Eigil of Prüm

Eigil (died 29 May 870),[1][2] also spelled Eigel,[3] Eogil,[4] Egil,[2] Egilo[5] or Heigil,[6] was the abbot of Prüm from 853 to 860,[7] abbot of Flavigny from 860 to 865[2] and archbishop of Sens from 865 until his death.[1][8]

Eigil was a monk at Prüm in August 843, when he was the recipient of two letters from Lupus of Ferrières.[9] Like his fellow monk Ansbald and Abbot Markward [de], he cooperated with Lupus to collate classical texts. In a letter to Markward, Lupus writes that "Eigil, the faithful interpreter of my affairs, will explain what I want you to do in regard to Suetonius and Josephus."[10] Eigil and several other monks of Prüm visited the abbey of Ferrières in the summer of 847,[11] after having recovered from a serious illness.[3]

Eigil succeeded Markward as abbot in 853.[7] Five diplomas in favour of Prüm were issued by the Emperor Lothair I during 853–855.[1] He fell out with his successor, King Lothair II, over the latter's divorce from Theutberga.[12][13]

Eigil was still abbot of Prüm when he attended the Council of Aachen on 9 January 860, which dealt with Lothair's attempted divorce. Not long after, he voluntarily resigned his abbacy and relocated to West Francia, perhaps claiming illness.[14] He was granted the abbacy of Flavigny by King Charles the Bald later that year[2] or in 861.[15] He was present when the king gave the original copy of the Annals of Saint-Bertin to Archbishop Hincmar of Reims.[15][6] He transferred the relics of Saint Regina to Flavigny.[16]

Eigil succeeded Wenilo as archbishop of Sens in 865. He discontinued Wenilo's rivalry with Hincmar.[17] He presided over the Council of Soissons in 866 concerning the dispute over clerics ordained by Ebbo. He crossed the Alps to deliver the council's letter to Pope Nicholas I and also to act as Charles the Bald's envoy in the case of the divorce of Lothair II.[18] In two letters of 866, Hincmar wrote to him about the prison conditions of the accused heretic Gottschalk of Orbais and about the case of Ebbo's clerics.[19] On 20 May 867, according to the Annals of Saint-Bertin, Eigil "brought to the lord Charles letters from Pope Nicholas to Lothar and the bishops of his realm concerning the case of his wives ... [and] transmitted the pope's command that Waldrada be sent to Rome."[20]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Levillain 1949, p. 33.
  2. ^ a b c d Pohl 2023, p. 330.
  3. ^ a b Regenos 1966, p. 74.
  4. ^ Nelson 1991, p. 133.
  5. ^ Heidecker 2010, p. 74n.
  6. ^ a b Heidecker 2010, p. 38.
  7. ^ a b Regenos 1966, p. 44.
  8. ^ Gillis 2017, p. 215.
  9. ^ Regenos 1966, pp. 44, 46.
  10. ^ Regenos 1966, pp. 50, 81.
  11. ^ Regenos 1966, p. 82.
  12. ^ Stone & West 2016, pp. 105–106 and n95.
  13. ^ Heidecker 2010, p. 76n.
  14. ^ Tellenbach 1962, pp. 5–6.
  15. ^ a b Nelson 1991, p. 10.
  16. ^ Pohl 2023, p. 325.
  17. ^ Gillis 2017, pp. 215–216.
  18. ^ Nelson 1991, pp. 132–134.
  19. ^ Gillis 2017, p. 148. Gottschalk had been a friend of Lupus. See Regenos 1966, p. viii.
  20. ^ Nelson 1991, pp. 138–139.

Bibliography

  • Gillis, Matthew Bryan (2017). Heresy and Dissent in the Carolingian Empire: The Case of Gottschalk of Orbais. Oxford University Press.
  • Heidecker, Karl (2010) [1997]. The Divorce of Lothar II: Christian Marriage and Political Power in the Carolingian World. Translated by Tanis M. Guest. Cornell University Press.
  • Levillain, Léon (1949). "Wandalbert de Prüm et la date de la mort d'Hilduin de Saint-Denis". Bibliothèque de l'école des chartes. 108: 5–35.
  • Nelson, Janet L., ed. (1991). The Annals of St-Bertin. Manchester University Press.
  • Pohl, Benjamin (2023). Abbatial Authority and the Writing of History in the Middle Ages. Oxford University Press.
  • Regenos, Graydon W., ed. (1966). The Letters of Lupus of Ferrières. Martinus Nijhoff.
  • Stone, Rachel; West, Charles, eds. (2016). The Divorce of King Lothar and Queen Theutberga: Hincmar of Rheims's De divortio. Manchester University Press.
  • Tellenbach, Gerd (1962). "Der Konvent der Reichsabtei Prüm unter Abt Ansbald (860–886)" (PDF). In Werner Fleischhauer; Walter Grube; Paul Zinsmaier (eds.). Neue Beiträge zur südwestdeutschen Landesgeschichte: Festschrift für Max Miller, dargebracht v. Freunden und Kollegen. Stuttgart. pp. 1–10.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)