Lambert le Bègue, also called Lambert li Bègues, (English: ''Lambert the Stutterer'') was a priest and reformer, who lived in

Liège Liège ( ; ; ; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and Municipalities in Belgium, municipality of Wallonia, and the capital of the Liège Province, province of Liège, Belgium. The city is situated in the valley of the Meuse, in the east o ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, in the middle of the 12th century.

Life

Whether he was named "le Bègue" (the "Stammerer") because of some speech problem is not known. The son of poor people, he was ordained priest sometime before 1164, and was first in charge of a church affiliated with the cathedral in Liège, probably St. Martin-en-Île. He refused to pay an increase in the annual tribute to the collegiate chapter of St. Pauls' and was reassigned to the smaller chapel of St. Christopher on the outskirts of the city. At the diocesan synod of 1166 he spoke out against the abuses of the clergy, protesting against simony, the ordination of sons of priests, and certain customs in the administration of the Sacrament of

Baptism Baptism (from ) is a Christians, Christian sacrament of initiation almost invariably with the use of water. It may be performed by aspersion, sprinkling or affusion, pouring water on the head, or by immersion baptism, immersing in water eit ...

and the celebration of Mass. He ascribed greater importance to the devout mind and practical love of one's neighbor than to means of grace and sacraments. He founded in Liège the hospital of St. Christopher. In time he gathered about him a popular following, for whom he translated into the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

(French) the Life of the

Blessed Virgin Mary Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...

, the ''Life of St Agnes'', the

Acts of the Apostles The Acts of the Apostles (, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; ) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of The gospel, its message to the Roman Empire. Acts and the Gospel of Luke make u ...

, and the Epistles of St. Paul, with commentaries; these translations unfortunately have not been preserved. The foundation of such groups reflected the general flowering of the religious life among the

laity In religious organizations, the laity () — individually a layperson, layman or laywoman — consists of all Church membership, members who are not part of the clergy, usually including any non-Ordination, ordained members of religious orders, e ...

in the towns of northern Europe during the late Middle Ages. The communities of beguines also served as refuges for women left widowed or unmarried by the participation of large numbers of men in the

Crusades The Crusades were a series of religious wars initiated, supported, and at times directed by the Papacy during the Middle Ages. The most prominent of these were the campaigns to the Holy Land aimed at reclaiming Jerusalem and its surrounding t ...

. The members frequently lived in individual apartments in a large, separately enclosed section of town called the beguinage. They renounced their goods and lived a semi-conventual life, but took no vows and followed none of the approved monastic rules. They dressed in distinctive costumes and spent their days in prayer, education, care of the sick, and work such as weaving. But he also had adversaries, especially among the clergy, and it was to refute them that he wrote a defense of his theories, entitled "''Antigraphum Petri''". His writings reveal him a man very learned for his time. They abound with quotations, not only from the Bible, but also from the

Fathers of the Church The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were ancient and influential Christian theologians and writers who established the intellectual and doctrinal foundations of Christianity. The historical per ...

, such as St. Gregory, St. Augustine and St. Bernard, and even from profane authors like

Ovid Publius Ovidius Naso (; 20 March 43 BC – AD 17/18), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a younger contemporary of Virgil and Horace, with whom he i ...

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

and

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

. Accused of

heresy Heresy is any belief or theory that is strongly at variance with established beliefs or customs, particularly the accepted beliefs or religious law of a religious organization. A heretic is a proponent of heresy. Heresy in Heresy in Christian ...

, he was condemned and imprisoned notwithstanding his appeal to the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

. He escaped and went over to the antipope Callistus III, who had been recognized by Raoul of Zahringen,

Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

(i.e. bishop and secular ruler) of

. He wrote to the Pope several letters in justification of his doctrines and conduct, with the pope supporting him. In all probability he returned to Liège where he died in 1177. Walter Simons points out that the belief that he founded the beguines did not arise until the mid-thirteenth century, and discounts it as beguines did not begin to appear in Liège until sometime after his death.

Commemoration

The Rue Lambert-le-Bègue is situated in the old district of the beguines in Liège.

References

Sources

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lambert Le Begue 1177 deaths 12th-century Roman Catholic priests Beguines and Beghards Year of birth unknown Clergy from the Prince-Bishopric of Liège