Sigebert of Gembloux
Encyclopedia
Sigebert of Gembloux (c. 1030 – 5 October 1112) was a medieval author, known mainly as a pro-Imperial historian of a universal chronicle, opposed to the expansive papacy of Gregory VII
and Pascal II. He became in early life a monk in the Benedictine
abbey of Gembloux
.
, Belgium, about 1030. He was apparently not of Germanic background, but seems to have been of Latin descent. He received his education at the Abbey of Gembloux, where at an early age he became a monk. Later he was for a long time a teacher at the Abbey of St. Vincent at Metz
; about 1070 he returned to Gembloux. He was universally admired and venerated, and had charge there of the abbey school until his death, occupied in teaching and writing.
After his return from Metz he became a violent imperial partisan in the great struggle between the empire and the papacy that culminated in the Investiture Controversy
. He was an enemy of the papal pretensions and he took part in the momentous contest between Pope Gregory VII
and the Emperor Henry IV
. Of his three treatises on this question, being very serviceable to the imperial cause to the contest, one is lost; this was an answer to the letter of Gregory VII, written in 1081 to Bishop Hermann of Metz, in which Gregory asserted that the popes have the right to excommunicate kings and to release subjects from the oath of loyalty. In the second treatise Sigebert defended the masses said by married priests, the hearing of which had been forbidden by the pope in 1074. When Paschal II in 1103 ordered the Count of Flanders to punish the citizens of Liège
for their adherence to the emperor and to take up arms against him, Sigebert attacked the proceeding of the pope as unchristian and contrary to Scripture.
He died at Gembloux on 5 November 1112.
found to be the best work of its kind. It contains many errors and but little original information. He desired probably merely to give a chronological survey; consequently there is only a bare list of events even for the era in which he lived, though the last years, including 1105-1111, are treated in more detail. It covers the period between 381 and 1111, and its author was evidently a man of much learning. The first of many printed editions was published in 1513; the best is in Monumenta Germaniae Historica
. Scriptores vol. VI, with introduction by Ludwig Conrad Bethmann. After Sigebert's death his chronicle was continued by Anselm of Gembloux
.
The chronicle was very popular during the later Middle Ages
; it gained a very high reputation, was circulated in numberless copies, and was used by many writers and found numerous continuators, serving as the basis of many later works of history. Notwithstanding various oversights and mistakes the industry and wide reading of Sigebert deserve honorable mention.
Other works by Sigebert are a life of the Frankish king Sigebert III
(Vita Sigeberti III regis Austrasiae), founder of the monastery of St. Martin at Metz. While at Metz he wrote the biography of Bishop Theodoric I of Metz (964-985), and also a long poem on the martyrdom of St. Lucy, whose relics were venerated at the Abbey of St. Vincent. After his return to Gembloux he also wrote similar works for this abbey, namely a long poem on the martyrdom of the Theban Legion
— as Gembloux had relics of its reputed leader St. Exuperius
(d. 262) — and a history of the early abbots of Gembloux to 1048 (Gesta abbatum Gemblacensium).
He also made a catalogue of one hundred and seventy-one ecclesiastical writers and their works from Gennadius
to his own time, De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, which mentions his own work.
Sigebert was also a hagiographer. Among his writings in this connexion may be mentioned revisions of the biographies of St. Maclovius and the two early bishops of Liège, Theodard of Maastricht
and Lambert of Maastricht; further the vita
of Dietrich, bishop of Metz (d. 984) who was the founder of the abbey of St Vincent in that city (Vita Deoderici, Mettensis episcopi) and of Wicbert or Guibert (d. 962) who founded the abbey of Gembloux (Vita Wicberti).
Pope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
and Pascal II. He became in early life a monk in the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
abbey of Gembloux
Abbey of Gembloux
Gembloux Abbey was a Benedictine abbey near the town of Gembloux in the province of Namur, Belgium.-History:The former Benedictine monastery, located about nine miles north-west of Namur on the river Orneau, was founded about 945 by Saint Guibert or Wibert and dedicated to Saint Peter and the...
