The privilege of Saint Romain 

Raoul Renyer, from Pibeuf, was sentenced to death for killing Guillaume Simon, living in La Pommeraye, with a stick. It should be noted that the latter had beaten him violently on the arms and back. During 1451 Ascension Day the Chapter of Rouen cathedral , in application of the Saint Romain privilege, decided to pardon Raoul Renyer and to free him.

The origin of this privilege is not known. An investigation, under Philip Augustus in 1210, shows that this privilege already existed in the middle of the 11th century and that it is therefore difficult to question it. Successive kings never appreciated that one could rule on the life or death of an individual because only they had this privilege.

Saint Romain was the bishop of Rouen in the 7th century. Many miracles are attributed to him, one of which is used to justify the privilege.  Saint Roman killed the Gargoyle, a monster that terrorized the people of Rouen, with the help of a death row inmate whom he took with him. Since then, every year, the release of a death row inmate celebrated this high fact.

The pardoned was to lift the shrine containing the relics of Saint Romain before going to the cathedral for the celebration. This was done at the exit of the prison of the castle built by the Norman dukes, before its demolition by Philip Augustus in 1204. This place was preserved afterwards and this lifting of the relics was done after climbing the steps of the Fierte (1), built in 1542, which is, still today, part of Haute Vieille Tour.

This practice ceased during the revolution and was celebrated for the last time in 1790.

Fierte is a word in Old French that means hunt or reliquary and comes from the Latin feretum which means coffin.