hagiographer
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 ...
.
Life
Folcard, a Fleming by birth, was a monk of St. Bertin's in Flanders (now Northern France), and is supposed to have come over to England in the reign of Edward the Confessor. He entered the monastery of
Christ Church, Canterbury
Canterbury Cathedral in Canterbury, Kent, is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England. It forms part of a World Heritage Site. It is the cathedral of the Archbishop of Canterbury, currently Justin Welby, leader of the Ch ...
, and was renowned for his learning, and especially for his knowledge of grammar and music; his manners were affable and his temper cheerful. Soon after the
Norman Conquest
The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Norman, Breton, Flemish, and French troops, all led by the Duke of Normandy, later styled William the Con ...
the king set him over
Thorney Abbey
Thorney Abbey, now the Church of St Mary and St Botolph, was a medieval monastic house established on the island of Thorney in The Fens of Cambridgeshire, England.
History
The earliest documentary sources refer to a mid-7th century hermita ...
in
Cambridgeshire
Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a county in the East of England, bordering Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfordshire to the south, and Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire to the ...
; but he was never strictly
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 ...
, for he did not receive the benediction.
After holding the abbey about sixteen years Folcard retired, after a dispute with the
Bishop of Lincoln
The Bishop of Lincoln is the ordinary (diocesan bishop) of the Church of England Diocese of Lincoln in the Province of Canterbury.
The present diocese covers the county of Lincolnshire and the unitary authority areas of North Lincolnshire and ...
,
Remigius de Fécamp
Remigius de Fécamp (sometimes Remigius; died 7 May 1092) was a Benedictine monk who was a supporter of William the Conqueror.
Early life
Remigius' date of birth is unknown, although he was probably born sometime during the 1030s, as canon la ...
; and returned, as may be inferred from
Ordericus Vitalis
Orderic Vitalis ( la, Ordericus Vitalis; 16 February 1075 – ) was an English chronicler and Benedictine monk who wrote one of the great contemporary chronicles of 11th- and 12th-century Normandy and Anglo-Norman England. Modern historia ...
, to his own country. Either while he was a monk at Canterbury, or during his residence at Thorney, which seems more probable, he and his monastery were in some trouble, and were helped by Aldred,
Archbishop of York
The archbishop of York is a senior bishop in the Church of England, second only to the archbishop of Canterbury. The archbishop is the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of York and the metropolitan bishop of the province of York, which covers th ...
, who persuaded the queen either of the Confessor or of the Conqueror to interest herself in their cause. In return Folcard wrote the ''Life of Archbishop John of Beverley'' for Aldred.
Works
* ''Vita S. Bertini'' ( Saint Bertin), dedicated to Bovo, abbot of St. Bertin's from 1043 to 1065, and printed in
Mabillon
Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics.
Early life
Mabi ...
's ''Acta SS. O. S. B''. III. ii. 104, and in
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 ...
Saint Audomar
Saint Audomar (died 670), better known as Saint Omer, was a bishop of Thérouanne, after whom nearby Saint-Omer in northern France was named.
Biography
He was born of a distinguished family of Coutances, then under the Frankish realm of Neust ...
), in Mabillon, ii. 557, and Migne.
* A poem ''in honorem S. Vigoris Episcopi'' (
Saint Vigor
Saint Vigor (french: Saint Vigor, Vigeur; la, Vigor, Vigorus) (died circa 537 AD) was a French bishop and Christian missionary.
Life
Born into the nobility in Artois, he studied at Arras under Saint Vedast. His father would not grant approval ...
), written between 1045 and 1074, in Achery's ''Spicilegium'', iv. 576, and Migne.
* ''Vita S. Oswaldi'' (
Oswald of Worcester
Oswald of Worcester (died 29 February 992) was Archbishop of York from 972 to his death in 992. He was of Danish ancestry, but brought up by his uncle, Oda, who sent him to France to the abbey of Fleury to become a monk. After a number of ye ...
), in Mabillon, i. 727, the
Bollandists
The Bollandist Society ( la, Societas Bollandistarum french: Société des Bollandistes) are an association of scholars, philologists, and historians (originally all Jesuits, but now including non-Jesuits) who since the early seventeenth century ...
' ''
Acta Sanctorum
''Acta Sanctorum'' (''Acts of the Saints'') is an encyclopedic text in 68 folio volumes of documents examining the lives of Christian saints, in essence a critical hagiography, which is organised according to each saint's feast day. The project w ...
'', Capgrave, and Migne.
* ''Responsoria for the Festival of St. John of Beverley'', composed before ''Vita S. Johannis Episcopi Eboracensis'', which was written before 1070, and is printed in the Bollandists' 'Acta SS.' May, ii. 165, Migne, and ''Historians of York'' (Rolls Ser.), i. 238.
* ''Vita S. Botulfi'' (
Botwulf of Thorney
Botolph of Thorney (also called Botolph, Botulph or Botulf; later known as Saint Botolph; died around 680) was an English abbot and saint. He is regarded as the patron saint of boundaries, and by extension, of trade and travel, as well as var ...
), suggested by the fact that the relics of the saint were at Thorney, dedicated to
Walkelin
Walkelin (died 1098) was the first Norman bishop of Winchester.
Life
Walkelin was of noble birth and related to William the Conqueror, whom he served as a royal chaplain.Bishop of Winchester, and therefore written in or after 1070, in Mabillon, III. 1, the Bollandists' ''Acta SS''. June iv. 324, and Migne.