Adso of Montier-en-Der ( la, Adso Dervensis) (910/920 – 992) was

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The fem ...

of the Benedictine monastery of

Montier-en-Der Montier-en-Der () is a former commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. On 1 January 2016, it was merged into the new commune La Porte du Der.pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

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

. Biographical information on Adso comes mainly from one single source and has come under question, but the traditional biography depicts him as an abbot who enacted important monastic reform, as a scholar, and as a writer of five

hagiographies A hagiography (; ) is a biography of a saint or an ecclesiastical leader, as well as, by extension, an adulatory and idealized biography of a founder, saint, monk, nun or icon in any of the world's religions. Early Christian hagiographies might ...

. His best-known work was a biography of

Antichrist In Christian eschatology, the Antichrist refers to people prophesied by the Bible to oppose Jesus Christ and substitute themselves in Christ's place before the Second Coming. The term Antichrist (including one plural form) 1 John ; . 2 John . ...

, titled "''De ortu et tempore Antichristi''", which combined exegetical and

Sibylline Sibylline is a Belgian comics series by Raymond Macherot and his second best-known work after ''Chlorophylle''. Just like the latter, it is a fantasy comic about anthropomorphic animals in a forest setting. However, here the protagonist is a fem ...

lore. This letter became one of the best-known medieval descriptions of Antichrist, copied many times and of great influence on all later apocalyptic tradition, in part because, rather than as an

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (logic), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern usage, ...

of apocalyptic texts, he chose to describe Antichrist in the style of a hagiography.

Biography

Biographical knowledge of Adso is limited to the comments made by a chronicler from his abbey, who wrote a half century after him; a successor of his under abbot Bruno finished Adso's final hagiography, on Bercharius, and in the process provided us with biographical detail. Supposedly born into a wealthy, noble family near Saint-Claude in the early 900s, he was educated at

Luxeuil Abbey Luxeuil Abbey (), the ''Abbaye Saint-Pierre et Saint-Paul'', was one of the oldest and best-known monasteries in Burgundy, located in what is now the département of Haute-Saône in Franche-Comté, France. History Columbanus It was founded circa 5 ...

and became

scholaster A scholaster, from the Latin ''scholasticus'' (schoolmaster), or magister scholarum, was the head of an ecclesiastical school, typically a cathedral school, monastic school, or the school of a collegiate church, in medieval and early-modern Europe ...

Saint-Epvre Saint-Epvre (; german: Sankt Erffert) is a commune in the Moselle department, Grand Est, northeastern France. See also * Communes of the Moselle department The following is a list of the 725 communes of the Moselle department of France. T ...

near

Toul Toul () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. Geography Toul is between Commercy and Nancy, and the river Moselle and Canal de la Marne au Rhin. Climate Toul h ...

. When his colleague Albéric was called from Saint-Epvre to become abbot at

Montier-en-Der Abbey The Abbey of Montier-en-Der in Haute-Marne, France, was formerly a Order of St. Benedict, Benedictine, later Cluniac, abbey, dissolved during the French Revolution, the grounds and premises of which, since 1806, have been used as the French Nationa ...

, Adso accompanied him there and was elected abbot on Albéric's death, around 968. When Hilduin II (brother of Manassès († 991),

bishop of Troyes The Diocese of Troyes (Latin: ''Dioecesis Trecensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Troyes'') is a Latin Church , native_name_lang = la , image = San Giovanni in Laterano - Rome.jpg , imagewidth = 250px , alt ...

, who had committed many acts of violence) turned to him for

penance Penance is any act or a set of actions done out of Repentance (theology), repentance for Christian views on sin, sins committed, as well as an alternate name for the Catholic Church, Catholic, Lutheran, Eastern Orthodox, and Oriental Orthodox s ...

, one of the things he imposed on him was a pilgrimage to

. Following the example of Saint Bercharius, the patron saint of Montier-en-Der who had accompanied one of the murderers of Saint Leodegar to Jerusalem, he went with him but died at sea. He was buried on an island called ''Astilia'', possibly identified as

Astypalaia Astypalaia ( Greek: Αστυπάλαια, ), is a Greek island with 1,334 residents (2011 census). It belongs to the Dodecanese, an archipelago of fifteen major islands in the southeastern Aegean Sea. The island is long, wide at the most, ...

