Peter of Tarentaise
Peter II by Tarentaise O.Cist. (* 1102 in Saint-Maurice-l'Exil ; † 1174 in the Bellevaux Abbey ) was a Roman Catholic Cistercian abbot and bishop . His canonization by Pope Celestine III. took place in 1191.
biography
Peter was born in Saint-Maurice-l'Exil near Vienne in the Dauphiné in France in 1102 and entered the Cistercian order at the age of 20 with his father and two brothers , in the Bonnevaux (Dauphiné) monastery . In 1132 he became abbot of the Cistercian Abbey of Tamié in the province of Tarentaise in Savoy , France. As Archbishop of Tarentaise , an office he had hesitantly accepted in 1142, he devoted himself to the rebuilding of the declining diocese , to care for the poor and to education , applying Cistercian principles . He had the inadequate hospice rebuilt on the Little St. Bernard in order to give the travelers safe protection on this route, which was important at the time, and introduced the tradition in Tarentaise of distributing to the surrounding rural population, who were starving in the time before the harvest Food support. This tradition was preserved under the name “pain de mai” (May bread) until the French Revolution . As archbishop he soon played a political role, as an advisor to the Duke of Savoy and as a diplomat. The legend reports that in 1155 he retired as a simple monk to the Cistercian monastery in Lützel , but was moved to return to the archbishop's chair. In the dispute between Pope Alexander III. and the antipope Viktor IV , Peter stood on Alexander's side and was called to mediate a reconciliation between King Louis VII of France and King Henry II of England . He soon had a reputation for performing miraculous healings and drew crowds on his travels through France and Italy. Even in old age he was very active. As a regular guest at the Grande Chartreuse , he was looked after by a young monk who later became known as St. Hugo of Lincoln . On the way to the Cistercian Abbey of Bellevaux in Franche-Comté, he reached his destination seriously ill. After his early death he was buried in the local monastery church.
His friend Geoffroy d'Auxerre, abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Hautecombe , wrote a vita which was the basis for his canonization in 1191. His relics in Bellevaux enjoyed great veneration. Today the main part is in the Tamie monastery and in the village church of Cirey .
literature
- Donald Attwater, Catherine Rachel John: The Penguin Dictionary of Saints. Penguin Books, London 1995. ISBN 0-14-051312-4 .
- Anselme Dimier : Saint Pierre de Tarantaise. Essai historique . Abbaye Saint-Martin de Ligué 1935.
- Anselme Dimier: Pietro II, arcivescovo di Tarantasia. In: Bibliotheca Sanctorum , Vol. 10, Rome 1968.
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Peter of Tarentaise |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Pierre de Tarentaise |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Cistercian Abbot and Bishop of Tarentaise |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1102 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Saint-Maurice-l'Exil |
| DATE OF DEATH | 1174 |
| Place of death | Bellevaux monastery |