Theutbald II (or Theobald or Theobold, french: Thibaut, , la, T(h)eutbaldus; died 894/5) was one of the rival

bishops of Langres The Roman Catholic Diocese of Langres (Latin: ''Dioecesis Lingonensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Langres'') is a Roman Catholic diocese comprising the ''département'' of Haute-Marne in France. The diocese is now a suffragan in ecclesiastical pr ...

following the disputed election of 888. According to

Flodoard of Reims Flodoard of Reims (; 893/4 – 28 March 966) was a Frankish chronicler and priest of the cathedral church of Reims in the West Frankish kingdom during the decades following the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire. His historical writings are ...

, he was a relative of

Charles the Simple Charles III (17 September 879 – 7 October 929), called the Simple or the Straightforward (from the Latin ''Carolus Simplex''), was the king of West Francia from 898 until 922 and the king of Lotharingia from 911 until 919–923. He was a memb ...

, king of

West Francia In medieval history, West Francia (Medieval Latin: ) or the Kingdom of the West Franks () refers to the western part of the Frankish Empire established by Charlemagne. It represents the earliest stage of the Kingdom of France, lasting from about ...

Biography

The death of bishop Geilo of Langres on 28 June 888 came shortly after the death of the

Emperor Charles III Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...

. The resulting election of the bishop's successor thus took place while the thrones of the various kingdoms of the empire were themselves in dispute. Following his canonical and popular election, Argrim was consecrated bishop by archbishop

Aurelian of Lyon Aurelian ( la, Lucius Domitius Aurelianus; 9 September 214 October 275) was a Roman emperor, who reigned during the Crisis of the Third Century, from 270 to 275. As emperor, he won an unprecedented series of military victories which reunited t ...

, but archbishop

Fulk of Reims Fulk the Venerable (died June 17, 900) was archbishop of Reims from 883 until his death. He was a key protagonist in the political conflicts of the West Francia, West Frankish kingdom that followed the dissolution of the Carolingian Empire in the ...

, who supported the claim of Charles the Simple to the throne, tried to force Theutbald on the church of Langres instead. He convinced

Pope Stephen V Pope Stephen V ( la, Stephanus V; died 14 September 891) was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from September 885 to his death. In his dealings with Photius I of Constantinople, as in his relations with the young Slavic Orthodox ...

to back him, and the pope wrote two letters to Aurelian to pressure him to consecrate Theutbald and withdraw his support from Argrim. It took two years and three months for Theutbald's party to gain the upper hand and remove Argrim from Langres. In the autumn of 890, at Pope Stephen's instruction, Theutbald was brought to Langres by Fulk and consecrated bishop. In 894 Theutbald sent a delegation to the council of

Chalon-sur-Saône Chalon-sur-Saône (, literally ''Chalon on Saône'') is a city in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté in eastern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department. It is the largest city in the department; h ...

. Late in 894, his enemies, led by Duke Richard of Burgundy, attacked him and gouged out his eyes. As a result, the temporalities which the bishops had possessed in and around the city of

Langres Langres () is a commune in France, commune in northeastern France. It is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Haute-Marne, in the Regions of France, region of Grand Est. History As the capital o ...

since the time of the Emperor

Louis the Pious Louis the Pious (german: Ludwig der Fromme; french: Louis le Pieux; 16 April 778 – 20 June 840), also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was King of the Franks and co-emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813. He was also King of Aqui ...

passed to the duke of Burgundy, since the king of West Francia at the time,

Odo Odo or ODO may refer to: People * Odo, a given name; includes a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Franklin Odo (born 1939), Japanese-American historian * Seikichi Odo (1927–2002), Japanese karateka * Yuya Odo (born 1990), J ...

, was too weak to intervene and had in 889 favoured Argrim. He died as a result of the procedure, and Argrim was restored.

Notes

Sources

* * * {{authority control 890s deaths Bishops of Langres Carolingian dynasty Year of birth missing