Note 35 — PLATES XXI.—XXIII. ABBEY CHURCH OF ST. STEPHEN. (WEST FRONT, AND ELEVATION OF COMPARTMENTS OF THE NAVE.)

Lanfranc, after having for some time directed at Bec the first school ever established in Normandy, upon his translation to Caen, opened another in that town. In the Lives of the Abbots of Bec, written in latin verse, in the twelfth century, by Peter, a monk of the convent of Saint-Pierre-sur-Dives, particular honor is given to Lanfranc on the subject of his school at Caen, which had produced many men eminent for their proficiency in sacred and secular literature, and was at that time flourishing. The Abbé De la Rue gives a long list of them. Essais Historiques, II. p. 70.