in the Bois de Verrières. The selection of sites was from the beginning conditioned by water and access. The village that later gave birth to Antony was installed in a location conducive to human settlement: a hillside site with many advantages—easy to protect because of its height with richer soil than that on the plateau and in an area not subject to flooding as it was above the marshes but at the level of water sources that rise from the green marl. The many fountains in Rue de l'Eglise and the Avenue du Bois-de-Verrières and the place names (Sources, Gouttieres) attest to the existence of this Water table. In 1852, when the cemetery was being moved from in front of the church, sarcophagi were discovered that were originally supposed to be Frankish or Merovingian. It may be that people have lived around the Gallo-Roman villa since ancient times. Antony from the 10th to the 15th centuries From the 10th to the 15th century the Lordship of Antony was one of the main dependencies of the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. The location at Antony had a ford called Pont-aux-Ânes (Bridge of the Asses) from Roman and medieval times. This hillside location provided Antony with a connection with Montlhéry, a stronghold which monitored the southern approaches to Paris. Antony also had a small fortress, the Tour d'Argent (Tower of Silver) which was located in the upper part of the village in a position overlooking the ford and possibly serving a defensive function. In 1042, the King of France, Henri I, accorded the abbot of Saint-Germain des Près "an altar dedicated to Saint Saturnin and located in the territory of Paris, in the jurisdiction called Paris". In 1177 in recognition of the importance of the village Antony chapel became a parish church. The people were then all serfs of the Abbey. City dwellers then began to get communal Charters and those campaigns began the great liberation movement that led to the emancipation of the serfs. The decisive date was in 1248: Thomas de Mauleon, the Abbot of Saint-Germain des Près, freed his serfs in Antony and Verrières. Many expenses still faced these farmers: they had to pay an annual rent, tithes for the mills, ovens, and presses, and also provide Corvées or unpaid labour, such as cleaning the Bièvre every three years. The Kings of France had the right of accommodation in Antony. Under