Marbodus, Marbod or Marbode of Rennes ( 1035 – 11 September 1123) was
archdeacon
An archdeacon is a senior clergy position in the Church of the East, Chaldean Catholic Church, Syriac Orthodox Church, Anglican Communion, St Thomas Christians, Eastern Orthodox churches and some other Christian denominations, above that o ...
and schoolmaster at Angers, France, then
Bishop of Rennes
The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rennes, Dol, and Saint-Malo (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rhedonensis, Dolensis et Sancti Maclovii''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rennes, Dol et Saint-Malo''; br, Arc'heskopti Roazhon, Dol ha Sant-Maloù) is a dioces ...
in
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, Historical region, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known ...
. He was a respected poet,
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 ...
, and
hymnologist
Hymnology (from Greek ὕμνος ''hymnos'', "song of praise" and -λογία ''-logia'', "study of") is the scholarly study of religious song, or the hymn, in its many aspects, with particular focus on choral and congregational song. It may be m ...
.
Biography
Marbod was born near
Angers
Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the prov ...
in
Anjou Anjou may refer to:
Geography and titles France
* County of Anjou, a historical county in France and predecessor of the Duchy of Anjou
**Count of Anjou, title of nobility
*Duchy of Anjou, a historical duchy and later a province of France
**Duk ...
, France, presumably in the mid-1030s. He received at least part of his early education at Angers under archdeacon and schoolmaster Rainaldus (d. c. 1076), who may have been trained by
Fulbert of Chartres
Fulbert of Chartres (french: Fulbert de Chartres; 952–970–10 April 1028) was the Bishop of Chartres from 1006 to 1028 and a teacher at the Cathedral school there. Fulbert was a pupil of Gerbert of Aurillac, who would later become Pope Syl ...
. He was a well-known and highly praised scholar in Angers. Marbod had three known named relatives: a brother named Hugo, who was a canon of Saint-Maurice of Angers, a mother most likely named Hildeburgis, and a nephew named Herveus.
Two of Marbod's family members were in the entourage of Count
Fulk le Réchin of Anjou. The power of the episcopate in Northern France during the twelfth century was immense. The position came with land, economic, political, and spiritual power which had been continued on from the time of
Carolingian kings. For noblemen, having a bishop on one's side could lend to having a lot of pull in politics. Count Fulk negotiated Marbod’s position as bishop because he was acquainted with Marbod's family and therefore someone who he could influence the power of with more ease. Marbod was a
canon
Canon or Canons may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
* Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base
* Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture
** Western ca ...
in the
cathedral chapter
According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...
of
Saint-Maurice of Angers as early as c. 1068. In about 1076 he became the cardinal archdeacon of Angers as well as the master of its cathedral school. He was consecrated in his mid-60s as bishop of Rennes by
Pope Urban II
Pope Urban II ( la, Urbanus II; – 29 July 1099), otherwise known as Odo of Châtillon or Otho de Lagery, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 12 March 1088 to his death. He is best known for convening th ...
(1088–1099) during the
Council of Tours
In the medieval Roman Catholic church there were several Councils of Tours, that city being an old seat of Christianity, and considered fairly centrally located in France.
Council of Tours 461
The Council was called by Perpetuus, Bishop of Tours, ...
(16–23 March 1096) while he was touring France to promote his crusade. Marbod succeeded Silvester of La Guerche (1076-93) as bishop. Although Pope Urban II was a reforming pope in the tradition of
Pope Gregory VII
Pope Gregory VII ( la, Gregorius VII; 1015 – 25 May 1085), born Hildebrand of Sovana ( it, Ildebrando di Soana), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 22 April 1073 to his death in 1085. He is venerated as a saint ...
(1073–1085) (see
Gregorian Reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be nam ...
