includes rare printed manuscripts, and also because descendants of the family, the Plantagenets, became the ruling monarchy in England.

Using archival materials and church charters from the province of Anjou, Paul Marchegay provides a broad and comprehensive picture of the history of this province of western France. In Volume 1, published in 1853, the Anjou native and archivist of the province makes use of three primary sources: the papers of the eighteenth-century politician Armand-Thomas Hue, seigneur de Miroménil, a report on the land ownership, economic resources and social conditions of the province made by the diplomat Charles Colbert de Croissy (younger brother of Loius XIV's minister of finance), and finally the medieval charters of Anjou. Marchegay ends this compilation of historical documents on a curious note by transcribing the records of various medieval court cases which were settled by the ordeal of boiling water.

Using archival materials and church charters from the province of Anjou, archivist Paul Marchegay draws a broad and comprehensive picture of the history of this province in western France. Volume 2, published in 1853, comprises charters from the abbey of Marmoutiers, near Tours, that give an insight into local life through centuries. There is a document listing the names of the nobility of Angers in 1310 and another that counts the number of fishmongers registered as trading in Angers between 1408 and 1449. The most curious piece among the documents dates from around 1060 and tells of the burial place of a knight who fell in battle; his mother and brother then brought the body to the priory at Daumeray near Angers. The documents in this work give vivid and authentic images of medieval life, faith and traditions.

Around 1820, several manuscripts went missing from the archives of Maine-et-Loire in Angers, among them two of the region's most valued cartularies, Le Livre Noir de Saint-Florent, prés Saumur and La Grande Pancarte de Fontevrauld. These volumes were later discovered to have been purchased by the famed book collector Thomas Phillipps, and, in 1850, the Angers archivist Paul Marchegay travelled to England to document these and other French cartularies in English collections. The result of his efforts is Cartulaires Français en Angleterre (1855). This important bibliography provides full descriptions of seven French cartulary manuscripts held at the British Museum, lists by geographic location twenty-two documents pertaining to French foundations, and describes the two manuscripts held in the Phillipps collection. It both represents an important contribution to the history of Angers and reveals a fascinating story of diplomatic co-operation among the archivists of France and England.