Adalard of Corbie ( la, Adalhardus Corbeiensis; c. 751, Huise – 2 January 827)Butler, Alban. "St. Adalard, or Adelard, Abbot and Confessor", ''The Lives of the Saints'', vol. I, 1866
/ref> was son of

Bernard Bernard ('' Bernhard'') is a French and West Germanic masculine given name. It is also a surname. The name is attested from at least the 9th century. West Germanic ''Bernhard'' is composed from the two elements ''bern'' "bear" and ''hard'' "bra ...

the son of

Charles Martel Charles Martel ( – 22 October 741) was a Frankish political and military leader who, as Duke and Prince of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace, was the de facto ruler of Francia from 718 until his death. He was a son of the Frankish statesm ...

and half-brother of Pepin;

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

was his

cousin Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...

. He ia recognised as a saint within the Catholic Church.

Biography

Adalard received a good education in the Palatine School at the Court of Charlemagne in Aachen, and while still very young was made Count of the Palace. At the age of twenty he entered the monastery at

Corbie Corbie (; nl, Korbei) is a commune of the Somme department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Geography The small town is situated up river from Amiens, in the département of Somme and is the main town of the canton of Corbie. It lies in ...

in Picardy, a monastery that had been founded by queen Bathild, in 662. In order to be more secluded, he went to

Monte Cassino Monte Cassino (today usually spelled Montecassino) is a rocky hill about southeast of Rome, in the Latin Valley, Italy, west of Cassino and at an elevation of . Site of the Roman town of Casinum, it is widely known for its abbey, the first ho ...

, but was ordered by Charlemagne to return to Corbie, where he was elected abbot. At the same time Charlemagne made him

prime minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

to his son Pepin,

King of Italy King of Italy ( it, links=no, Re d'Italia; la, links=no, Rex Italiae) was the title given to the ruler of the Kingdom of Italy after the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The first to take the title was Odoacer, a barbarian military leader ...

, in the

Carolingian Empire The Carolingian Empire (800–888) was a large Frankish-dominated empire in western and central Europe during the Early Middle Ages. It was ruled by the Carolingian dynasty, which had ruled as kings of the Franks since 751 and as kings of the ...

.Ott, Michael. "St. Adalard." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 9 Mar. 2014
/ref> As a high court administrator, he attended some meetings that discussed military planning. His ''De ordine palatinii'' discusses in some detail a well-developed intelligence system by the end of Pepin's reign. At his death in Milan in 810, Pepin appointed Adalard tutor to his son

Bernard of Italy Bernard (797 – 17 April 818) was the King of the Lombards from 810 to 818. He plotted against his uncle, Emperor Louis the Pious, when the latter's ''Ordinatio Imperii'' made Bernard a vassal of his cousin Lothair. When his plot was discovered, ...

, then but twelve years of age. When, in 817, Bernard, son of Pepin, aspired to the imperial crown, emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

suspected Adalard of being in sympathy with Bernard and banished him to Hermoutier, the modern

Noirmoutier Noirmoutier (also French: Île de Noirmoutier, ; br, Nervouster, ) is a tidal island off the Atlantic coast of France in the Vendée department (85). History Noirmoutier was the location of an early Viking raid in 799, when raiders attacked ...

, on the island of the same name. Adalard's brother Wala was obliged to become a monk at Corbie. After seven years Louis saw his mistake and made Adalard one of his chief advisers. Several hospitals were erected by him. In 822 Adalard and his brother Wala founded

Corvey Abbey The Princely Abbey of Corvey (german: link=no, Fürststift Corvey or Fürstabtei Corvey) is a former Benedictine abbey and ecclesiastical principality now in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It was one of the half-dozen self-ruling '' princely ...

("New Corbie") in

Westphalia Westphalia (; german: Westfalen ; nds, Westfalen ) is a region of northwestern Germany and one of the three historic parts of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. It has an area of and 7.9 million inhabitants. The territory of the regio ...

. Corvey was an imperial abbey; its territory extending from the

bishopric of Paderborn The Prince-Bishopric of Paderborn (german: Fürstbistum Paderborn; Hochstift Paderborn) was an ecclesiastical principality (Hochstift) of the Holy Roman Empire from 1281 to 1802. History The Diocese of Paderborn was founded in 799 by Pope ...

to the

duchy of Brunswick The Duchy of Brunswick (german: Herzogtum Braunschweig) was a historical German state. Its capital was the city of Brunswick (). It was established as the successor state of the Principality of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel by the Congress of Vienna ...

. Its abbot was one of the eleven abbots, who sat with twenty-one bishops in the imperial diet at Regensburg. Adalard was returning from Corvey to old Corbie, when he fell sick three days before Christmas: he died about three in the afternoon, on January 1 in the year 827,"Adalard (or Adelard)", ''The Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature''. (James Strong and John McClintock, eds.); Harper and Brothers; NY; 1880
/ref> at the age of seventy-three. Shortly after his death the ''Vitae Adalhardi'' was written by

Paschasius Radbertus Paschasius Radbertus (785–865) was a Carolingian theologian and the abbot of Corbie, a monastery in Picardy founded in 657 or 660 by the queen regent Bathilde with a founding community of monks from Luxeuil Abbey. His most well-known and influ ...

, who admired Adalhard greatly.

Veneration

Adalard is honoured as

patron saint A patron saint, patroness saint, patron hallow or heavenly protector is a saint who in Catholicism, Anglicanism, or Eastern Orthodoxy is regarded as the heavenly advocate of a nation, place, craft, activity, class, clan, family, or perso ...

of many churches and towns in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

and along the lower

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

References

Literature

* Brigitte Kasten: ''Adalhard von Corbie. Die Biographie eines karolingischen Politikers und Klostervorstehers''. Studia hmanoria, Droste Verlag, Düsseldorf 1985, .

Ancestry

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adalard 750s births 827 deaths 9th-century Christian clergy 9th-century heads of government Carolingian dynasty Saints from the Carolingian Empire Abbots of Corbie 8th-century Frankish people 9th-century people from West Francia 9th-century Christian monks Writers from the Carolingian Empire 9th-century Latin writers

Biography

Veneration

See also

References

Literature

Ancestry