Herluin otherwise Hellouin (995/997 – 26 August 1078) was a

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood finds origins in the Gr ...

at the court of Gilbert of Brionne and subsequently a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monk. He founded the Abbey of Our Lady of Bec,

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

Early life

Herluin was born around 995/997 in Bonneville-Aptot, according to

Mabillon Dom Jean Mabillon, O.S.B., (; 23 November 1632 – 27 December 1707) was a French Benedictine monk and scholar of the Congregation of Saint Maur. He is considered the founder of the disciplines of palaeography and diplomatics. Early life Mabil ...

, of

Norman Norman or Normans may refer to: Ethnic and cultural identity * The Normans, a people partly descended from Norse Vikings who settled in the territory of Normandy in France in the 10th and 11th centuries ** People or things connected with the Norm ...

nobility. His father was Ansgot. According to the ''Vita Herluini'', (

Gilbert Crispin Gilbert Crispin ( 1055 – 1117) was a Christian author and Anglo-Norman monk, appointed by Archbishop Lanfranc in 1085 to be the abbot, proctor and servant of Westminster Abbey, England. Gilbert became the third Norman Abbot of Westminster to ...

, c. 1055–1117), Ansgot was descended from a Danish

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

follower of

Rollo Rollo ( nrf, Rou, ''Rolloun''; non, Hrólfr; french: Rollon; died between 928 and 933) was a Viking who became the first ruler of Normandy, today a region in northern France. He emerged as the outstanding warrior among the Norsemen who had se ...

, while his mother, Heloise, was related to the

counts of Flanders The count of Flanders was the ruler or sub-ruler of the county of Flanders, beginning in the 9th century. Later, the title would be held for a time, by the rulers of the Holy Roman Empire and Spain. During the French Revolution, in 1790, the co ...

. In his youth, he was a brave soldier to whom the Duke Robert gave more than one mark of esteem. Later, he was poorly paid for his services by Gislbert and began to look on the profession of arms with disgust. One day in 1034, amid a frightful melée where he had little hope of survival, he vowed to "drop the sword" and become a monk.

Monastic career

He survived and retired as a

hermit A hermit, also known as an eremite (adjectival form: hermitic or eremitic) or solitary, is a person who lives in seclusion. Eremitism plays a role in a variety of religions. Description In Christianity, the term was originally applied to a Ch ...

to one of his fields,Véronique Gazeau (préf. David Bates et Michel Parisse), ''Normannia monastica (Xe-XIIe siècle): II-Prosopography des abbés bénédictins'' (pp.7-9). Caen, Publications du CRAHM, 2007; in about 1041. With several companions, he laid the foundation of a monastery at Bonneville, or Burneville, where, in 1034/1035, the Duke granted land to the abbey. Herluin built the cloister and the monastic buildings and adopted 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 ...

. On 25 March 1034 the chapel built by Herluin was dedicated by Herbert,

Bishop of Lisieux A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

. In 1037, Herluin was consecrated abbot.Kent, William. "Abbey of Bec." The Catholic Encyclopedia
Vol. 2. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 10 April 2019 Seal Abbaye du Bec

Bonneville, however, was difficult to access and lacked water. Herluin and the brothers resolved to leave, and in about 1039 settled about two miles away, by the banks of the Bec, from which the abbey gets its name. Gilbert of Brionne was a generous benefactor to Bec Abbey. The monastery experienced significant growth and founded a second church at

Le Bec-Hellouin Le Bec-Hellouin () is a commune in the department of Eure in the Normandy region in northern France. It is best known for Bec Abbey and has recently been voted one of the " most beautiful villages of France". The current mayor is Pascal Finet w ...

William the Conqueror William I; ang, WillelmI (Bates ''William the Conqueror'' p. 33– 9 September 1087), usually known as William the Conqueror and sometimes William the Bastard, was the first House of Normandy, Norman List of English monarchs#House of Norman ...

endowed the abbey, as did his sons.

