Hildegar, or in French Hildegaire (died 873/76), was the

bishop of Meaux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Meaux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Meldensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Meaux'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The diocese comprises the entire department of Seine-et-Marne. It was suff ...

from around 856 until his death. In January 862, a band of

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

under the son of Weland left their encampment at the abbey of Fossés and "with a few ships" looted the city of Meaux up the river. Shortly after the attack, Hildegar composed the ''Vita et miracula sancti Faronis episcopi Meldensis'', a biography of

Saint Faro Saint Faro (or Burgundofaro; died 675 AD), Count of Guînes, was bishop of Meaux. The family to which Faro belonged is known as the Faronids and is named after him. He is canonized as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and Roman Catholic Chur ...

, his seventh-century predecessor, whose intervention Hildegar credited with saving the church of Meaux from destruction. Hildegar blamed the Viking attacks on the king,

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

, and on "treachery" (''infidelitas''), a veiled accusation that Charles had allowed the Vikings to attack because his son,

Louis the Stammerer Louis II, known as Louis the Stammerer (french: Louis le Bègue; 1 November 846 – 10 April 879), was the king of Aquitaine and later the king of West Francia. He was the eldest son of Emperor Charles the Bald and Ermentrude of Orléans. Louis t ...

, was in rebellion and staying at Meaux at the time. He was probably supported by Hildegar. In the settlement between father and son, Louis was granted the county of Meaux. Hildegar also called the

Seine ) , mouth_location = Le Havre/Honfleur , mouth_coordinates = , mouth_elevation = , progression = , river_system = Seine basin , basin_size = , tributaries_left = Yonne, Loing, Eure, Risle , tributarie ...

valley the "paradise of the realm". Hildegar also records that the Franks were still singing the ''Farolied'', a rustic song about the victory of King

Chlothar II Chlothar II, sometime called "the Young" (French language, French: le Jeune), (May/June 584 – 18 October 629), was king of Neustria and king of the Franks, and the son of Chilperic I and his third wife, Fredegund. He started his reign as an in ...

over Duke Berthoald of Saxony in 622. Bruno Krusch was of the opinion that Hildegar himself was the author of the ''Farolied''.

Notes

Sources

* *

Notes

Sources

Further reading