Redon Abbey

[2] Both Count Ricwin of Nantes and Raginarius (Rainer), Bishop of Vannes,[3] refused at first to support the new foundation, and influenced the Emperor Louis the Pious against it.

In 834 however the new monastery gained the patronage of Nominoe, princeps and later the first Duke of Brittany, as evidenced by his charter to it, which was witnessed by Bishop Raginarius, who had apparently overcome his initial opposition.

It was the next bishop, Courantgern (850-868), who at length abolished the episcopal supervision of the abbey because of Norman raids, which made it too dangerous for monks to travel overland to Vannes for their ordination.

The abbey also received numerous gifts from local free peasants (machtierni), which admittedly were often contested by their relatives.

During his leadership Redon, like the whole region round the mouths of the Loire and the Vilaine, suffered greatly from the attacks of the heathen Normans.

In 1449, as a sign of his favour, he petitioned Pope Eugene IV to have Redon made the seat of a diocese, with the abbot as bishop, and a bull to that effect was issued on 10 June 1449.

The neighbouring bishops of Rennes, Vannes and Nantes, whose territories would have been reduced by the creation of the new diocese, protested so much, however, that the Pope reversed his decision and issued another bull suppressing it, on 20 December 1449.

The monastery consisted of a dormitory, gatehouse, guesthouse, an infirmary and a garden, where Saint Condeloc worked: among other things he dismissed a plague of caterpillars by an appeal to the Holy Trinity.

The extensive cartulary of Redon Abbey, containing copies of documents from the foundation up to the 12th century, survives, and has been published in two editions.