Amalarius (''c''. 775–''c''. 850) was a
Frankish
Frankish may refer to:
* Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture
** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages
* Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany
* East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...
prelate and courtier, temporary bishop of
Trier
Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...
(812–13) and
Lyon
Lyon,, ; Occitan language, Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, third-largest city and Urban area (France), second-largest metropolitan area of F ...
(835–38), and an accomplished
liturgist. He was close to
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 ...
and a partisan of his successor,
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 ...
, throughout the latter's tumultuous reign.
He was appointed the third archbishop of Trier in 811 by Charlemagne. In 813 he was sent as the chief Frankish ambassador to the court of
Michael I Rhangabes
Michael I Rhangabe ( gr, Μιχαὴλ Ῥαγγαβέ; ''c''. 770 – 11 January 844) was Byzantine emperor from 811 to 813.
Michael was the son of the patrician Theophylact Rhangabe, the admiral of the Aegean fleet. He married Prokopia, the ...
at
Constantinople
la, Constantinopolis ota, قسطنطينيه
, alternate_name = Byzantion (earlier Greek name), Nova Roma ("New Rome"), Miklagard/Miklagarth (Old Norse), Tsargrad ( Slavic), Qustantiniya ( Arabic), Basileuousa ("Queen of Cities"), Megalopolis ( ...
. On Charlemagne's death in 814, Amalarius resigned his see.
In 831, Amalarius travelled to
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
to meet
Pope Gregory IV
Pope Gregory IV ( la, Gregorius IV; died 25 January 844) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from October 827 to his death. His pontificate was notable for the papacy’s attempts to intervene in the quarrels between Emperor Loui ...
and arrange a new Frankish liturgy. In 835, he replaced
Agobard
Agobard of Lyon (–840) was a Spanish-born priest and archbishop of Lyon, during the Carolingian Renaissance. The author of multiple treatises, ranging in subject matter from the iconoclast controversy to Spanish Adoptionism to critiques of th ...
at the
Synod of Diedenhofen. During Agobard's exile (c. 834) he was responsible for administering the
Diocese of Lyon
The Archdiocese of Lyon (Latin: ''Archidiœcesis Lugdunensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Lyon''), formerly the Archdiocese of Lyon–Vienne–Embrun, is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. The Archbishop ...
. He implemented liturgical reforms.
He wrote extensively on the
Mass
Mass is an intrinsic property of a body. It was traditionally believed to be related to the quantity of matter in a physical body, until the discovery of the atom and particle physics. It was found that different atoms and different eleme ...
, including the ''Liber officialis'' and the ''De ordine antiphonarii'', and was involved in the great
medieval
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
debates regarding
predestination
Predestination, in theology, is the doctrine that all events have been willed by God, usually with reference to the eventual fate of the individual soul. Explanations of predestination often seek to address the paradox of free will, whereby G ...
.
We must rely on his enemy,
Florus of Lyon Florus of Lyon ( la, Florus Lugdunensis), a deacon in Lyon, was an ecclesiastical writer in the first half of the ninth century. A theologian, canonist, liturgist, and poet, he ran the scriptorium at Lyons. He was considered one of the foremost auth ...
, for an account of Amalarius' condemnation on the accusation of heresy at
Quierzy, 838.,
[Eleanor Shipley Duckett, ''Carolingian Portraits: A Study in the Ninth Century'' (Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1962.] which banned some of his works. Nevertheless, his writings form a good portion of our current documentation of the ninth century liturgies of the Western Church.
While the exact date of his death is not known, it is believed that it happened around 850 in
Metz
Metz ( , , lat, Divodurum Mediomatricorum, then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand ...
.
Notes
References
Further reading
*Allen Cabaniss, ''Amalarius of Metz'' (North-Holland Publishing Company, 1954).
*J. M. Hanssens, ''Amalarii episcopi Opera liturgica omnia'', 3 vols. (Vatican City: Vatican Apostolic Library, 1948–50).
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amalarius of Metz
Archbishops of Trier
9th-century French bishops
770s births
850 deaths
Year of birth uncertain
Year of death uncertain
9th-century Latin writers
Writers from the Carolingian Empire