Ansbert of Rouen

Ansbert von Rouen (* around 630 in Normandy , † probably February 9, 693 in Hautmont ) was Abbot of Fontenelle , Bishop of Rouen and Chancellor of the West Franconian Empire.

Ansbert was the son of a powerful aristocratic family and initially trainee lawyer, later administrator of the seal at the court of King Chlothar III. before he entered the Abbey at Fontenelle . At the time at court he was married to Angadrisma , who had already felt the desire to lead a religious life before him and was able to break free from her marriage to Ansbert through divine intervention (as the Vita reports). She later became the abbess of the nunnery of Oroër-des-Vierges .

After his ordination, Ansbert became the third abbot of this monastery in 678 and from 684 as the successor of Audoenus Archbishop of Rouen. Due to the role of the bishopric of Rouen as an important power base of the West Franconian Merovingians , he may have been in opposition to the rising Carolingians . After the solemn elevation of his predecessor, who was a political opponent of the Carolingians, to saint in 688 , he was banished by Pippin the Middle to the Hautmont monastery, where he probably died in 693 . However, his biography and two surviving Latin poems in his honor report that he was banished due to an intrigue.

His bones were transferred to the Saint Wandrille monastery and later detoured to Ghent, where they remained until 1578 and only disappeared during the Reformation.

The name Ansbert means He who shines through God .

Remembrance Day (Catholic): February 9th .

literature

• John Howe: The Hagiography of Saint-Wandrille. In: Martin Heinzelmann (Ed.): L 'hagiographie du haut moyen âge en Gaule du Nord. Manuscripts, textes and centers de production. (Supplement to the Francia , vol. 52). Thorbecke, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-7995-7446-8 , pp. 126–192, especially pp. 129–143 ( online )

predecessor	Office	successor
Ouen	Bishop of Rouen 684–693	Grippo