Theodulf of Orléans

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Church of Germigny-des-Prés : The only preserved Carolingian mosaic north of the Alps, placed in the dome of the east apse , shows the Ark of the Covenant surrounded by angels

Theodulf of Orléans (lat. Theodulfus Aurelianensis , * around 750 (/ 60 ); † 821 in Le Mans or Angers ) was a Visigoth scholar and poet, advisor to Charlemagne , Bishop of Orléans and Abbot of Fleury .

Theodulf's fame is mainly based on his poems, of which around 80 have survived. No precise information is available about his origins, probably from the Visigothic nobility of Spain, and about his education, which in any case included legal knowledge and set him apart from his contemporaries in his linguistic and stylistic abilities. Theodulf advanced to the court of Charlemagne and was appointed Abbot of Fleury and Bishop of Orléans before July 798. In 798 he was together with Leidrad von Lyon as missus dominicus , d. H. the king's judicial representative, in southern France, there visitierte Septimanien and served primarily in Narbonne . He describes the trip in his Carmen contra judices , which criticizes the conditions in the southern Franconian empire and in its admonitions to the judges and leaders of the region represents a kind of prince mirror . Also in 798 Alcuin Karl suggested that Theodulf should take part in the examination of the writings of Bishop Felix von Urgell against adoptianism , but a work by Theodulf on this has not been preserved. The long controversial question of whether he was involved in the creation of the Libri Carolini , in which Charles had a statement drawn up against the resolutions of the Second Council of Nicaea (787) on the iconoclast , should be decided in his favor with the new edition by Ann Freeman . Independently of Alkuin, Theodulf organized his own revision of the Latin Bible text of Jerome's Vulgate around 800 . This work, which has been preserved in six codices, is accorded considerable qualities by modern research. In contrast to Alkuin's text, however, it remained largely without consequences.

In 800, Theodulf received Karl in Orléans and accompanied him to Rome, where he met Pope Leo III. defended against his Roman accusers and took part in Charles' coronation. Around 800 and between 800 and 813 he had two capitularies drawn up to reorganize his diocese , the first of which gained great influence in the medieval capitularies and canons and was also translated into Old English. Among the churches that he had built in his diocese is the church of Germigny-des-Prés , consecrated on January 3, 805 or 806 , today one of the oldest preserved church buildings in France, built on the plan of a Greek cross modeled on the Aachen Cathedral. In Germigny-des-Prés, you can still see the Byzantine style mosaics that were rediscovered in 1820 and have been restored since then, which are likely to be based on an image program commissioned by Theodulf.

Theodulf wrote for Karl an expert opinion De processione spiritus sanctu on the dispute over the " filioque ", which was discussed at the Aachen Synod of 809 , as well as an expert opinion De ordine baptismi around 812 . When Karl died in 814, Theodulf was among the witnesses in his will. At first he was also on good terms with Karl's son and successor Ludwig the Pious . When Pope Stephan IV came to Reims for the coronation of Ludwig in 816 , Theodulf was one of the clerical dignitaries who were sent to meet the Pope. Shortly thereafter, however, he fell out of favor. He was accused of complicity in the conspiracy of Ludwig's nephew Bernhard of Italy in 817, convicted and removed from office in 818 at a synod in Aachen, and spent the last three years of his life in prison and exile.

His liturgically significant hymn Gloria, laus et honor , which is sung on Palm Sunday, is said to have originated during his imprisonment in Angers, according to a legend adopted by Jacobus de Voragine in the Legenda aurea , and was sung by Theodulf at the window of his cell so poignantly that Ludwig , who passed under the window in the Palm Sunday procession of 821, pardoned him from prison and reinstated him in his bishopric.

expenditure

  • JP Migne, PL 105,105–380 (reprint of the edition of the Opera omnia by Jacques Sirmond, Paris 1646)
  • Theodulfi Carmina. In: Poetae Latini medii aevi 1: Poetae Latini aevi Carolini (I). Published by Ernst Dümmler . Berlin 1881, pp. 437-581 ( Monumenta Germaniae Historica , digitized version )
  • Guido Maria Dreves, Hymnographi latini / Latin hymn writers of the Middle Ages, Second Series, Leipzig 1907 (= Analecta hymnica medii aevi, 50), p.159–163
  • Hubert Bastgen, Libri Carolini sive Caroli Magni Capitulare de imaginibus, Hanover 1924 [Reprint. 1979] (= MGH Concilia, Suppl. 2)
  • Ann Freeman / Paul Meyvaert, Opus Caroli regis contra synodum (Libri Carolini), Hanover 1998 (= MGH Concilia, T. 2, Suppl. 1) [replaces the edition by Bastgen]
  • Harald Willjung, The Council of Aachen 809, Hanover 1998 (= MGH Concilia, T. 2, Suppl. 2), p.313–382 (Libellus de lite)
  • Peter Brommer, MGH Capitula episcoporum, part 1, Hanover 1984, p.73-184
  • Arthur S. Napier, An Old English version of the Capitula of Theodulf together with the Latin Original, London 1916 (= Early English Text Society, Original Series, 150)
  • Hans Sauer, Theodulfi Capitula in England: the old English translations together with the Latin text, Munich 1978 (= texts and studies on English philology, 8)
  • Susan A. Keefe, Water and the Word: baptism and the education of the clergy in the Carolingian empire, II: Texts and Notes, Notre Dame 2002, pp.280–321 ( De ordine baptismi )

literature

Web links

predecessor Office successor
Eucherius Bishop of Orléans
798–813 		Jonas
personal data
SURNAME Theodulf of Orléans
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Theodulfus Aurelianensis
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Visigothic scholar and poet, advisor to Charlemagne, Bishop of Orléans and Abbot of Fleury
DATE OF BIRTH 750 or 760
DATE OF DEATH 821
Place of death Le Mans or Angers