Notker (or Notger) of Liège ( la, Notgerus; c. 940 – 10 April 1008 AD) was 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,

bishop 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 ...

(972–1008) and first prince-bishop (980–1008) of the Bishopric of Liège (now in

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

Life

Notker was born around 940 and probably belonged to a noble

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

n family. He is mentioned in the ' as Provost of

Saint Gall Gall ( la, Gallus; 550 646) according to hagiographic tradition was a disciple and one of the traditional twelve companions of Columbanus on his mission from Ireland to the continent. Deicolus was the elder brother of Gall. Biography The ...

in Switzerland, but he is not mentioned by the otherwise prolix historians of St Gall. In 969 he was appointed imperial chaplain 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 ...

, and in 972 he was nominated by

Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor Otto I (23 November 912 – 7 May 973), traditionally known as Otto the Great (german: Otto der Große, it, Ottone il Grande), was East Francia, East Frankish king from 936 and Holy Roman Emperor from 962 until his death in 973. He was the olde ...

as bishop of Liège, a suffragan of the Archbishop of

Cologne Cologne ( ; german: Köln ; ksh, Kölle ) is the largest city of the German western States of Germany, state of North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and the List of cities in Germany by population, fourth-most populous city of Germany with 1.1 m ...

. When he received the countship of Huy in 980, he simultaneously obtained secular power for the See and thus became the first Prince-Bishop of Liège. He travelled to Rome for the coronation of

Otto II Otto II (955 – 7 December 983), called the Red (''der Rote''), was Holy Roman Emperor from 973 until his death in 983. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto II was the youngest and sole surviving son of Otto the Great and Adelaide of Italy. ...

Pope Gregory V Pope Gregory V ( la, Gregorius V; c. 972 – 18 February 999), born Bruno of Carinthia, was the bishop of Rome and ruler of the Papal States from 3 May 996 to his death. A member of the Salian dynasty, he was made pope by his cousin, Emperor Ott ...

, and later negotiated a peace treaty between Henry II and Robert, the king of France. He adhered faithfully to the cause of the emperor

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

, whom he accompanied to Rome. He also brought Otto's corpse back to Germany and prayed at his funeral in 1002.

Achievements

After receiving secular power from Otto II, Notker transformed the episcopal city into the capital of an ecclesiastical principality in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

. He built a new

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 denomination ...

, Saint Lambert's, seven

collegiate church In Christianity, a collegiate church is a church where the daily office of worship is maintained by a college of canons: a non-monastic or "secular" community of clergy, organised as a self-governing corporate body, which may be presided over by a ...

es, including St. John's in Liège, after the model of Aachen Cathedral, two

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

s and a city wall. He laid the foundation of the fame of the Liège Schools, to which studious youths soon flocked from all Christendom. By procuring the services of Leo the Calabrian and thus making possible the study of Greek, Notker gave notable extension to the Liège curriculum. Among Notker's pupils, who extended the influence of the Liège schools to ever wider circles, may be mentioned Hubald,

Wazo of Liège Wazo of Liège (c. 985 – 1048) was bishop of Liège from 1041 to 1048, and a significant educator and theologian. His life was chronicled by his contemporary Anselm of Liège. During this period Liège became known as an educational center. W ...

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" Prefix * Franco, a prefix used when ref ...

, who also taught at Liége, Gunther of Salzburg,

Ruthard of Mainz Ruthard (died 1109) was Archbishop of Mainz from 1089 to 1109, and a leading opponent of the Emperor Henry IV and his antipope Clement III (Wibert of Ravenna). He spent nearly eight years in exile because of his opposition, and played a part in th ...

and

Erluin of Cambrai Erluin or Erlwin (died 1012) was the bishop of Cambrai from 995. In 1007 he acquired secular authority in the county of the Cambrésis from the Emperor Henry II. Erluin studied in the famous school of Liège, where he became archdeacon under Bishop ...

, Heimo of Verdun, Hesselo of Toul,

Heriger of Lobbes Herigerus ( – 31 October 1007) was a Benedictine monk, often known as Heriger of Lobbes for serving as abbot of the abbey of Lobbes between 990 and 1007. Remembered for his writings as theologian and historian, Herigerus was a teacher to numero ...

Adelmann Adelmann ( la, Adelmannus Leodiensis, it, Adelmanno di Liegi, french: Adelman de Liège, nl, Adelman van Luik, german: Adelmann von Lüttich; ?, - c. 1061, Brescia) was the bishop of Brescia, in Northern Italy, during the eleventh century. Ade ...

(who later studied under Fulbert at

Chartres Chartres () is the prefecture of the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region in France. It is located about southwest of Paris. At the 2019 census, there were 170,763 inhabitants in the metropolitan area of Chartres (as d ...

), Gozechin who taught at Mainz and Adalbald of Utrecht. In

Folcwin Saint Folcwin ( la, Folquinus, Folcwinus, Folcvinus; Old Dutch: ''*Folkwin''; French : Folquin, date of birth unknown, died 855 AD in Esquelbecq) was a Frankish abbot, cleric and Bishop of Thérouanne (appointed 816). He was a contemporary of Notk ...

's opinion Notker's achievements surpass those of any of his predecessors. He developed the urban structure of the city, its fortifications, commerce and education. Under his rule, the city of Liège was sometimes called the "Northern Athens".

Authorship

He has sometimes wrongly been identified as the author of the ' written under his patronage by

. Johannes Fried considers Notker, rather than

John Canaparius John Canaparius (german: Johannes Canaparius) was a Benedictine monk at the Aventine monastery in Rome. It had been long assumed that in the year 999 he wrote the first ''Vita sancti Adalberti episcopi Pragensis'', or "Life of St. Adalbert of P ...

, the author of the ', a life of

Adalbert of Prague Adalbert of Prague ( la, Sanctus Adalbertus, cs, svatý Vojtěch, sk, svätý Vojtech, pl, święty Wojciech, hu, Szent Adalbert (Béla); 95623 April 997), known in the Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia by his birth name Vojtěch ( la, Vo ...

written around 1000, which contains the first recorded mention of Danzig/Gdansk, as '.

Sources

* * Schoolmasters of the Tenth Century. Cora E.Lutz. Archon Books 1977. *
Notger de Liège at la civilisation au Xe siècle
'. Brussels. 1905. {{DEFAULTSORT:Notker of Liege 940s births 1008 deaths Benedictines 10th-century bishops in Lotharingia 11th-century Roman Catholic bishops in the Holy Roman Empire Burials in Belgium Prince-Bishops of Liège