Abbo of Fleury
Encyclopedia
Abbo of Fleury also known as Abbon or Saint Abbo (c. 945 - 13 November 1004) was a monk, and later abbot, of the Benedictine monastery of Fleury sur Loire
(the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire
) near Orléans
, France
.
He was born near Orléans
and was educated at Paris
and Reims
, devoting himself to philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. He spent two years (986-987) in England
, mostly in the newly founded monastery of Ramsey
, assisting Archbishop Oswald of York
in restoring the monastic system. He was also abbot and director of the school of this newly founded monastery from 986 to 987 .
Abbo returned to Fleury in 988, where he was selected abbot of Fleury after the death of the Abbot Oilbold. But another monk, who had secured the support of the King and his son Robert, Bishop of Orléans, contested the choice, and the matter assumed national importance. It was finally settled in favour of Abbo by the famous Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II). The new abbot was active in contemporary politics: He was present at the Synod of St. Basolus (St. Basle), near Reims, at which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims
was tried for treason and deposed, to make way for Gerbert. In 996 King Robert II
(Robert the Pious) sent him to Rome
to ward off a threatened papal interdict
over Robert's marriage to Bertha. On the way to Rome he met Pope Gregory V
, who was a fugitive from the city from which the Antipope John XVI
had expelled him. Between the Pontiff and the Abbot the greatest esteem and affection existed. The royal petition for a dispensation was rejected. Abbo succeeded in bringing about the restoration of Arnulf to the see of Reims. He was influential in calming the excitement and fear about the end of the world which was widespread in Europe in 1000.
In 1004 he attempted to restore discipline in the monastery of La Reole
, in Gascony
, by transferring some of the monks of Fleury into that community. But the trouble increased; fighting began between the two parties and when St. Abbo endeavoured to separate them he was pierced in the side by a lance
. He concealed the wound and reached his cell, where he died in the arms of his faithful disciple Aimoin
, who has left an account of his labours and virtues. The miracles wrought at his tomb soon caused him to be regarded in the Church of Gaul
as a saint
and martyr
, although he does not seem to have been officially canonized
by Rome
. His feast is kept on 13 November.
When in England he learned of the martyrdom of Saint Edmund (November 870), and wrote a passion in Latin on it. He also wrote a Latin grammar for his English students, and three poems to St Dunstan
. Among his other works are a simplification of the computus
, the computation of the date of Easter
; an Epitome de XCI Romanorum Pontificum Vitis (book on the lives of Roman pope
s, which is an abridgement of the earlier Liber Pontificalis
), a Collectio Canonum, with clarifications about topics of Canon Law, and other treatises on controversial topics and letters. Around 980 to 985, he wrote a commentary on the "Calculus" of Victorius of Aquitaine
, before the introduction of Arabic numerals, when calculations were often quite complex. The wide range of Abbo's thought is reflected in the commentary, covering the nature of wisdom, the philosophy of number, the relationship of unity and plurality, and the arithmetic of the Calculus. Abbo drew on his knowledge of grammar, logic and cosmology to illustrate his arguments, and set it all in the broader context of his theology of Creation. Most of Abbo's works can be found in the Patrologia Latina
(CXXXIX,375-582).
We have one contemporary biography, written by his disciple Aimoin
of Fleury, in which much of Abbo's correspondence was reproduced. It is of great importance, among other things as a historical source of information for the reign of Robert II of France
, especially with reference to the Papacy.
Fleury Abbey
Fleury Abbey in Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire, Loiret, France, founded about 640, is one of the most celebrated Benedictine monasteries of Western Europe, which posseses the relics of St. Benedict of Nursia. Its site on the banks of the Loire has always made it easily accessible from Orléans, a center of...
(the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire
Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire
Saint-Benoît-sur-Loire is a commune in the Loiret department in north-central France.This town hosts the Abbaye de Fleury, also known as the Abbaye de Saint Benoît . Founded around 630, it is one of the oldest abbeys of the Benedictine rule...
) near Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
.
He was born near Orléans
Orléans
-Prehistory and Roman:Cenabum was a Gallic stronghold, one of the principal towns of the Carnutes tribe where the Druids held their annual assembly. It was conquered and destroyed by Julius Caesar in 52 BC, then rebuilt under the Roman Empire...
and was educated at Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
and Reims
Reims
Reims , a city in the Champagne-Ardenne region of France, lies east-northeast of Paris. Founded by the Gauls, it became a major city during the period of the Roman Empire....
