Leidrad[1] (or Leidrat, as he spelled it[2]) was the bishop of Lyon from 797 and its first archbishop from 804 until 814.
Leidrad was a native of Noricum.[3] He received his primary education at Freising Cathedral, where one of his colleague was Arn, future bishop of Salzburg. He became a deacon of Freising under Bishop Aribo (764–783).[2] He joined Charlemagne's court shortly after 782.[4] It has sometimes been asserted that he was Charlemagne's librarian. At court, he befriended Alcuin of York, who speaks highly of him in his letters. After an illness, Leidrad convalesced for a year at Alcuin's Abbey of of Saint Martin.[3]
Leidrad was appointed to the diocese of Lyon by Charlemagne in 797. In a letter he wrote to the king years later, between 809 and 812, he recalled how he had been appointed "to remedy the sins of carelessness in the past" that had left the church of Lyon "destitute ... with regard to its buildings as well as its liturgical offices".[5]
In 798, he completed a circuit as missus dominicus (royal envoy) in the Rhône valley and Septimania. Accompanied by Theodulf of Orléans, he visited Avignon, Nîmes, Maguelonne, Agde, Béziers, Narbonne and Carcassonne. Theodulf describes the court they held at Narbonne in his treatise Ad iudices ("To Judges").[6]
Leidrad did not finally take up his episcopal duties until 799.[2] Two letters of Alcuin refer to him as bishop elect before this.[3] In 799, he was appointed along with Bishop Nebridius of Narbonne and Abbot Benedict of Aniane to investigate the charge against Bishop Felix of Urgell that he was an adoptionist. The commission first met in Lyon, where they summoned a synod and Felix to meet at Aachen. Alcuin defeated Felix before the synod and the latter recanted. He was, however, deposed from his bishopric and consigned to the custody of Leidrad in Lyon.[7] He is mentioned in a letter Felix wrote that year.[3] In 804, Lyon was raised to an archbishopric.[4]
Under Leidrad, Lyon emerged as a centre of learning in the Carolingian Empire. He paid special attention to the education of his clergy, the regulation of the liturgy and the building up of his library.[8] At least five manuscripts bear his ex voto, having been donated by him to the church: Rufinus of Aquileia's translation of Gregory of Nazianzus; Augustine of Hippo's Opuscula; Augustine's Contra Faustum; a miscellany of logic and creeds; and Jerome's commentary on Isaiah.[9] According to his aforementioned report to Charlemagne, he established a schools of cantors and lectors, ensuring that the latter were capable of biblical exegesis. For his reformed chant, he instituted the "the usage of the sacred palace", i.e., Charlemagne's palace chapel at Aachen.[5] He also looked to Chrodegang of Metz for guidance. His reform of the liturgy appears to have been limited to the chant and the readings at Mass.[10]
Leidrad renovated churches, including Lyon Cathedral, and restored farm buildings.[8][5] He re-founded many monasteries and expanded a house near the episcopal palace so that if Charlemagne ever visited there would be lodgings for him.[4]
In 811, Leidrad was one of the witnesses to Charlemagne's will.[4] In 814, Charlemagne's successor, Louis the Pious, ordered him to resolve a dispute at Mâcon. Later that year he resigned his bishopric and went into retirement at the Abbey of Saint-Médard de Soissons. The year of his death is unknown. Alcuin praised his integrity and benevolence, while Ado of Vienne praised his usefulness to the state.[3]
Notes
- ^ Bennett 1882 lists the Latin forms Leidradus, Laidradus, Laidrachus and Liobradus.
- ^ a b c Tafel 1925, p. 51.
- ^ a b c d e Bennett 1882.
- ^ a b c d de Jong 2005, p. 104.
- ^ a b c de Jong 2005, p. 103.
- ^ McKitterick 1983, p. 92.
- ^ de Jong 2005, p. 127.
- ^ a b McKitterick 1983, p. 205.
- ^ Tafel 1925, pp. 51–52, gives their respective shelfmarks as Lyon 599 (515), Lyon 608 (524), Lyon 610 (526), Bibliothèque Pères Maristes de Sainte-Foi 128 and Paris lat. 152.
- ^ de Jong 2005, pp. 118–119.
Sources
- Bennett, S. A. (1882). "Leidradus". In William Smith; Henry Wace (eds.). A Dictionary of Christian Biography, Literature, Sects and Doctrines. Vol. Vol. 3. Murray. pp. 644–645.
{{cite encyclopedia}}:|volume=has extra text (help) - de Jong, Mayke (2005). "Charlemagne's Church". In Joanna Story (ed.). Charlemagne: Empire and Society. Manchester University Press. pp. 103–135.
- McKitterick, Rosamond (1983). The Frankish Kingdoms under the Carolingians, 751–987. London: Longman.
- Tafel, Sigmund (1923). "The Lyons Scriptorium". In W. M. Lindsay (ed.). Palaeographia Latina. Vol. Part II. Oxford University Press. pp. 66–73.
- Tafel, Sigmund (1925). "The Lyons Scriptorium". In W. M. Lindsay (ed.). Palaeographia Latina. Vol. Part IV. Oxford University Press. pp. 40–70.