Hézelon de Liège (also Etzelo; ''

floruit ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

'' second half of the 11th century – first half of the 12th century) was a church official and architect, who at

Cluny Abbey Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saints Peter and Paul. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with t ...

oversaw the construction of the abbey church begun in 1088. He came from an aristocratic background and probably received a formal education, in addition to being trained well enough in mathematics and technical skills to be able to work as an architect.

Biography

Hézelon came from an aristocratic family. His father was a count and his uncle on his mother's side was

Conrad I, Count of Luxembourg Conrad I (c. 1040 – 8 August 1086) was Count of Luxembourg (1059–1086), succeeding his father, Giselbert. Conrad was embroiled in an argument with the Archbishop of Trier as to the abbaye Saint-Maximin in Trier which he had avowed. The ar ...

. His sister appears to have been Regina of Oltingen; she married the

Count of Burgundy This is a list of the County of Burgundy, counts of Burgundy, i.e., of the region known as Franche-Comté, not to be confused with the Duchy of Burgundy, from 982 to 1678. House of Ivrea (982–1184) House of Hohenstaufen (1190–1231) ...

, Reignald II, who was the brother of

Pope Callixtus II Pope Callixtus II or Callistus II ( – 13 December 1124), born Guy of Burgundy, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from February 1119 to his death in 1124. His pontificate was shaped by the Investiture Controversy ...

. Hézelon was a

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the material accepted as officially written by an author or an ascribed author * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western canon, th ...

at either Liège Cathedral or one of the seven collegiate churches of Liège. He is mentioned by

Peter the Venerable Peter the Venerable ( – 25 December 1156), also known as Peter of Montboissier, was the abbot of the Benedictine abbey of Cluny. He has been honored as a saint though he was never canonized in the Middle Ages. Since in 1862 Pope Pius IX co ...

, who in a letter to

Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

Albero I of Louvain calls him by the Latin title ''magister'', indicating a certain level of formal education. He may have embraced Benedictine observance while in Liège, and in the city also clearly achieved training in mathematics and technical skills which enabled him to work as an architect. Hildebert de Lavardin further mentions that Hézelon wrote a text on the life of Saint

Hugh of Cluny Hugh (13 May 1024 – 29 April 1109), sometimes called Hugh the Great or Hugh of Semur, was the Abbot of Cluny from 1049 until his death in 1109. He was one of the most influential leaders of the monastic orders from the Middle Ages. Biograph ...

, further indication of a certain level of education. He was called to

to oversee the construction of the abbey church () which was begun in 1088. It is also possible that he contributed to the building project by collecting funds.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hezelon de Liege 11th-century births 12th-century deaths Romanesque architects People from Liège Medieval Belgian nobility