Martin-du-Canigou (also "Saint-Martin-du-Canigou" or just "Canigou") is a monastery built in 1009 in the Pyrenees on Canigou mountain in present day southern France near the Spanish border. It was built by count de Cerdagne Guifred in atonement for the murder of his son and was populated by Benedictine monks. The monastery was abandoned by the monks in 1785 and fell to disrepair. In 1902, the bishop of Elne and Perpignan , because of his Catalan identity, restored the ruins radically and today it is occupied by a community of the Blisses .

History

In 1049, count de Cerdagne Guifred died at the monestary he had built. In 1051 a messenger set forth to visit religious houses throughout Europe to solicit prayers for his dead master. He brought a parchament upon which at each stop were added words of prayer and respect. This parchament has survived to modern times and scholars have used it to discover diffrences in culture between northern and southern Europe in a single given year. Some of the discoveries from this important document include the southern culture was more stoid and bound by custom while the northern culture more free form and experimental in their writing styles, use of words and grammar.

The document is printed by Leopold Delisle, Rouleaux des Morts du IX au XV Siecle (1866).

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