Guicpert
Encyclopedia
Guicpert or Wigbert was the Abbot of Farfa for eleven months in 769–70 and probably also the Bishop of Rieti in 778. According to the twelfth-century chronicler of the abbey, Gregory of Catino
Gregory of Catino
Gregory of Catino was a monk of the Abbey of Farfa and "one of the most accomplished monastic historians of his age." Gregory died shortly after 1130, possibly in 1133....

, Wigbert was an Englishman
Anglo-Saxons
Anglo-Saxon is a term used by historians to designate the Germanic tribes who invaded and settled the south and east of Great Britain beginning in the early 5th century AD, and the period from their creation of the English nation to the Norman conquest. The Anglo-Saxon Era denotes the period of...

 and already a bishop when he convinced the dying Abbot Alan of Farfa
Alan of Farfa
Alan was an Aquitanian scholar, hermit and homilist who served as the sixth Abbot of Farfa in central Italy from 761. Before taking over at Farfa, Alan composed "one of the most successful homiliaries of the late eighth and early ninth centuries", traces of which may be found in the liturgical...

 to name him as his successor. From a twelfth-century perspective, Wigbert's accession was invalid because it was not in accordance with the Rule of Saint Benedict, although that rule was neither strictly nor uniformly enforced at Farfa in the eighth century. Nevertheless, the monks found Wigbert's rule a "tyranny" (in Gregory's words) and sought the king, Desiderius
Desiderius
Desiderius was the last king of the Lombard Kingdom of northern Italy...

, to remove him and confirm their freedom to elect a successor, which he did.

Nothing is known about Wigbert between February 770 and April 778, but in the latter month the bishop of Rieti, named Guicpert in the source, received for the duration of his life the church of Saint Michael in Rieti
Rieti
Rieti is a city and comune in Lazio, central Italy, with a population of c. 47,700. It is the capital of province of Rieti.The town centre rests on a small hilltop, commanding a wide plain at the southern edge of an ancient lake. The area is now the fertile basin of the Velino River...

 from Hildeprand
Hildeprand of Spoleto
Hildeprand was the Duke of Spoleto from 774 to 789.When Theodicius of Spoleto died fighting at the Siege of Pavia in 774, the Lombards of the Duchy of Spoleto elected Hildeprand their duke and quickly submitted to the Franks. Hildeprand fled to Rome before the Frankish host and did homage to Pope...

, Duke of Spoleto. This church had long been disputed between the dukes and the bishops, but the grant to Guicpert, which stated that the church was to revert to Farfa on his death, did not end the disputes. Guicpert's predecessor, Sinuald, had been bishop as late as March 777. By July 781, when a judicial decision of Charlemagne
Charlemagne
Charlemagne was King of the Franks from 768 and Emperor of the Romans from 800 to his death in 814. He expanded the Frankish kingdom into an empire that incorporated much of Western and Central Europe. During his reign, he conquered Italy and was crowned by Pope Leo III on 25 December 800...

placed the church under the control of Farfa, Guicpert was dead.
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