Richbod
Encyclopedia
Richbod was the Abbot of Lorsch
from 784 and Abbot of Mettlach and Archbishop of Trier from around 792. He held the two abbacies and the bishopric concurrently until his death. He was the first archbishop of Trier.
Richbod was a pupil of Alcuin
at the court of Charlemagne
. In that inner court circle, where the learned assumed ancient names associated with wise men, he was Macarius. He was regarded as a man wise before God and popular with men. According to Alcuin, he was a great admirer of Vergil, whose Aeneid
he was reputed to know better than the Gospels.
In 798, he drew up a response to the adoptionist heresy of Felix of Urgel. Other than this, his actions as archbishop are obscure. In Lorsch, however, he transferred the dormitory from the north to the south and surrounded it with a wall. Furthermore, he surrounded the tomb of Saint Nazarius
with a gold and silver lattice and a colourful new marble floor. He died in Trier
and was buried in the abbey at Lorsch.
Lorsch Abbey
The Abbey of Lorsch is a former Imperial Abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about 10 km east of Worms, one of the most renowned monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ruined state, its remains are among the most important pre-Romanesque–Carolingian style buildings in Germany...
from 784 and Abbot of Mettlach and Archbishop of Trier from around 792. He held the two abbacies and the bishopric concurrently until his death. He was the first archbishop of Trier.
Richbod was a pupil of Alcuin
Alcuin
Alcuin of York or Ealhwine, nicknamed Albinus or Flaccus was an English scholar, ecclesiastic, poet and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student of Archbishop Ecgbert at York...
at the court 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...
. In that inner court circle, where the learned assumed ancient names associated with wise men, he was Macarius. He was regarded as a man wise before God and popular with men. According to Alcuin, he was a great admirer of Vergil, whose Aeneid
Aeneid
The Aeneid is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of roughly 10,000 lines in dactylic hexameter...
he was reputed to know better than the Gospels.
In 798, he drew up a response to the adoptionist heresy of Felix of Urgel. Other than this, his actions as archbishop are obscure. In Lorsch, however, he transferred the dormitory from the north to the south and surrounded it with a wall. Furthermore, he surrounded the tomb of Saint Nazarius
Nazarius and Celsus
Saints Nazarius and Celsus were two martyrs of whom nothing is known except the discovery of their bodies by Saint Ambrose.According to Paulinus the Deacon's Vita Ambrosii, Ambrose, at some time within the last three years of his life, after the death of the Emperor Theodosius Saints Nazarius and...
with a gold and silver lattice and a colourful new marble floor. He died in Trier
Trier
Trier, historically called in English Treves is a city in Germany on the banks of the Moselle. It is the oldest city in Germany, founded in or before 16 BC....
and was buried in the abbey at Lorsch.
Sources
- Chronicon Laureshamense. Mon. Germ. hist. Ss. 21, 352
- Epistolae Alcuini. Bibliotheca rer. Germ. VI. Jaffé