medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Today (10. April) is the feast day of:
1) Fulbert of Chartres (d. 1028). Fulbert's origins are obscure, though there are good reasons for thinking that he came from northern France and not (as Mabillon supposed) from Italy. He _may_ have studied under Gerbert at Reims. In 1004 he was a deacon at Chartres and by then he was probably master of its cathedral school. In 1006 he became bishop of Chartres. F., whose later life is known principally through his letters and poems (two sermons and a number of hymns also survive), was an active churchman and royal councillor. He started the building of Chartres' present cathedral after its predecessor had been destroyed by fire in 1020; part of the crypt dates from his pontificate.
F. was buried in the abbey (now parish) church of St-Pierre at Chartres. This church was rebuilt in the late twelfth and thirteenth centuries:
http://www.francebalade.com/chartres/chartstpierre10.jpg
http://www.francebalade.com/chartres/chartstpierre14.jpg
but its tower is said to go back to the tenth century:
http://www.francebalade.com/chartres/chartstpierre12.jpg
F. was considered saintly in his own lifetime; in the twelfth century he was depicted with a halo. His cult was confirmed in 1855 for Poitiers and in 1861 for Chartres.
2) Engelbert of Admont (Bl.; d. 1331). When he was about seventeen years old E. entered the great Benedictine abbey of Admont in his native Steiermark. After a few years he was sent to Prague to study the trivial arts. After two years there he proceeded to Padua, where for nine years he studied philosophy and theology before returning to his monastery. Elected abbot when he was in his late forties, he ruled for thirty years before resigning for reasons of ill health and old age. He died a few years later. Today and 12. May are the two contenders for his _dies natalis_.
E. was a very learned man and a very prolific writer. Today his chief work is generally considered to be the _De ortu et progressu, statu et fine Romani imperii_, a treatise of Christian political theory using Aristotelian arguments to justify the (Western) Empire. Frequently copied in the Middle Ages was his treatise of Marian theology _De gratiis et virtutibus Beatae Mariae Virginis_. In all he wrote about forty separate works, mostly theological and political in nature but including a treatise on music, the _De musica_.
Best,
John Dillon
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