Ebbo
EbboorEbo(c. 775– 20 March 851) was theArchbishop of Rheimsfrom 816 until 835 and again from 840 to 841. He was born aGermanserfon theroyal demesneofCharlemagne.He was educated at his court and became thelibrarianand councillor ofLouis the Pious,king of Aquitaine,son of Charlemagne. When Louis becameemperor,he appointed Ebbo to theseeofRheims,then vacant after the death ofWulfaire.
He was an important figure in the spread ofChristianityin the north ofEurope.At the insistence of Louis, in 822, he went toRomeand askedPopePascal Ito become thepapal legateto the North. He was licensed to preach to theDanesand he andHalitgar,bishop of Cambrai,andWillerich,bishop of Bremen,went there in 823. He made short subsequent trips, but all with little success.Ansgarwas more successful a few years later.
When Louis's sons by his first marriage toErmengarde of Hesbaye(Lothair,Louis,andPepin) rebelled in 830, Ebbo remained loyal. But in 833 he joined the insurrection and on 13 November presided over thesynodin thechurch of Saint MaryinSoissonswhich deposed Louis and forced him to publicly confess many crimes, none of which he had, in fact, committed. As a reward, Lothair gave Ebbo theAbbey of Saint Vaast.
He then became a loyal follower of Lothair. He remained with him even after Louis's reinstatement in March 834. When Lothair had to flee toItaly,however, Ebbo was too ill withgoutto follow and took shelter with aParisianhermit.He was found by Louis' men and imprisoned in the Abbey ofFulda.Events of the previous year were soon reversed. He was brought to the Synod ofThionville(2 February 835) and made to admit, in front of 43bishops,that Louis had never committed the crimes of which he had accused him. Ebbo publicly recanted from the pulpit inMainzon 28 February. The Synod then promptly deposed him. He was again imprisoned in Fulda and later given toFréculf,bishop of Lisieux,and later toBoso,abbot ofFleury.
Ebbo was restored when Louis died and Lothair succeeded him in December 840. A year later, however,Charles the Baldwas in control ofFranceand Ebbo was deposed a second time.Hincmarwas appointed to succeed him in 845 and refused to recognise his acts during his reinstatement. They were declared invalid by the Council of Soissons in 853.
Ebbo went to the court of Lothair, butPope Sergius IIignored his pleas to be reinstated (again). When Lothair had no use for Ebbo, however, he was forced to leave that court and go to that ofLouis the German.Louis made himBishop of Hildesheim(between April 845 and October 847) and it was in this position that he died on 20 March 851, in the seat of his diocese.
He wrote theApologeticum Ebbonisin defence of his reinstatement. It was probably one of his ordinations from the period of his reinstatement who penned thePseudo-Isidorean Decretals.He also assembled artists atHautvillerswho transformedCarolingian artinto a new movement and founded the so-calledReims school.The beautifulGospel Book of Ebbois their most well known product. His influence in theCarolingian Renaissanceis enormous in the realm of art and illumination.
References
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This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Ebbo".Catholic Encyclopedia.New York: Robert Appleton Company.
External links
[edit]- Opera Omniaof Ebo Rheminensis Episcopus,with analytical indexes, edited byJacques-Paul Migne,Patrologia Latina