, devoting himself to philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. He spent two years (986-987) in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, mostly in the newly founded monastery of Ramsey
Ramsey Abbey
Ramsey Abbey is a former Benedictine abbey located in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England, southeast of Peterborough and north of Huntingdon, UK.-History:...
, assisting Archbishop Oswald of York
York
York is a walled city, situated at the confluence of the Rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. The city has a rich heritage and has provided the backdrop to major political events throughout much of its two millennia of existence...
in restoring the monastic system. He was also abbot and director of the school of this newly founded monastery from 986 to 987 .
Abbo returned to Fleury in 988, where he was selected abbot of Fleury after the death of the Abbot Oilbold. But another monk, who had secured the support of the King and his son Robert, Bishop of Orléans, contested the choice, and the matter assumed national importance. It was finally settled in favour of Abbo by the famous Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester II). The new abbot was active in contemporary politics: He was present at the Synod of St. Basolus (St. Basle), near Reims, at which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims
Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims
Arnulf was archbishop of Reims and the illegitimate son of King Lothair of France.Archbishop Adalberon wanted Gerbert of Aurillac to succeed him, but King Hugh Capet accepted the elected Arnulf, a Carolingian, in March 989. In September of that year, Arnulf supported an attempt to place his uncle...
was tried for treason and deposed, to make way for Gerbert. In 996 King Robert II
Robert II of France
Robert II , called the Pious or the Wise , was King of France from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine....
(Robert the Pious) sent him to Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
to ward off a threatened papal interdict
Interdict (Roman Catholic Church)
In Roman Catholic canon law, an interdict is an ecclesiastical censure that excludes from certain rites of the Church individuals or groups, who nonetheless do not cease to be members of the Church.-Distinctions in canon law:...
over Robert's marriage to Bertha. On the way to Rome he met Pope Gregory V
Pope Gregory V
Pope Gregory V, né Bruno of Carinthia , Pope from May 3, 996 to February 18, 999, son of the Salian Otto I, Duke of Carinthia, who was a grandson of the Emperor Otto I the Great . Gregory V succeeded Pope John XV , when only twenty-four years of age...
, who was a fugitive from the city from which the Antipope John XVI
Antipope John XVI
John XVI , born , , was an antipope from 997 to 998.-Life:He was born of Greek descent and was a native of Rossano in Calabria, southern Italy. At the time the region was a territory of the Byzantine Empire and John was the chaplain of Theophanu, the Empress consort of Emperor Otto II , who had...
had expelled him. Between the Pontiff and the Abbot the greatest esteem and affection existed. The royal petition for a dispensation was rejected. Abbo succeeded in bringing about the restoration of Arnulf to the see of Reims. He was influential in calming the excitement and fear about the end of the world which was widespread in Europe in 1000.
In 1004 he attempted to restore discipline in the monastery of La Reole
La Réole
La Réole is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.-Geography:La Réole is located on the right bank of the Garonne, southeast of Bordeaux by rail.-History:...
, in Gascony
Gascony
Gascony is an area of southwest France that was part of the "Province of Guyenne and Gascony" prior to the French Revolution. The region is vaguely defined and the distinction between Guyenne and Gascony is unclear; sometimes they are considered to overlap, and sometimes Gascony is considered a...
, by transferring some of the monks of Fleury into that community. But the trouble increased; fighting began between the two parties and when St. Abbo endeavoured to separate them he was pierced in the side by a lance
Lance
A Lance is a pole weapon or spear designed to be used by a mounted warrior. The lance is longer, stout and heavier than an infantry spear, and unsuited for throwing, or for rapid thrusting. Lances did not have tips designed to intentionally break off or bend, unlike many throwing weapons of the...
. He concealed the wound and reached his cell, where he died in the arms of his faithful disciple Aimoin
Aimoin
Aimoin , French chronicler, was born at Villefranche-de-Longchat about 960, and in early life entered the monastery of Fleury, where he became a monk and passed the greater part of his life....