), it is likely that Marbod's selection as bishop had a significant political component. Pope Urban II's goals were to promote his crusade and have the church gain more freedom and separation, and therefore power, from the secular world. Bishop Marbod attempted to implement reform principles in his diocese of Rennes, working to regain episcopal possessions that had been alienated by his predecessor-bishops, and helping transfer churches held by laymen to ecclesiastical hands. With these actions, he aided in the continuation of Gregorian Reform through aiding the acquisition of land for the church. He was critical of the more extreme practices of
Robert of Arbrissel
Robert of Arbrissel ( 1045 – 1116) was an itinerant preacher, and founder of Fontevraud Abbey. He was born at Arbrissel (near Retiers, Brittany) and died at Orsan Priory in the present department of Cher.
Sources
The first ''Vita'' was writt ...
and other such itinerant preachers wandering northwestern France at the time, but his letters indicate that he was tolerant of and even favorable towards their religious ideals.
At the age of about eighty-eight he resigned his diocese and withdrew to the
Benedictine
, image = Medalla San Benito.PNG
, caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal
, abbreviation = OSB
, formation =
, motto = (English: 'Pray and Work')
, foun ...
monastery of St. Aubin at Angers where he died.
Writings
Marbod was renowned for his Latin writing during his lifetime. Sigebert of Gembloux, writing c. 1110–1125, praised Marbod's clever verse style. He composed works in verse and prose on both sacred and secular subjects: saints' lives, examples of rhetorical figures (De ornamentis verborum), a work of Christian advice (Liber decem capitulorum) hymns, lyric poetry on many subjects, and at least six prose letters.
His style of poetry was part of a group of poets that were from French Cathedral Schools. Their poetry was marked by its revival of the classical style, writing in Latin and specific verse. He commonly wrote in Leonine hexameter. A poem written this way would consist of six metrical feet per line. This style of verse was popular in the Middle Ages and was distinguishable from verse in antiquity by its use of rhyme within the feet of the poem. Marbod's subject matter was diverse, dealing with both secular and religious topics. He wrote mainly didactic poetry; poetry that gave instruction or lessons to its readers.
The most popular of Marbod's works was the Liber de lapidibus, a verse
lapidary
Lapidary (from the Latin ) is the practice of shaping stone, minerals, or gemstones into decorative items such as cabochons, engraved gems (including cameos), and faceted designs. A person who practices lapidary is known as a lapidarist. A la ...
or compendium of mythological gem-lore; by the fourteenth century it had been translated into French, Provençal, Italian, Irish, and Danish, and it was the first of Marbod's works to be printed.
The first collection of Marbod's works was published at Rennes in 1524 (In collectione prima operum Marbodi). Today the most widely accessible edition of Marbod's collected works is that 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 u ...
's
Patrologiae cursus completus Series Latina, vol. 171, edited by Jean-Jacques Bourassé (Paris, 1854); this was based on the edition of Antoine Beaugendre, Venerabilis Hildeberti primo Cenomannensis Accesserunt Marbodi Redonensis (Paris, 1708). Both contain numerous errors and omissions and should be used with caution. Modern editions of Marbod's works include Antonella Degl’Innocenti, ed. Marbodo di Rennes: Vita beati Roberti (Florence, 1995) and Maria Esthera Herrera, ed., Marbodo de Rennes Lapidario (Liber lapidum) (Paris, 2005).
Marbod produced lyric poetry on a wide variety of subjects, including frankly erotic love lyrics concerning male and female love interests. Many of his shorter poems circulated primarily in florilegia, collections assembled for the use of students. The most radical of Marbod's poems, while printed in the earliest collections, were omitted by Beaugendre and Bourassé; they were reprinted by Walther Bulst in "Liebesbriefgedichte Marbods," in Liber floridus: Mittellateinische Studien Paul Lehmann, zum 65 Geburtstaag am 13. Juli 1949, ed. Bernhard Bischoff and Suso Brechter (St. Ottilien, 1950), p. 287–301, and Lateinisches Mittelalter: Gesammelte Beitraege (Heidelberg, 1984), 182–196.
