Ado of Vienne ( la, Ado Viennensis, french: Adon de Vienne; died 16 December 874) was

archbishop of Vienne The Archbishopric of Vienne, named after its episcopal seat in Vienne in the Isère département of southern France, was a metropolitan Roman Catholic archdiocese. It is now part of the Archdiocese of Lyon. History The legend according to whic ...

in Lotharingia from 850 until his death and is venerated as a saint. He belonged to a prominent

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

family and spent much of his early adulthood in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Several of his letters are extant and reveal their writer as an energetic man of wide sympathies and considerable influence. Ado's principal works are a martyrology, and a chronicle, ''Chronicon sive Breviarium chronicorum de sex mundi aetatibus de Adamo usque ad annum 869''.

Early life

Born into a noble family, he was sent as a child for his education, first to Sigulfe, abbot of Ferrières, and then to Marcward, abbot of Prüm near

Trier Trier ( , ; lb, Tréier ), formerly known in English as Trèves ( ;) and Triers (see also names in other languages), is a city on the banks of the Moselle in Germany. It lies in a valley between low vine-covered hills of red sandstone in the ...

. After the death of Marcward in 853, Ado went to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

where he stayed for nearly five years, and then to

Ravenna Ravenna ( , , also ; rgn, Ravèna) is the capital city of the Province of Ravenna, in the Emilia-Romagna region of Northern Italy. It was the capital city of the Western Roman Empire from 408 until its collapse in 476. It then served as the cap ...

, after which Remy, archbishop of Lyon, gave him the parish of Saint-Romain near Vienne. The following year he was elected archbishop of Vienne and dedicated in August or September 860, despite opposition from Girart de Roussillon, Count of Paris, and his wife Berthe.

Episcopal career

Ado participated in the Council of Tousy, near Toul in Lorraine, on 22 October 860, and held a council at Vienne in 870. After his death on 16 December 876, his body was buried in the Church of the Apostles in Vienne, now called St. Peter's Church, the usual place of burial of the archbishops of Vienne. His feast day is celebrated on 16 December.

Writings

Ado's chronicle is based on that of

Bede Bede ( ; ang, Bǣda , ; 672/326 May 735), also known as Saint Bede, The Venerable Bede, and Bede the Venerable ( la, Beda Venerabilis), was an English monk at the monastery of St Peter and its companion monastery of St Paul in the Kingdom o ...

, with which he combines extracts from the ordinary sources, forming the whole into a consecutive narrative founded on the conception of the unity of the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...

, which he traces in the succession of the emperors,

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

and his heirs following immediately after Constantine VI and

Irene Irene is a name derived from εἰρήνη (eirēnē), the Greek for "peace". Irene, and related names, may refer to: * Irene (given name) Places * Irene, Gauteng, South Africa * Irene, South Dakota, United States * Irene, Texas, United Stat ...

. "It is," says Wilhelm Wattenbach, "history from the point of view of authority and preconceived opinion, which exclude any independent judgment of events." Endnotes: * Wattenbach, W. ''Deutschlands Geschichtsquellen'', Vol. I. (Stuttgart and Berlin, 1904). Ado wrote also a book on the

miracle A miracle is an event that is inexplicable by natural or scientific lawsOne dictionary define"Miracle"as: "A surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divin ...

s ('' Miracula'') of Saint Bernard, archbishop of Vienne (9th century), published in the Bollandist '' Acta Sanctorum''; a life or ''martyrium'' of Saint Desiderius, bishop of Vienne (d. 608); and a life of Saint

Theuderius Saint Theuderius (or Theuderis, Theudar, Theodore, Cherf, Chef, french: Theudère de Vienne; died ) was a Christian monk, abbot and hermit. His feast day is 29 October. Life Saint Theuderius was born in the 6th century in Arcisse, near the mod ...

of Vienne, otherwise known as Theudericus of the Dauphinê, abbot of

Saint-Chef Saint-Chef () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. The commune is named after Saint Chef, who was born in the nearby hamlet of Arcisse. climate Saint-Chef has a semi-continental climate characterized by generally highe ...

near Vienne (563).

Sources

The Royal Library of Copenhagen preserves an unedited martyrology which dates back to the 11th century and comes from the Abbey of

Santa Maria, Serrateix Santa Maria de Serrateix is the Romanesque church of a former Benedictine abbey located on the BV-4235 road in Serrateix in the comarca of Berguedà, Catalonia. History The monastery dates to c. 940 when a group of monks settled in the area. Fr ...

, with information on Ado of Vienne, the

Rule of Saint 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 ...

and other abbots and monks of that time.

Notes

External links

Opera Omnia by Migne Patrologia Latina with analytical indexes
Bishops in the Carolingian Empire 9th-century archbishops Archbishops of Vienne 874 deaths Year of birth unknown 9th-century Latin writers Saints from the Carolingian Empire Historians from the Carolingian Empire 9th-century Lotharingian people {{France-RC-bishop-stub