Agilbert
Agilbert | |
|---|---|
| Bishop of Paris | |
| Diocese | Diocese of Paris |
| In office | c.667 - c.680 |
| Predecessor | Importunus |
| Successor | Sigefrid |
| Other post(s) | Bishop of Dorchester(the precursor role to Winchester) (c. 650–660) |
| Orders | |
| Consecration | c.640s–650s |
| Personal details | |
| Died | after 10 March 673 Francia |
| Buried | Jouarre Abbey,in modern Ile de France |
| Denomination | Chalcedonian Christianity |
| Sainthood | |
| Feast day | 11 October |
| Venerated in | Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church |
| Shrines | Jouarre Abbey |
Agilbert(fl.c.650–680) was the second bishop of theWest Saxonkingdom and laterBishop of Paris.He is venerated as asaintwithin theCatholic Church,with hisfeast dayfalling on 11 October.[1]
The date and place of Agilbert's birth are unknown, but evidence suggests it took place between 610 and 620.[2][3]Son of aNeustriannoble named Betto, he was a first cousin ofAudoinand related to theFaronidsandAgilolfings,[4]and less certainly to theMerovingians.[5]His name, theFrankish languageequivalent of Æthelberht, has been taken to suggest a link with the royal family of theKingdom of Kent.[6]
Agilbert was consecrated as a bishop inFranciabefore he travelled toBritain.He arrived in the West Saxon kingdom after the return to power of KingCenwalh of Wessex,who had been driven out byPenda of Mercia,either in the late 640s or 650s. He was appointed to succeedBirinus(also later canonised, and attributed with conversion of Wessex to Christianity) as bishop of the West Saxons, or the Wessex folk, who following their seizure of part of ChristianMerciaset up the first Wessex see asBishop of Dorchester,nearOxford.Nothing remains above the surface of the Saxon cathedral, succeeded in the faith by NormanDorchester Abbeychurch which has decorative memorials to the two early bishops. Agilbert, according toBede'sHistoria ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum,had "spent a long time in Ireland for the purpose of studying the Scriptures".[7]His appointment was due to Cenwalh.[8]
FromBede,it appears that Agilbert did not speak Old English, and it is said that his see was divided in two, withWinebeing given half, because King Cenwalh "tired of his barbarous speech",[7]although this may be mistaken.[9]This insult supposedly led to Agilbert's resignation. He then travelled north toNorthumbria,where he ordainedWilfrid.[10]He was present at theSynod of Whitbyin 664, where he led the pro-Roman party, but he had the young Wilfrid speak on his behalf.[11]
Returning to Francia, Agilbert later took part in Wilfrid's consecration as a bishop atCompiègne.[12]Agilbert became bishop of Paris between 666 and 668, and hostedTheodore of Tarsus.He was later invited to return by Cenwalh, to becomeBishop of Winchester,but sent his nephewLeuthherein his place.[13]
One modern historian,D. P. Kirby,is unsure if Agilbert actually went to Northumbria after being expelled from Dorchester, suggesting it is just as likely that he went directly to the continent.[8]
Agilbert died at some time after 10 March 673, on which date he witnessedClotilde's foundation charter for the Abbey ofBruyères-le-Châtel,and probably between 679 and 690. He was buried atJouarre Abbeywhere his sister Theodechildis was abbess. His fine sculptedsarcophaguscan be seen there in the crypts, as can that of his sister.[13]
Citations
[edit]- ^"St. Agilbert".catholic.org.Retrieved23 July2022.
- ^Hunter, 1985.
- ^The abstract of Hammer 2011 gives his birth date as 610.
- ^Le Jan, pp. 382, notes 6, 388, & 390–391, table 48. Le Jan shows that Agilbert's first cousins included SaintsAudoinandDado,the future BishopEbregisil of Meaux,and Agilberta, the second abbess of Jouarre.
- ^Fouracre.
- ^Fouracre states: "[h]is very name was the Frankish form of Æthelberht...". Le Jan, however, takes his name to indicate kinship with the Agilolfings; Le Jan, p. 388.
- ^abBede,HE,Book III, Chapter 7.
- ^abKirbyEarliest English Kingspp. 48-49
- ^Higham, p. 255.
- ^Eddius,VW,chapter 9.
- ^Bede,HE,Book III, Chapter 25; Eddius,VW,chapter 10.
- ^Eddius,VW,chapters 11 & 12.
- ^abFouracre; Riché.
References
[edit]- Bede,Ecclesiastical History of the English People.Translated byLeo Sherley-Price,revisedR.E. Latham,ed. D.H. Farmer. London: Penguin, 1990.ISBN0-14-044565-X
- Eddius,"Life of Wilfrid" in D.H. Farmer (ed.) & J.H. Webb (trans.),The Age of Bede.London: Penguin, 1998. IBN 0-140-44727-X
- Fouracre, P., "Agilbert" in M. Lapidge, et al., (eds),The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Anglo-Saxon England.Oxford: Blackwell, 1999.ISBN0-631-22492-0
- Hammer, Carl I. (2011–2012). "'Holy Entrepreneur': Agilbert, a Merovingian Bishop between Ireland, England and Francia ".Peritia.22–23: 53–82.doi:10.1484/J.PERIT.1.103280.
- Higham, N.J.,The Convert Kings: Power and religious affiliation in early Anglo-Saxon England.Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1997.ISBN0-7190-4828-1
- Hunter Blair, Peter. "Whitby as a Centre of Learning in the Seventh Century".Learning and literature in Anglo-Saxon England: Studies presented to Peter Clemoes on the Occasion of His Sixty-Fifth Birthday.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1985. pp. 3–32.
- Kirby, D.P.,The Earliest English Kings.London: Unwin Hyman, 1991.ISBN0-04-445691-3
- Le Jan, Régine,Famille et Pouvoir dans le Monde Franc (VIIe–XeSiècle). Essai d'anthropologie sociale.Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne, 2003.ISBN2-85944-268-5
- Riché, Pierre,Dictionnaire des francs. Les temps Mérovingiens.Paris: Bartillat, 1996.ISBN2-84100-008-7
