Jumièges

The Gesta Normannorum ducum, Exploits des Ducs des Normands, is the work of the monk Guillaume DE JUMIÈGES. Written around the 1060s, it recounts the history of Normandy and the Normans since the Viking invasions. This story was continued from 1070 by Orderic Vital and Robert de Torigni, under the orders of William the Conqueror.
In this quintessential book of Norman history, uses of the Seine as a moving vector, a way of drawing borders between territories and a place of military life are documented. Here, reference is made to a battle waged by the Danish and the siege of Jumièges.

Jumièges Abbey is home to a legend which was first spread in the 12th century. It recounts the punishment that King Clovis II and his wife Balthild, a future saint, inflicted on their two sons for their attempt to seize the throne: they ordered that their tendons be burnt and cast them adrift from Paris on a boat on the Seine. The boat ended up in Jumièges, where they were taken in by the abbey’s founder.
The legend has been depicted in numerous paintings and has also inspired writers such as Ronsard (La Franciade), Proust (À la recherche du temps perdu), Maurice Leblanc (La Comtesse de Cagliostro), Guy de Maupassant (Fort comme la mort), Dominique Noguez (Dandy de l’an 2000) and many others, all of whom have mentioned it in their work.
Several versions of the story were written during the Middle Ages. In the 14th century, the Miracle de Sainte Bautheuch offers a theatrical version of the tale. In the following excerpt, the character called Genais tells his two sons that they will have to leave the kingdom by way of the Seine.

The Franciad is an unfinished epic tale by Ronsard (1524–1585) about the history of France. In this extract from the fourth book, the poet refers to the “Énervés de Jumièges” legend. It relates the punishment King Clovis and Queen II inflicted on their two sons for attempting to usurp the throne while he was on a crusade. Their mother had their tendons cut or burned and cast them adrift on a boat on the Seine. The boat ends its journey in Jumièges, where the founder of the abbey offers them shelter.
From this legendary episode, Ronsard draws a lesson for the children: do not go against your parents. Here, the Seine is where torment takes place.

In 1885, Henri BEAUCLAIR (1860–1911) published his satirical collection entitled “Les Déliquescences d’Adoré Floupette” in which he mocks symbolism and decadentism, two dominant movements at the end of the century. In this poem, the legend of “Les Énervés de Jumièges” is used as a background for the parody.

In La Force de l’âge, Simone de Beauvoir recounts her experience as a philosophy professor in Rouen between 1932 and 1937.
During a visit from Jean-Paul Sartre, she visited the Musée des Beaux-arts and was taken aback by a painting by Luminais depicting the legend of the Énervés de Jumièges.
The legend recounts the punishment inflicted by King Clovis II on his two sons, who tried to usurp his throne whilst he took part in the Crusades. He ordered that their tendons be slit and cast them adrift from Paris on a boat on the Seine. The boat ended up in Jumièges where they were taken in by the abbey’s founder.
The legend has been depicted in numerous paintings and has also inspired writers such as Ronsard (La Franciade), Proust (À la recherche du temps perdu), Maurice Leblanc (La Comtesse de Cagliostro), Guy de Maupassant (Fort comme la mort), Dominique Noguez (Dandy de l’an 2000) and many others, all of whom have mentioned it in their work.