, who has left an account of his labours and virtues. The miracles wrought at his tomb soon caused him to be regarded in the Church of Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
as a saint
Saint
A saint is a holy person. In various religions, saints are people who are believed to have exceptional holiness.In Christian usage, "saint" refers to any believer who is "in Christ", and in whom Christ dwells, whether in heaven or in earth...
and martyr
Martyr
A martyr is somebody who suffers persecution and death for refusing to renounce, or accept, a belief or cause, usually religious.-Meaning:...
, although he does not seem to have been officially canonized
Canonization
Canonization is the act by which a Christian church declares a deceased person to be a saint, upon which declaration the person is included in the canon, or list, of recognized saints. Originally, individuals were recognized as saints without any formal process...
by Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
. His feast is kept on 13 November.
When in England he learned of the martyrdom of Saint Edmund (November 870), and wrote a passion in Latin on it. He also wrote a Latin grammar for his English students, and three poems to St Dunstan
Dunstan
Dunstan was an Abbot of Glastonbury Abbey, a Bishop of Worcester, a Bishop of London, and an Archbishop of Canterbury, later canonised as a saint. His work restored monastic life in England and reformed the English Church...
. Among his other works are a simplification of the computus
Computus
Computus is the calculation of the date of Easter in the Christian calendar. The name has been used for this procedure since the early Middle Ages, as it was one of the most important computations of the age....
, the computation of the date of Easter
Easter
Easter is the central feast in the Christian liturgical year. According to the Canonical gospels, Jesus rose from the dead on the third day after his crucifixion. His resurrection is celebrated on Easter Day or Easter Sunday...
; an Epitome de XCI Romanorum Pontificum Vitis (book on the lives of Roman pope
Pope
The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, a position that makes him the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church . In the Catholic Church, the Pope is regarded as the successor of Saint Peter, the Apostle...
s, which is an abridgement of the earlier Liber Pontificalis
Liber Pontificalis
The Liber Pontificalis is a book of biographies of popes from Saint Peter until the 15th century. The original publication of the Liber Pontificalis stopped with Pope Adrian II or Pope Stephen V , but it was later supplemented in a different style until Pope Eugene IV and then Pope Pius II...
), a Collectio Canonum, with clarifications about topics of Canon Law, and other treatises on controversial topics and letters. Around 980 to 985, he wrote a commentary on the "Calculus" of Victorius of Aquitaine
Victorius of Aquitaine
Victorius of Aquitaine, a countryman of Prosper of Aquitaine and also working in Rome, produced in 457 an Easter Cycle, which was based on the consular list provided by Prosper's Chronicle. This dependency caused scholars to think that Prosper had been working on his own Easter Annals for quite...
, before the introduction of Arabic numerals, when calculations were often quite complex. The wide range of Abbo's thought is reflected in the commentary, covering the nature of wisdom, the philosophy of number, the relationship of unity and plurality, and the arithmetic of the Calculus. Abbo drew on his knowledge of grammar, logic and cosmology to illustrate his arguments, and set it all in the broader context of his theology of Creation. Most of Abbo's works can be found in the Patrologia Latina
Patrologia Latina
The Patrologia Latina is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1844 and 1855, with indices published between 1862 and 1865....
(CXXXIX,375-582).
We have one contemporary biography, written by his disciple Aimoin
Aimoin
Aimoin , French chronicler, was born at Villefranche-de-Longchat about 960, and in early life entered the monastery of Fleury, where he became a monk and passed the greater part of his life....
of Fleury, in which much of Abbo's correspondence was reproduced. It is of great importance, among other things as a historical source of information for the reign of Robert II of France
Robert II of France
Robert II , called the Pious or the Wise , was King of France from 996 until his death. The second reigning member of the House of Capet, he was born in Orléans to Hugh Capet and Adelaide of Aquitaine....
, especially with reference to the Papacy.
External links and references
- A more extensive biography: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/rawl/edmund/abbo.html
- His Passion of St.Edmund:
- http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/rawl/edmund/latin.html
- English translation: http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/rawl/edmund/lattrans.html
- An image of one of his manuscripts: http://www.irht.cnrs.fr/coloque_abbon_image.htm
- Abbo in the Christian Cyclopedia
- Schoolmasters of the Tenth Century. Cora E.Lutz. Archon Books 1977.