Lanfranc Lanfranc, OSB (1005 1010 – 24 May 1089) was a celebrated Italian jurist who renounced his career to become a Benedictine monk at Bec in Normandy. He served successively as prior of Bec Abbey and abbot of St Stephen in Normandy and then ...

and Saint Anselm, future

archbishops of Canterbury The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...

were Herluin's students. Other students of Herluin at Bec included Pope Alexander II;

Theobald of Bec Theobald of Bec ( c. 1090 – 18 April 1161) was a Norman archbishop of Canterbury from 1139 to 1161. His exact birth date is unknown. Some time in the late 11th or early 12th century Theobald became a monk at the Abbey of Bec, risin ...

, Archbishop of Canterbury; William Bona Anima,

Archbishop of Rouen The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Rouen (Latin: ''Archidioecesis Rothomagensis''; French: ''Archidiocèse de Rouen'') is an archdiocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. As one of the fifteen Archbishops of France, the Ar ...

; Guitmund, Bishop of Aversa;

Arnost Arnost was a medieval Bishop of Rochester. Arnost was a monk at Bec Abbey in Normandy France before being selected for the see of Rochester The Diocese of Rochester is a Church of England diocese in the English county of Kent and the Prov ...

Bishop of Rochester The Bishop of Rochester is the ordinary of the Church of England's Diocese of Rochester in the Province of Canterbury. The town of Rochester has the bishop's seat, at the Cathedral Church of Christ and the Blessed Virgin Mary, which was foun ...

; Turold of Brémoy,

Bishop of Bayeux The Roman Catholic Diocese of Bayeux and Lisieux (Latin: ''Dioecesis Baiocensis et Lexoviensis''; French: ''Diocèse de Bayeux et Lisieux'') is a diocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is coextensive with the Department of Calvados and is ...

; Yves, the

Bishop of Chartres The oldest known list of bishops of Chartres is found in an 11th-century manuscript of Trinity Abbey, Vendôme. It includes 57 names from Adventus (Saint Aventin) to Aguiertus (Agobert) who died in 1060. The most well-known list is included in the ...

; Fulk of Dammartin, the

Bishop of Beauvais The Diocese of Beauvais, Noyon, and Senlis ( la, Dioecesis Bellovacensis, Noviomensis et Silvanectensis; french: Diocèse de Beauvais, Noyon et Senlis) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical territory or diocese of the Catholic Church in France. The di ...

;

and the

Abbot of Westminster The Abbot of Westminster was the head (abbot) of Westminster Abbey. List Notes ReferencesTudorplace.com.ar
{Unreliable source?, certain=y, reason=self published website; and Jorge H. Castelli is not an expert, date=January 2015 Abbots of W ...

Death

Herluin died on 26 August 1078; at his side was Roger, abbot of Lessay. His funeral was presided over by Gilbert Fitz Osbern,

Bishop of Évreux A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...

Pierre Bouet Pierre Bouet (born 19 July 1937 in Caen) is a 20th-century French historian specializing in Norman and Anglo-Norman historians of Latin language (tenth-twelfth centuries). Works * * * Works in collaboration: * * * External links Rober ...

and François Neveux, Les évêques normands du XIe siècle: Colloque de Cerisy-la-Salle (30 septembre - 3 octobre 1993), (Caen, Presses universitaires de Caen, 1995). (), ( Les évêques normands de 985 à 1150), p. 19-35. The remains of Herluin can be seen in the abbey church, with some of his documents. He is considered

Blessed Blessed may refer to: * The state of having received a blessing * Blessed, a title assigned by the Roman Catholic Church to someone who has been beatified Film and television * ''Blessed'' (2004 film), a 2004 motion picture about a supernatural ...

and his

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

is 26 August. He is often referred to as Saint Herluin but was not canonised.

References

{{Authority control 990s births 1078 deaths Benedictine beatified people French Benedictines Medieval French knights