Hugh (died 730) was the son of Duke

Drogo of Champagne Drogo (c.675 – 708) was a Frankish nobleman, the eldest son of Pippin of Heristal and Plectrudis. He was the duke of Champagne from the early 690s. Drogo was born shortly after his parents' marriage, which probably took place in 675 or just aft ...

and his wife Anstrudis. He entered the church and became

archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

in 722.

Life

Hugh was the grandson of Pepin of Heristal and

Plectrude Plectrude ( la, Plectrudis; german: Plektrud, Plechtrudis) (died 718) was the consort of Pepin of Herstal, the mayor of the palace and duke of the Franks, from about 670. She was the daughter of Hugobert, seneschal of Clovis IV, and Irmina of O ...

on his father's side,St. Augustine's Abbey (Ramsgate, England). “Hugh of Rouen”. ''Book of Saints'', 1921. A. & C. Black, 5 September 2013
/ref> and of

Waratton Waratto (died 686) was the mayor of the palace of Neustria and Burgundy on two occasions, owing to the deposition he experienced at the hands of his own faithless son. His first term lasted from 680 or 681 (the death of Ebroin) to 682, when h ...

and Ansfledis on his mother's. Both Waratton and Drogo were mayors of the palaces. He was brought up by his grandmother Ansfled, while his father Drogo was duke in distant Champagne. Paul Fouracre regards the education of Hugh as an example of the important role of women in Frankish family fortunes and in politics generally. While still a layman, Hugh was endowed with

Jumièges Abbey Jumièges Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery, situated in the commune of Jumièges in the Seine-Maritime ''département'', in Normandy, France. History Around 654 the abbey was founded on a gift of forested land belonging to the royal fisc ...

, which he entered as a monk in 718 under Abbot Cochin. He later became vicar-general of the

diocese of Metz The Diocese of Metz ( la, Dioecesis Metensis; french: Diocèse de Metz) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. In the Middle Ages it was a prince-bishopric of the Holy Roman Empire, a ''de facto ...

. In 722, Hugh was elected to the vacant archdiocese of Rouen. In 723, he accepted charge of Fontenelle Abbey. In 724, he took on the administration, together with his own, of the dioceses of

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 ...

and

Bayeux Bayeux () is a Communes of France, commune in the Calvados (department), Calvados Departments of France, department in Normandy (administrative region), Normandy in northwestern France. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry, which depicts ...

.Ordericus Vitalis. "Chronicle of St. Evroult", ''The Ecclesiastical History of England and Normandy'', Volume 4, H.G. Bohn, 1856, p. 240
/ref> He used the revenue from his various benefices to promote piety and learning.Delaney, John J., ''Dictionary of Saints'', Crown Publishing Group, 2005, p. 307
Towards the end of his life, Hugh retired to Jumièges, where he died on 9 April 730."April", ''The Roman and British Martyrology'', O'Neill and Duggan, 1846, p. 113
/ref> He was interred at Jumièges. In the ninth century his relics were relocated to Belgium in order to save them from profanation at the hands 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 ...

. He is regarded as a

saint In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of Q-D-Š, holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and Christian denomination, denominat ...

and his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is kept on 9 April.

References

Sources

Primary sources

*''Gesta Hugonis archiepiscopi Rotomagensis'' in the ''Gesta (sanctorum patrum) Fontanellensis coenobii'' (dated between about 833 and 840), ed. Samuel Löwenfeld. ''Gesta Abbatum Fontanellensium''. MGH Scriptores rer. Germ. 28. Hanover, 1886 (reprinted 1980). 26-8; ed. F. Lohier and J. Laporte. ''Gesta sanctorum patrum Fontanellensis coenobii''. Société de l'histoire de Normandie. Rouen, 1936. 37–43. *Another ninth-century ''Vita'', associated with Jumièges, ed. Joseph van der Straeten, "Vie inédite de S. Hugues évêque de Rouen." ''

Analecta Bollandiana 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 ...

'' 87 (1969): 215–60. Based primarily on Rouen BM 1377 (U 108) f. 135r-150r. *

Baldric of Dol Baldric of Dol ( 10507 January 1130) was prior and then abbot of Bourgueil from 1077 to 1106, then made bishop of Dol-en-Bretagne in 1107 and archbishop in 1108 until his death. He fulfilled his monastic duties by travelling to attend Church counc ...

, ''Vita S. Hugonis'', ed. MPL 166. 1163–72
Available online from the Documenta Catholica Omnia

Secondary sources

*Urdang, Laurence. ''Holidays and Anniversaries of the World''. Detroit: Gale Research Company, 1985. . *Lifshitz, Felice. ''The Norman Conquest of Pious Neustria: Historiographic Discourse and Saintly Relics, 684-1090''. Studies and Texts 122. Toronto: Pontifical Institute of Mediaeval Studies, 1995.

External links

St. Hugh of Rouen (Catholic Online)
Year of birth missing 730 deaths 8th-century Frankish bishops Bishops of Bayeux Bishops of Paris Archbishops of Rouen Pippinids 8th-century archbishops Abbey of Saint Wandrille 8th-century Frankish saints Burials at Notre-Dame de Paris {{france-bishop-stub