monastery was founded in the 10th century with the building funded by numerous donations. The city of Uzerche began to take shape around the monastery. All the 100 resident monks were vassals of the abbot and he himself was a vassal of the king. In 1095 Pope Urban II travelled to Clermont-Ferrand to prepare for his first crusade and also made a visit to Uzerche in the same year. A monk named Maurice Bourdin, who was born in the neighbourhood of Uzerche, set up as an anti-pope from 1118 to 1121, under the name of Gregory VIII. The Benedictine Abbey was powerful and prosperous with its golden age from 12th to 13th century. Little remains of the original abbey except the church of Saint Pierre, an unmistakable monument to the Roman art of the Limousin of that time and the crypt which contains relics of the two Breton bishops, venerated as pilgrims of the Saint Jacques de Compostelle pilgrim route: Saint-Leonard and Saint Coronat. 10th to 14th centuries In the year 909 the Normans looted the city. Later, in 992, Archimbald I, viscount of Segur, gifted the 'Chapelle Notre-Dame' to the monks of the Abbey. This chapel still exists in Uzerche at the 'Place des Vignerons'. Around 1159 Uzerche became under the domination of the Normans. In the 12th century another period of power and wealth started for Uzerche. Several important and powerful people came to visit the Abbey; among them were King Henry I of England (1156) and King Richard I of England (1189). The 12th and 13th centuries saw the height of the popularity of the troubadours Gaucelm Faidit and Uc de la Bachellerie who were very well received in Uzerche. The middle of the 13th century saw another wave of important and royal visitors in Uzerche. Louis IX of France in 1244 and 1256, Philippe III of France in 1285, Pope Clement V in 1306 and Charles IV of France in 1324. The bubonic plague had a catastrophic effect on Uzerche, bringing in its wake, death and disaster. Following the old tradition of giving thanks to St. John for protecting them, people in Uzerche, to this day, hang a walnut branch on their front door every 24 June. In 1374 Uzerche had three royal lilies added to their Coat of Arms by King Charles V, as a reward for the energetic defence of the city against attacks