Robert of Arbrissel ( 1045 – 1116) was an
itinerant preacher
An itinerant preacher (also known as an itinerant minister or evangelist or circuit rider) is a Christian evangelist who preaches the basic Christian redemption message while traveling around to different groups of people within a relatively shor ...
, and founder of
Fontevraud Abbey
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...
. He was born at Arbrissel (near
Retiers
Retiers (; ; Gallo: ''Restier'') is a commune in the Ille-et-Vilaine department of Brittany in northwestern France.
Population
Inhabitants of Retiers are called ''restériens'' in French.
See also
*Communes of the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...
,
Brittany
Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...
) and died at
Orsan Priory in the present
department of Cher.
Sources
The first ''Vita'' was written by
Baudri of Dol, bishop of
Dol-en-Bretagne (formerly abbot of the monastery of Saint-Pierre of Bourgueil), shortly after Robert's death in 1116. A second ''Life'' was commissioned a few years later by Petronilla, Abbess of Fontevrault, probably to support her authority as abbess.
[
]
Biography
Robert was born around 1045 at Arbrissel in Brittany, the son of Domalioch and Orguende. His father was a parish priest. Married clergy were not uncommon prior to the Gregorian reform. He probably succeeded his father as priest to the parish. Seeking to improve his education, he went to Paris where he spent some years in study,[Dalarun, Jacques. ''Robert of Arbrissel: Sex, Sin, and Salvation in the Middle Ages'', CUA Press, 2006]
perhaps under Anselm of Laon
Anselm of Laon ( la, Anselmus; 1117), properly Ansel ('), was a French theologian and founder of a school of scholars who helped to pioneer biblical hermeneutics.
Biography
Born of very humble parents at Laon before the middle of the 11th cent ...
and later displayed considerable theological knowledge. The date and place of his ordination are unknown.[Webster, Douglas Raymund. "Robert of Arbrissel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 13. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1912. 31 Jan. 2015]
/ref> Sometime prior to 1076, Robert returned to his parish. In 1078, Bishop Sylvester de La Guerche, was deposed by a legate of Gregory VII, and as Robert had supported Sylvester's election, Robert was compelled to leave the diocese.
Robert resumed his studies in Paris until recalled by the now reinstated Bishop Sylvester. He then served as Sylvester's archpriest, effectively running the diocese of Rennes. Bishop Sylvester attempted, with Robert's assistance, to introduce reforms, which provoked antagonism on the part of the Breton clergy. Upon the death of Sylvester around 1093, Robert fled to Angers and there commenced ascetic practices which he continued throughout his life.[
In 1095 he became a hermit in the forest of Craon (south-west of Laval), living a life of severe penance in the company of ]Bernard of Thiron
Bernard of Thiron, also known as Bernard of Ponthieu and Bernard of Abbeville, was the founder of the Tiron Abbey and the Tironensian Order.
Early life
Born near Abbeville in 1046. At the age of 19 he was accepted at the monastery of Saint-Cy ...
, afterwards founder of the Congregation of Tiron
The Tironensian Order or the Order of Tiron was a medieval monastic order named after the location of the mother abbey (Tiron Abbey, french: Abbaye de la Sainte-Trinité de Tiron, established in 1109) in the woods of Thiron-Gardais (sometimes ''Ti ...
, Vitalis, founder of Savigny Abbey
Savigny Abbey (''Abbaye de Savigny'') was a monastery near the village of Savigny-le-Vieux (Manche), in northern France. It was founded early in the 12th century. Initially it was the central house of the Congregation of Savigny, who were Benedi ...
, and others of considerable note. His piety, eloquence, and asceticism attracted many followers, for whom in 1096 he founded the monastery of La Roé of Canons Regular, becoming himself the first abbot. In the same year Urban II summoned him to Angers and appointed him an apostolic missionary authorized to preach anywhere.[ Robert found a patron in ]Hildebert
Hildebert (c. 105518 December 1133) was a French ecclesiastic, hagiographer and theologian. From 1096–97 he was bishop of Le Mans, then from 1125 until his death archbishop of Tours. Sometimes called Hildebert of Lavardin, his name may also be s ...
, Bishop of Le Mans.
His eloquence, heightened by his strikingly ascetic appearance, drew crowds everywhere. Those who desired to embrace the monastic state under his leadership he sent to La Roé, but the Canons objected to the number and diversity of the postulants. Robert resigned the abbacy, and in 1099 founded the double monastery of Fontevrault
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preache ...
. He appointed Hersende of Champagne, kinswoman to the Duke of Brittany as abbess, and Petronilla, baroness of Chemille, as coadjutress. Fontrevault followed the Rule of St. Benedict
The ''Rule of Saint Benedict'' ( la, Regula Sancti Benedicti) is a book of precepts written in Latin in 516 by St Benedict of Nursia ( AD 480–550) for monks living communally under the authority of an abbot.
The spirit of Saint Benedict's Ru ...
.[Butler, Alban. "B. Robert of Arbrissel", ''The Lives of the Saints'', Vol II, 1866]
/ref>
Robert's legend has long alluded to the presence of converted prostitutes and there is indeed considerable contemporary evidence for this assertion. 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 ...
writes of the presence amongst Robert's disciples of meretrices – a Latin word usually used at the time to refer to prostitutes, or at the very least, morally loose women. The almost-certainty of prostitutes being amongst Robert's followers is confirmed by a text discovered at the monastery of Vaux-de-Cernay. In the text, Robert visits a brothel in Rouen and speaks of sin to the prostitutes there; enraptured, they walk away into the wilderness with him. Robert aimed to “attract adulterers and prostitutes to the medicine of repentance”, the text avers. The story it relates may not be entirely true in the matters of its facts, but it relates the essential truth that Robert had prostitute followers – by virtue of showing that such a story was in common currency at the time. Robert also dedicated one of the houses at his abbey of Fontevrault to Mary Magdalene.