. Adso was charged with monastic reforms at St. Benignus' Abbey, Dijon, by Bruno of Roucy, which he enacted between 982 and 985. Among his friends was Gerbert, abbot of Bobbio, afterwards

Pope Sylvester II Pope Sylvester II ( – 12 May 1003), originally known as Gerbert of Aurillac, was a French-born scholar and teacher who served as the bishop of Rome and ruled the Papal States from 999 to his death. He endorsed and promoted study of Arab and Gre ...

, and their correspondence indicates how Adso took great care in building a library. His collection was noteworthy: the detailed inventory lists (prepared by his monks after his departure, and preserved in an appendix to a copy of the

Martyrology of Usuard The ''Martyrology of Usuard'' is a work by Usuard, a monk of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. Another complicating factor is the ''Life of Clotilde'', a hagiography of

Clotilde Clotilde ( 474–545), also known as Clothilde, Clotilda, Clotild, Rotilde etc. (Latin: Chrodechildis, Chlodechildis from Frankish ''*Hrōþihildi'' or perhaps ''*Hlōdihildi'', both "famous in battle"), was a Queen of All the Franks. She was ...

possibly written for

Gerberga of Saxony Gerberga of Saxony (c. 913 – 5 May 968/9 or 984?) was a French queen who ruled as regent of France during the minority of her son Lothair in 954–959. She was a member of the Ottonian dynasty. Her first husband was Gilbert, Duke of Lorraine ...

, the recipient of the letter on Antichrist, whose author is argued by a number of scholar to be identical with the author of the letter. Goullet proposes a somewhat shortened biography, with Adso born in the 930s--which would mean that he would have written the letter possibly as a teenager. Simon Maclean proposes a radically different solution: in a nutshell, he suggests two Adsos ("Adso" being a very common name at the time)--the one, of Montier-en-Der, the author of the hagiographies; the other, Adso the abbot of St-Basle Abbey at

Verzy Verzy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Champagne The village's vineyards are located in the Montagne de Reims subregion of Champagne, and are classified as Grand Cru (100%) in the Champagne vineyard classificati ...

(c. 970 – c. 991), whose epitaph was written by Adso of Montier-en-Der. Verzy is near

Rheims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded by ...

, one of the most important locations in the sphere of influence of Gerberga, and a center of the monastic reform which she was interested in. This Adso, then, could be the author of the letter and of the ''Life of Clotilde''.

Works

The largest remaining part of Adso's literary output consists of hagiographies; he wrote the lives of five saints: Mansuetus,

Frobert of Troyes Frobert of Troyes, or Frodobert (born in the beginning of the 7th century in Troyes, died 31 January 673 at Saint-André-les-Vergers), was a churchmen and abbot of the Saint-Pierre de Montier-la-Celle Abbey near Saint-André-les-Vergers, an abbe ...

Waldebert Waldebert (also known as Gaubert, Valbert and Walbert), (died 668), was a Frankish count of Guines, Ponthieu and Saint-Pol who became abbot of Luxeuil in the Order of St. Columban, and eventually a canonized saint in the Roman Catholic Church ...

Basolus Basolus (Basle) (c.555–c.620) was a French Benedictine and hermit. He was born near Limoges, and then became a monk near Verzy Verzy () is a commune in the Marne department in north-eastern France. Champagne The village's vineyards are l ...

and Bercharius, and a short ''libellus'' on the

translation Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...

of and miracles associated with Basolus. He also wrote hymns, and a rendering in verse of the second book of

Pope Gregory I Pope Gregory I ( la, Gregorius I; – 12 March 604), commonly known as Saint Gregory the Great, was the bishop of Rome from 3 September 590 to his death. He is known for instigating the first recorded large-scale mission from Rome, the Gregori ...

's ''Dialogues'' (that second book is essentially a hagiography of

St. Benedict Benedict of Nursia ( la, Benedictus Nursiae; it, Benedetto da Norcia; 2 March AD 480 – 21 March AD 548) was an Christianity in Italy, Italian Christian monk, writer, and theologian who is venerated in the Catholic Church, the Eastern Ortho ...

), and the famous ''Epistola Adsonis ad Gerbergam reginam de ortu et tempore antichristi'', frequently abbreviated ''De antichristo'', a tract on the life and career of the

written as a letter to

, the wife of

Louis IV d'Outremer Louis IV (September 920 / September 921 – 10 September 954), called ''d'Outremer'' or ''Transmarinus'' (both meaning "from overseas"), reigned as King of West Francia from 936 to 954. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, he was the only son o ...

. ''De antichristo'' was not an original work; it combined exegesis of biblical text with Sibylline (that is, oracular) accounts. The most important exegetical text was the commentary on 2 Thessalonians by

Haimo of Auxerre Haimo of Auxerre (died c. 865) was a member of the Benedictine Abbey of Saint-Germain d'Auxerre. Although he was the author of numerous Biblical commentaries and theological texts, little of his life is known today. Haimo defended the real presenc ...

