22 A HISTORY OF THE PERCHERON HORSE 



of The Perche and Mortagne. According to Odo- 

 lant-Desnos, the Eotrous, Seigneurs of Nogent, date 

 from before 853. The chief of these was Rotrou III, . 

 whom the historians call Rotrou II. He was first 

 Count of Mortagne and Seigneur of Nogent, became 

 later Count of The Perche, and has been sumamed 

 The Great. As a warrior he distinguished himself 

 by his feats against the Saracens in Spain, conquer- 

 ing several cities and taking many castles in the 

 year 1089. In 1095 he left for the Crusades with 

 Robert III, Duke of Normandy, who left his duchy 

 in pawn with Henry of England for the sum of 

 10,000 silver pounds. Rotrou commanded the tenth 

 corps of the army of the Christians at the siege of 

 Antioch. On the 15th of July, 1099, he took part in 

 the siege and capture of Jerusalem. The following 

 year he returned to The Perche. 



When Rotrou III came back he soon got into trou- 

 ble with his mortal enemy, Robert of Belleme, known 

 later to history as "Robert the Devil." In spite of 

 the fact that Rotrou had allied himself with Henry, 

 King of England, by marrying one of his daughters, 

 he could not avoid falling into Robert's hands on two 

 occasions. Later he went once more to fight the In- 

 fidels in Spain. When he returned in 1109 he founded 

 the Abbey of Tyron, which became in 1140 the cele- 

 brated Abbey of La Trappe. He founded other re- 

 ligious orders in The Perche. Fighting in Nor- 

 mandy, he was killed at the siege of the Grrosse Tour 

 of Rouen. The body was brought to the church of 

 St. Denis at Nogent, and buried. This ancient town, 