Homosexuality
Several of his poems speak of handsome boys and homosexual desires but reject physical relationships (An Argument Against Copulation Between People of Only One Sex). This exemplifies a tradition of medieval poetry which celebrated same-sex friendship while denouncing the wickedness of sexual relations. There was an increasing rejection of desire, specifically desires of the body, with the rise of asceticism during the Middle Ages within clerical communities as well as the general populous in Europe. This accounted for the disapproval of homosexual relationships; homosexuality went against newly forming categories of the sacredness of the flesh and distinct categories of male and female. Marbod is writing in the context of constructions of twelfth century French constructions of gender and sexuality. While distinctions between the male and female sex existed, sexuality was also strongly defined by power dynamics; it mattered if one had the ability to express one's sexual desires, whether physically or through text. Marbod had the power to write about it.
It is evident in other French didactic writing, such as that from Robert de Blois, that sexuality was largely paradoxical. Writers argued against sexualizing a person while simultaneously describing them in a sexual manor. It is feasible that Marbod both accepted and rejected homosexuality simultaneously, having a persona in his poetry that experienced same sex desire that operated under the Christian framework he lived in. This was not an uncommon stance to take as didactic poets of the Middle Ages often argued against what they believed in in order to demonstrate their argument skills.
There is no direct evidence that Marbod participated in homosexual acts. However, some of his poems, such as the one where he sent an urgent demand that his beloved return if he wished the speaker to remain faithful to him, have nonetheless been interpreted to indicate that more than poetic invention was involved. His friendships with
Baudry of Bourgeuil, his junior, and
Hildebart of Lavardin suggest this as well. Marbod dedicated much of his later works to Hildebart. All three of the men authored poems expressing homosexual desire, both lording it and denouncing it. The poetry these men were writing expressing homosexual acts reflected other communities of poets in Europe. Jewish communities in Spain similarly wrote about the beauty and allure of young men.
The similarities in these communities of men writing about homosexuality implies a larger subculture of Medieval homosexuality outside of individual men.
Translations and adaptations
* A French translation of his hymns was edited by
Ropartz
Joseph Guy Marie Ropartz (; 15 June 1864 – 22 November 1955) was a French composer and conductor. His compositions included five symphonies, three violin sonatas, cello sonatas, six string quartets, a piano trio and string trio (both in A min ...
(Rennes, 1873).
* Marbod's verse life of
Saint Thaïs
In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...
, a fourth-century Egyptian prostitute who finished her life as a recluse, inspired the novel by
Anatole France
(; born , ; 16 April 1844 – 12 October 1924) was a French poet, journalist, and novelist with several best-sellers. Ironic and skeptical, he was considered in his day the ideal French man of letters. He was a member of the Académie França ...
and in turn the
opera
Opera is a form of theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically a collaboration between a composer and a librett ...
by
Jules Massenet
Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet (; 12 May 1842 – 13 August 1912) was a French composer of the Romantic era best known for his operas, of which he wrote more than thirty. The two most frequently staged are '' Manon'' (1884) and ''Werther' ...
.
Further reading
* Antonella Degl'Innocenti, L’opera agiografica di Marbodo de Rennes (Spoleto, 1990)
* Rosario Leotta, and Carmelo Crimi, eds., De ornamentis verborum; Liber decem capitulorum: retorica, mitologia e moralità di un vescovo poeta, secc. XI–XII (Florence, 1998)
*
André Wilmart
Dom André Wilmart O.S.B. (1876 – 21 April 1941 Paris) was a French Benedictine medievalist and liturgist, who spent most of his career at St Michael's Abbey, Farnborough. He was a leading expert on medieval spirituality in the decades be ...
, "Le florilège de Saint-Gatien: contribution à l’étude des poèmes d’Hildebert et de Marbode", Revue bénédictine 48(1936):3–40; 145–181; 245–258
* Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Marbodius". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
Notes
Sources
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{{Authority control
1030s births
1123 deaths
Breton bishops
Bishops of Rennes
11th-century French Roman Catholic bishops
12th-century French Roman Catholic bishops
LGBT history in France
Medieval LGBT history
11th-century French poets
Medieval Latin poets
12th-century French poets
11th-century French writers
12th-century French writers
11th-century Latin writers
12th-century Latin writers