[1] Maurice was still a minor at the time, but in 1158, he took part in the siege of the town of Thouars, and then took a number of deeds in favour of the Abbey of La Roë.

This act, known from the reference in charter 231 of La Roë Abbey [fr] of the first court held by him at Poiltrée at Christmas time, after his return from Jerusalem, is furthermore attested by ten items of the Cartulaire de Craon.

He took several risks whilst in the Orient and, in executing an oath made abroad, in Egypto, he established an annuity of two sous for the benefit of the Collégiale Saint-Nicolas de Craon to contribute towards the chapel lamp.

[16] In 1177, following the agreement made between Louis VII and Henri II, he was predesignated as one of the arbitrators who would rule in the event of difficulties.

Maurice II was not only a great warrior and a man of faith; he was also a poet and amongst the songs of the trouvères of the Langue d'oïl, which have descended to us, there is one that one can legitimately be considered as being as his work[24] that which begins by the verse: A l'entrant del doux termine.Maurice II de Craon is the central character of the anonymous Middle High German verse romance Moriz von Craûn dated between 1187 and 1250.

This, in turn, derives from a French fabliau: Du chevalier qui recovra l'amour de sa dame.

The story tells of Maurice's attempts to woo "Isabel", depicted as the wife of his neighbour, Richard de Beaumont.