To the Abbots Assembled at Soissons This was one of the first general Chapters held by the Black Monks (as they are called) in the province of Rheims. It seems that its cause and occasion was the Apology addressed by Bernard to Abbot William, who was the prime mover in calling together this assembly, after the example of the Cluniacs and Cistercians, that they might re-establish the observance of the Rule which was being let slip. It was held without doubt at S. Medard under the Abbot Geoffrey, to whom Letter 66 was addressed. He was Bishop of Châlons-sur-Marne when Peter the Venerable spoke of him thus (B. ii. Ep. 43): “It is he who first spread the divine Order of Cluny through the whole of France, who was its author and propagator; and, far more, it was he who expelled ‘the old dragon’ from his resting-places in so many monasteries, and who roused monks from their torpor.” Innocent II, determined that these general Chapters should be held every year in future.