Whatever may have been the justice of these claims, the
antiquity of the monastery is admitted by all parties.--Its monks, like
those of the abbey of St. Ouen, had the privilege of receiving every new
bishop of the see, on the first day of his arrival at Evreux; and his
corpse was deposited in their church, where the funeral obsequies were
performed. This privilege, originally intended only as a mark of
distinction to the abbey, was on two occasions perverted to a purpose
that might scarcely have been expected. Upon the death of Bishop John
d'Aubergenville in 1256, the monks resented the reformation which he had
endeavoured to introduce into their order, by refusing to admit his body
within their precinct; and though fined for their obstinacy, they did
not learn wisdom by experience, but forty-three years afterwards shewed
their hostility decidedly towards the remains of Geoffrey of Bar, a
still more determined reformer of monastic abuses. Extreme was the
licentiousness which prevailed in those days among the monks of St.
Taurinus, and unceasing were the endeavors of the bishop to correct
them. The contest continued during his life, at the close of which they
not only shut their doors against his corpse, but dragged it from the
coffin and gave it a public flagellation.
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