.
Biography
He was born near Gembloux which is now in the Province of NamurNamur (province)
Namur is a province of Wallonia, one of the three regions of Belgium. It borders on the Walloon provinces of Hainaut, Walloon Brabant, Liège and Luxembourg in Belgium, and on France. Its capital is the city of Namur...
, Belgium, about 1030. He was apparently not of Germanic background, but seems to have been of Latin descent. He received his education at the Abbey of Gembloux, where at an early age he became a monk. Later he was for a long time a teacher at the Abbey of St. Vincent at Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
; about 1070 he returned to Gembloux. He was universally admired and venerated, and had charge there of the abbey school until his death, occupied in teaching and writing.
After his return from Metz he became a violent imperial partisan in the great struggle between the empire and the papacy that culminated in the Investiture Controversy
Investiture Controversy
The Investiture Controversy or Investiture Contest was the most significant conflict between Church and state in medieval Europe. In the 11th and 12th centuries, a series of Popes challenged the authority of European monarchies over control of appointments, or investitures, of church officials such...
. He was an enemy of the papal pretensions and he took part in the momentous contest between Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII
Pope St. Gregory VII , born Hildebrand of Sovana , was Pope from April 22, 1073, until his death. One of the great reforming popes, he is perhaps best known for the part he played in the Investiture Controversy, his dispute with Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor affirming the primacy of the papal...
and the Emperor Henry IV
Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry IV was King of the Romans from 1056 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 until his forced abdication in 1105. He was the third emperor of the Salian dynasty and one of the most powerful and important figures of the 11th century...
. Of his three treatises on this question, being very serviceable to the imperial cause to the contest, one is lost; this was an answer to the letter of Gregory VII, written in 1081 to Bishop Hermann of Metz, in which Gregory asserted that the popes have the right to excommunicate kings and to release subjects from the oath of loyalty. In the second treatise Sigebert defended the masses said by married priests, the hearing of which had been forbidden by the pope in 1074. When Paschal II in 1103 ordered the Count of Flanders to punish the citizens of Liège
Liège
Liège is a major city and municipality of Belgium located in the province of Liège, of which it is the economic capital, in Wallonia, the French-speaking region of Belgium....
for their adherence to the emperor and to take up arms against him, Sigebert attacked the proceeding of the pope as unchristian and contrary to Scripture.
He died at Gembloux on 5 November 1112.
Works
Sigebert's most celebrated work is a Chronicon sive Chronographia, or universal chronicle, that Auguste MolinierAuguste Molinier
August Molinier was a French historian.He was born at Toulouse. He was a pupil at the École des Chartes, which he left in 1873, and also at the École des Hautes Études; and he obtained appointments in the public libraries at the Mazarine , at Fontainebleau , and at Sainte-Geneviève, of which he...
found to be the best work of its kind. It contains many errors and but little original information. He desired probably merely to give a chronological survey; consequently there is only a bare list of events even for the era in which he lived, though the last years, including 1105-1111, are treated in more detail. It covers the period between 381 and 1111, and its author was evidently a man of much learning. The first of many printed editions was published in 1513; the best is in Monumenta Germaniae Historica
Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The Monumenta Germaniae Historica is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published sources for the study of German history from the end of the Roman Empire to 1500.The society sponsoring the series was established by the Prussian reformer Heinrich Friedrich Karl Freiherr vom...
. Scriptores vol. VI, with introduction by Ludwig Conrad Bethmann. After Sigebert's death his chronicle was continued by Anselm of Gembloux
Anselm of Gembloux
Anselm of Gembloux was abbot of Gembloux Abbey 1115–1136, and continuator of the chronicle of Sigebert of Gembloux.-Sources:*Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Scriptores, VI 375-385....
.
