Under his less energetic successor, it was taken in a day. Its
possessor, Robert, Earl of Brionne, felt himself so secure within his
towers, that he ventured, with only six attendants, to oppose the whole
army of the Norman Duke; but the besiegers observed that the fortress
was roofed with wood; and a shower of burning missiles compelled the
garrison to surrender at discretion.--The castle was finally dismantled
by the orders of Charles Vth.
Brionne is known in ecclesiastical history as the place where the
council of the church was held, by which the tenets of Berengarius were
finally condemned. It appears that the archdeacon of Angers, after some
fruitless attempts to make converts among the Norman monks, took the
bold resolution of stating his doctrines to the duke in person; and that
the prince, though scarcely arrived at years of manhood, acted with so
much prudence on the occasion, as to withhold any decisive answer, till
he had collected the clergy of the duchy. They assembled at Brionne, as
a central spot; and here the question was argued at great length, till
Berengarius himself, and a convert, whom he had brought with him,
trusting in his eloquence, were so overpowered by the arguments of their
adversaries, that they were obliged to renounce their errors.
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