Adalgisel Grimo (died after 634) was a
deacon
A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...
and member of the
Austrasia
Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of th ...
n nobility. He is chiefly significant because of his will, dated 30 December 634. This is the oldest known early medieval deed for the territory between the
Meuse
The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...
and the
Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
and contains important information about the settlement, constitutional, economic and social history of this region.
Adalgisel Grimo had a double name, such as appears occasionally in early medieval sources. ''Grimo'' is the diminutive of a longer polysyllabic name. He was educated at the
Cathedral
A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...
of
Verdun
Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department.
Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...
, served as a deacon under Bishop
Paulus of Verdun, and founded
Tholey Abbey. He controlled a large territory between the Meuse and Rhine, which he bequeathed to
St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier
St. Maximin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei St. Maximin) was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
History
The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been fo ...
and the Monastery of