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The ''Gesta Adalberonis'' or ''Gesta Alberonis'' ("Deeds of Albero") is a biography of Adalbero, Archbishop of Trier (1131–52), written in
medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functioned ...
prose by Balderic of Florennes. There is also a ''Gesta Alberonis metrica anonyma'', an anonymous biography of Albero's life down to 1145, written in
hexameter
Hexameter is a metrical line of verses consisting of six feet (a "foot" here is the pulse, or major accent, of words in an English line of poetry; in Greek and Latin a "foot" is not an accent, but describes various combinations of syllables). It w ...
s.
Balderic was born in
Florennes
Florennes (; wa, Florene) is a municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Namur, Belgium. As of 1 January 2006, Florennes has a total population of 10,754. The total area is 133.55 km² which gives a population density of 81 inhabita ...
and became a scholar in
Paris
Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...
, where he first met Albero in 1147. The archbishop invited him to come head the school at the
cathedral of Trier
The High Cathedral of Saint Peter in Trier (german: Hohe Domkirche St. Peter zu Trier), or Trier Cathedral (german: Trierer Dom), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Trier, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is the oldest church in Germany and the l ...
, and he later served as provost of the college of Saint Simeon housed in the
Porta Nigra
The Porta Nigra (Latin for ''black gate'') is a large Roman city gate in Trier, Germany. It is today the largest Roman city gate north of the Alps. It was designated as part of the Roman Monuments, Cathedral of St Peter and Church of Our Lady in ...
. He wrote his life of Albero shortly after the latter's death. He himself disappears from the record after 1163 and presumably died around that time. He was praised for his scholarship by
Wibald Wibald ( la, Wibaldus) (early 1098 – 19 July 1158) was a 12th-century Abbot of Stavelot (Stablo) and Malmedy, both in present-day Belgium, and of Corvey in Germany.
Biography
Wibald was born near Stavelot in 1098. Soon after he studied at the m ...
.
The ''Gesta''’s account of Albero's youth is mostly legendary, but his years as bishop are reliably covered, especially those portions describing that to which Balderic was an eyewitness. The work is biography and, although the author heeps praise on the subject, it is not
hagiography
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 migh ...
Monumenta Germaniae Historica
The ''Monumenta Germaniae Historica'' (''MGH'') is a comprehensive series of carefully edited and published primary sources, both chronicle and archival, for the study of Northwestern and Central European history from the end of the Roman Empire ...
'', Scriptores, VIII, 243–67.
*Balderic alderich ''A Warrior Bishop of the Twelfth Century: The Deeds of Albero of Trier'', Brian A. Pavlac, trans. Toronto:
Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies
The Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies (PIMS) is a research institute in the University of Toronto that is dedicated to advanced studies in the culture of the Middle Ages.
Governance
The Roman Catholic Archbishop of Toronto, currently Th ...