The chronicle was very popular during the later Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
; it gained a very high reputation, was circulated in numberless copies, and was used by many writers and found numerous continuators, serving as the basis of many later works of history. Notwithstanding various oversights and mistakes the industry and wide reading of Sigebert deserve honorable mention.
Other works by Sigebert are a life of the Frankish king Sigebert III
Sigebert III
Sigebert III was the king of Austrasia from 634 to his death; probably on 1 February 656, or maybe as late as 660. He was the eldest son of Dagobert I....
(Vita Sigeberti III regis Austrasiae), founder of the monastery of St. Martin at Metz. While at Metz he wrote the biography of Bishop Theodoric I of Metz (964-985), and also a long poem on the martyrdom of St. Lucy, whose relics were venerated at the Abbey of St. Vincent. After his return to Gembloux he also wrote similar works for this abbey, namely a long poem on the martyrdom of the Theban Legion
Theban Legion
The Theban Legion figures in Christian hagiography as an entire Roman legion — of "six thousand six hundred and sixty-six men" — who had converted en masse to Christianity and were martyred together, in 286, according to the hagiographies of Saint Maurice, the chief among the Legion's...
— as Gembloux had relics of its reputed leader St. Exuperius
Exuperius (Theban Legion)
Exuperius or Exupernis is venerated as a saint and martyr by the Catholic Church; according to tradition, he was the standard-bearer of the Theban Legion and thus a companion to Saint Maurice.-Veneration:...
(d. 262) — and a history of the early abbots of Gembloux to 1048 (Gesta abbatum Gemblacensium).
He also made a catalogue of one hundred and seventy-one ecclesiastical writers and their works from Gennadius
Gennadius
Gennadius or Gennadios may refer to:*Gennadius I, Patriarch of Constantinople from 458-471 AD*Gennadius II, Patriarch of Constantinople from 1454-1464 AD*Gennadius of Massilia, 5th-century historian, best known for his work De Viris Illustribus...
to his own time, De scriptoribus ecclesiasticis, which mentions his own work.
Sigebert was also a hagiographer. Among his writings in this connexion may be mentioned revisions of the biographies of St. Maclovius and the two early bishops of Liège, Theodard of Maastricht
Theodard of Maastricht
Theodard of Maastricht was a seventh-century bishop of Maastricht, in present-day Belgium. He is known from hagiographical writings from later centuries, in particular one by Anselm of Liège. He was murdered, probably c.670, on a journey to Childeric II of Austrasia. His nephew, Lambert of...
and Lambert of Maastricht; further the vita
Biography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
of Dietrich, bishop of Metz (d. 984) who was the founder of the abbey of St Vincent in that city (Vita Deoderici, Mettensis episcopi) and of Wicbert or Guibert (d. 962) who founded the abbey of Gembloux (Vita Wicberti).
Sources and references
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/13783c.htm- Denys HayDenys HayDenys Hay was a historian specializing in medieval and Renaissance Europe, and notable for demonstrating the influence of Italy on events in the rest of the continent....
, Annalists and Historians: Western Historiography from the Eighth to the Eighteenth Centuries (London/New York) 1977. - For Sigebert as the author of De investitura episcoporum, see Jutta Beumann , Sigebert von Gembloux und der Traktat de investitura episcoporum (Sigmaringen) 1976.
- Tino Licht: Untersuchungen zum biographischen Werk Sigeberts von Gembloux (Heidelberg 2005).
- Sigebert von Gembloux: Acta Sanctae Luciae (Heidelberg) 2008 (=Editiones Heidelbergenses 34).
External links
- Sigebert's recording of a comet, 1106
- Sigebert of Gembloux at The Latin LibraryThe Latin LibraryThe Latin Library is a website that collects public domain Latin texts. The texts have been drawn from different sources. Many were originally scanned and formatted from texts in the Public Domain. Others have been downloaded from various sites on the Internet . Most of the recent texts have been...