, but Adso also used

Jerome Jerome (; la, Eusebius Sophronius Hieronymus; grc-gre, Εὐσέβιος Σωφρόνιος Ἱερώνυμος; – 30 September 420), also known as Jerome of Stridon, was a Christian presbyter, priest, Confessor of the Faith, confessor, th ...

's ''De Antichristo in Danielem'', and

Alcuin Alcuin of York (; la, Flaccus Albinus Alcuinus; 735 – 19 May 804) – also called Ealhwine, Alhwin, or Alchoin – was a scholar, clergyman, poet, and teacher from York, Northumbria. He was born around 735 and became the student o ...

's ''De Fide Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis''. The most important oracular one is the myth of the Last Emperor found in (Latin reworkings of the originally Syriac) ''

Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius Written in Syriac in the late seventh century, the ''Apocalypse of Pseudo-Methodius'' shaped and influenced Christian eschatological thinking in the Middle Ages.Griffith (2008), p. 34.Debié (2005) p. 228.Alexander (1985) p. 13.Jackson (2001) p. ...

'', besides the oracles of the

Tiburtine Sibyl The Tiburtine Sibyl or Albunea was a Roman sibyl, whose seat was the ancient Etruscan town of Tibur (modern Tivoli). The mythic meeting of Cæsar Augustus with the Sibyl, of whom he inquired whether he should be worshiped as a god, was ofte ...

, though some scholars deny the latter as a source. Adso's true innovation (an argument proposed by Robert Konrad in 1964 and continued by Rihard Kenneth Emmerson in 1979) was the form in which he structured the material: he wrote it not in the form of a theological tract or exegetical commentary, which could have been organized by scriptural source, but rather as a hagiography, as a saint's life. Medieval hagiographies frequently used anti-types to bring out the virtuous characteristics of their protagonists, and Adso's setup of Antichrist as a chronologically organized biography allowed for an easy contrast with the life of Christ, and thus for easy access to a broad audience. The saintly biography is "a form easily understood and readily recognizable by every Christian", and his legend is an anti-legend. The format did suit the times well, with its love of saintly biography: the biography of Antichrist became a standard entry in many saints' legends, including

Jacobus de Voragine Jacobus de Voragine (c. 123013/16 July 1298) was an Italian chronicler and archbishop of Genoa. He was the author, or more accurately the compiler, of the ''Golden Legend'', a collection of the legendary lives of the greater saints of the medie ...

's ''

Golden Legend The ''Golden Legend'' (Latin: ''Legenda aurea'' or ''Legenda sanctorum'') is a collection of hagiographies by Jacobus de Voragine that was widely read in late medieval Europe. More than a thousand manuscripts of the text have survived.Hilary ...

'', and it appears very frequently in vernacular legendaries, usually translated from the ''Libellus'' quote closely. In later editions of the letter, the prologue and the epilogue (which named Adso and Gerberga) were frequently cut off (which also makes it resemble a saint's life), and thus the letter was easily attributed to others including

Rabanus Maurus Rabanus Maurus Magnentius ( 780 – 4 February 856), also known as Hrabanus or Rhabanus, was a Frankish Benedictine monk, theologian, poet, encyclopedist and military writer who became archbishop of Mainz in East Francia. He was the author of the ...

, and St. Augustine. Emmerson states there are most likely at least 76 versions in Latin between the 10th and 15th centuries. It is quoted by

Ignaz von Döllinger Johann Joseph Ignaz von Döllinger (; 28 February 179914 January 1890), also Doellinger in English, was a German theologian, Catholic priest and church historian who rejected the dogma of papal infallibility. Among his writings which proved con ...

among other writings of the medieval conception of Antichrist. It is printed in ''Corpus Christianorum Continuatio Mediaeualis'' vol 45, edited by D. Verhelst (Turnhout, 1976). The letter and Adso's hagiographies are found in

Jacques Paul Migne Jacques Paul Migne (; 25 October 1800 – 24 October 1875) was a French priest who published inexpensive and widely distributed editions of theological works, encyclopedias, and the texts of the Church Fathers, with the goal of providing a ...

(''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...

''
CXXXVII, 597-700
.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adso of Montier-En-Der 10th-century births Year of birth uncertain 992 deaths 10th-century apocalypticists 10th-century French writers 10th-century Latin writers Cluniacs French abbots