Robert continued his missionary journeys over the whole of Western France till the end of his life, but little is known of this period. He was, however, accused by Abbot Geoffrey of Vendôme
Geoffrey of Vendôme (Goffridus Abbas Vindocinensis) (c. 1065/70 of a noble family, at Angers, France – 26 March 1132 at Angers, France) was a French Benedictine monk, writer and cardinal.
At an early age he entered the Benedictine communit ...
and Bishop Marbod of Rennes of sleeping in the same room as some of his female followers.
It is more likely that Robert was mimicking the practice of ''syneisaktism'', an early church practice in which male and female religious would live together in a form of chaste marriage.[Elliott, Dyan. Spiritual Marriage: Sexual Abstinence in Medieval Wedlock]
/ref> At the Council of Poitiers, November 1100, he supported the papal legates in excommunicating Philip I of France
Philip I (23 May 1052 – 29 July 1108), called the Amorous, was King of the Franks from 1060 to 1108. His reign, like that of most of the early Capetians, was extraordinarily long for the time. The monarchy began a modest recovery from the low i ...
on account of his lawless union with Bertrade de Montfort; in 1110 he attended the Council of Nantes. Knowledge of his approaching death caused him to take steps to ensure the permanence of his foundation at Fontevrault. He imposed a vow of stability on his monks and summoned a Chapter (September, 1116) to settle the form of government. From Hautebruyère, a priory founded by the penitent Bertrade, he went to Orsan
Orsan () is a commune in the Gard department in southern France.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Gard department
This is a list of the 351 communes of the Gard department of France.
The communes cooperate in the following intercommu ...
, another priory of Fontevrault, where he died. The "Vita Andreæ" gives a detailed account of his last year of life.
Veneration
The accusation made against Robert by Geoffrey of Vendôme
Geoffrey of Vendôme (Goffridus Abbas Vindocinensis) (c. 1065/70 of a noble family, at Angers, France – 26 March 1132 at Angers, France) was a French Benedictine monk, writer and cardinal.
At an early age he entered the Benedictine communit ...
of extreme indiscretion in his choice of exceptional ascetic practices (see P.L., CLVII, 182) was the source of much controversy during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Other evidence of eccentric actions on Robert's part and scandals among his mixed followers may have helped to give rise to these rumors. The Fontevrists did everything in their power to discredit the attacks on their founder.
The accusatory letters of bishop Marbodius of Rennes
Marbodus, Marbod or Marbode of Rennes ( 1035 – 11 September 1123) was archdeacon and schoolmaster at Angers, France, then Bishop of Rennes in Brittany. He was a respected poet, hagiographer, and hymnologist.
Biography
Marbod was born near Anger ...
and Geoffrey of Vendôme were without sufficient cause declared to be forgeries and the MS. Letter of Peter of Saumur was made away with, probably at the instigation of Jeanne Baptiste de Bourbon, Abbess of Fontevrault. This natural daughter of Henry IV of France
Henry IV (french: Henri IV; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry or Henry the Great, was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 1610. He was the first monarch ...
applied to Pope Innocent X
Pope Innocent X ( la, Innocentius X; it, Innocenzo X; 6 May 1574 – 7 January 1655), born Giovanni Battista Pamphilj (or Pamphili), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 15 September 1644 to his death in Januar ...
for the beatification
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
of Robert, her request being supported by Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
and Henrietta of England
Henrietta Anne of England (16 June 1644 O.S. N.S.">New_Style.html" ;"title="6 June 1644 New Style">N.S.– 30 June 1670) was the youngest daughter of King Charles I of England and Queen Henrietta Maria.
Fleeing England with her mother and go ...
. In the event, Robert was never canonized
Canonization is the declaration of a deceased person as an officially recognized saint, specifically, the official act of a Christian communion declaring a person worthy of public veneration and entering their name in the canon catalogue of s ...
, but he was beatified
Beatification (from Latin ''beatus'', "blessed" and ''facere'', "to make”) is a recognition accorded by the Catholic Church of a deceased person's entrance into Heaven and capacity to intercede on behalf of individuals who pray in their nam ...
and so is venerated by the Catholic Church as "Blessed" and recorded as such in the current edition of the Roman Martyrology. In places where this has been authorized, he may be celebrated on February 25.
The original recension of the Rule of Fontevrault no longer exists; the only surviving writing of Robert is his letter of exhortation to Ermengarde of Brittany.[ed. Petigny in " Bib. de l'école des Chartes", 1854, V, iii; an English translation of this letter is available a]
Epistolae: Medieval Women's Latin Letters
/ref>
Notes
Further reading
*Venarde, Bruce L., ed. and trans.(2003) ''Robert of Arbrissel: a Medieval Religious Life.'' Washington, D. C.: Catholic University of America Press
*Dalarun, Jacques. (2006) ''Robert of Arbrissel: Sex, Sin, and Salvation in the Middle Ages.'' Translated by B. L. Venarde. Washington, D. C.: Catholic University of America Press
{{Authority control
French abbots
1040s births
1116 deaths
Fontevraud Abbey