Aldebert, or Adalbert, was a preacher in 8th century

Gaul Gaul ( la, Gallia) was a region of Western Europe first described by the Romans. It was inhabited by Celtic and Aquitani tribes, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, most of Switzerland, parts of Northern Italy (only during ...

. He claimed that an

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...

had conferred miraculous powers on him at birth, and that another had brought him

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s of great sanctity from all parts of the earth. He claimed to be able to see the future and read people's thoughts, telling those who came to him that they had no need to confess, since he knew what they had done, and that their sins were forgiven.

Life

Adalbert appeared in the district of

Soissons Soissons () is a commune in the northern French department of Aisne, in the region of Hauts-de-France. Located on the river Aisne, about northeast of Paris, it is one of the most ancient towns of France, and is probably the ancient capital ...

in the 8th century and practised and preached a life of

Apostolic poverty Apostolic poverty is a Christian doctrine professed in the thirteenth century by the newly formed religious orders, known as the mendicant orders, in direct response to calls for reform in the Roman Catholic Church. In this, these orders attempted ...

. He was banned by his bishop from preaching in churches, and worked in the countryside, in the open air and later in churches that his followers (he had acquired many of them) built for him. According to

St Boniface Boniface, OSB ( la, Bonifatius; 675 – 5 June 754) was an English Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of the Frankish Empire during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations o ...

, he erected crucifixes at fields and springs and claimed to have received a letter that

Jesus Christ Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

had given from heaven to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

, which Aldebert used in his own preachings. He used mystic prayers of his own composition to call on angels who were not accepted by church canon (Uriel, Raguel, Tubuel, Adinus, Tubuas, Sabaoc and Simiel), and who his detractors alleged were demons (some of these names had

gnostic Gnosticism (from grc, γνωστικός, gnōstikós, , 'having knowledge') is a collection of religious ideas and systems which coalesced in the late 1st century AD among Jewish and early Christian sects. These various groups emphasized pe ...

connections). One of his prayers invoked the angel

Raguel Reuel or Raguel (; Edomite: 𐤓𐤏𐤀𐤋, ''RʿʾL''), meaning "God shall pasture" or more specifically " El shall pasture" (as a shepherd does with his flock) is a Hebrew name associated with several biblical and religious figures. Biblical ...

. His "miracles" gained him the awe of the people, and he began to give away parings from his nails and locks of his hair as

amulet An amulet, also known as a good luck charm or phylactery, is an object believed to confer protection upon its possessor. The word "amulet" comes from the Latin word amuletum, which Pliny's ''Natural History'' describes as "an object that protects ...

s. He managed to get 'unlearned' (''indoctri'') bishops to consecrate him a bishop. He erected crosses and built small chapels in the countryside and at springs and ordered public prayers to be offered there. St. Boniface wrote to Rome asking for the

Pope The pope ( la, papa, from el, πάππας, translit=pappas, 'father'), also known as supreme pontiff ( or ), Roman pontiff () or sovereign pontiff, is the bishop of Rome (or historically the patriarch of Rome), head of the worldwide Cathol ...

to help him "lead back the Franks and Gauls to the right path", claiming that Adalbert had seduced the multitudes. St Boniface appealed to the Pope for a

synod A synod () is a council of a Christian denomination, usually convened to decide an issue of doctrine, administration or application. The word ''wikt:synod, synod'' comes from the meaning "assembly" or "meeting" and is analogous with the Latin ...

, which held in 744 in

, with the help of Carloman. The synod, led by Boniface, decided to take Adalbert into custody. The Synod ordered Adalbert's crosses burned. Adalbert escaped and continued to preach. A German synod the following year, presided over by Boniface and Carloman, excommunicated him along with an Irish preacher named Clement and many others. They continued to preach. Pope Zachary held another council in Rome in 745 to deal with him. Boniface's account and biography was personally approved by Adalbert (neither Boniface nor Adalbert was present). Although the decisions of the northern councils that condemned him were upheld by the Roman council, they did not accede to Boniface's wish to have him excommunicated. The Council thought him to be a lunatic (as opposed to a charlatan) and decided he should be given a chance to repent, rather than excommunicated (the Irish preacher's excommunication was upheld, however). The Synod ordered his writings (his approved biography, his prayer, and his supposed letter from Jesus) burned. He was still active in 746; King Pepin sent an embassy to Rome to report that the heretics were still at large and still preaching. Pope Zachary sent a letter to Boniface in 747, calling for a new council that both Boniface and Adalbert should attend, and that if the council found Adalbert to be a heretic, that Adalbert should then be sent to him so that he could personally judge the case. A century later, the Anonymous of Mainz wrote that Adalbert had been condemned and deposed at a Synod at Mainz (which may have been the council that Pope Zachary had called for), and that afterwards he was imprisoned for

blasphemy Blasphemy is a speech crime and religious crime usually defined as an utterance that shows contempt, disrespects or insults a deity, an object considered sacred or something considered inviolable. Some religions regard blasphemy as a religiou ...

in the monastery of

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. History ...

.Shepard, 1:6-7 The same account noted that he later escaped and was killed by thieves, although he may have died in jail. He wrote an account of his own life, but only a fragment survives. St Boniface also wrote about him, and left the largest extant record.

Footnotes

References

* Jeffrey B. Russell, "Saint Boniface and the Eccentrics". ''Church History''. Vol. 33, No. 3, Sep., 1964 *

Lewis Spence James Lewis Thomas Chalmers Spence (25 November 1874 – 3 March 1955) was a Scottish journalist, poet, author, folklorist and occult scholar. Spence was a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, and vice- ...

, ''The Encyclopedia of the Occult'', reprinted 1988 *
Imposters
, from the ''

Catholic Encyclopedia The ''Catholic Encyclopedia: An International Work of Reference on the Constitution, Doctrine, Discipline, and History of the Catholic Church'' (also referred to as the ''Old Catholic Encyclopedia'' and the ''Original Catholic Encyclopedia'') i ...

'', 1913 *

Norman Cohn Norman Rufus Colin Cohn FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life Cohn was born in London, to ...

, ''The Pursuit of the Millennium'', 1957 * Richard Fletcher, ''The Barbarian Conversion'', 1997 * Meeder, S. (2011). "Boniface and the Irish Heresy of Clemens." Church History 80(2): 251–280.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Adalbert Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown 8th-century Christian mystics 8th-century Christians 8th-century Frankish people French Christian mystics Patristic mystics People excommunicated by the Catholic Church