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Bishop
Gislebertus deserves special attention because, if the tradition which
has come down to us concerning the date ("876") of the acquistion
of the "Voile"/Camisia of the Virgin by the church of
Chartres is valid, then it was surely under his tenure in office that
this momentous event occurred. These are very interesting observations,
and several of Monsieur Joly's points deserve a closer examination. The
reliance upon --and elaboration of-- secondary sources has, for centuries,
been something of a leitmotif of Chartrain studies, and, at the
least, his publication is going to be taken as a serious and reliable
one within the francofile audience and will, therefore, become a part
of the living tradition of Chartrain literature, as yet another secondary
source which will be cited by future secondary writers as a de facto
authority. The most important secondary source for the early career of Gislebertus is to be found in the third (apparatus), volume of the massive, three-volume publication of the Acta of King/Emperor Charles II (the Bald), the collaborative work of two (or, perhaps, three) generations of pioneering palaeographers : begun by Arthur Giry, continued by Maurice Prou, and ultimately broughrt to press by Georges Tessier.[2] Tessier’s (I'll assume that he was the author ultimately responsible) treatment of Gislebertus’ career is primarily concerned with rigorously defining his diplomatic/paleographic “personality.” Since our interest does not lie primarily in that direction, I will summarize his remarks primarily from another point of view : Gislebertus first appears on the historical
scene as a "notary” (notarius) in the rather sophisticated
chancery of Charles the Bald, an office which he apparently held from
at least 23 March, 847 [3] until 18 September, 857. At the beginning of his career he was styled “subdeacon,” but sometime between15 August, 850 [4] and 25 February, 852 [5] he was apparently promoted to deacon (though of what church we are not able to say). We have autograph subscriptions at
the bottom of the 12 surviving original charters
[6] and, in addition, he wrote his name, as well as the date, under
that of the notary Jonas on one surviving charter.[7] On 12 June, 857 Bishop Frotbald of
Chartres was drowned in the river Eure, trying to escape from the Norsemen
who were besieging his city.[10] At Chartres as well, Gislebertus seems to have followed the destiny of his collegue among the notaries, Aeneas in becomming a bishop (Aeneas became bisop of Paris in 856, after 7 March), [12] because when Charles was about to depart for Italy in 877 he designated Gislebertus, along with his episcopal colleagues from Orléans and Auxerre, to accompany his son Louis on any occasion which the latter might see fit to journey beyond the Loire [sic: the published text reads "ultra Sequanam"].[13] He attended the council of Troyes in
September, 878 and died on a the third of January (according to his obituary
notice in the cathedral necrology) in some year between 879 and 885.[14]
[End summary of Tessier] Significant questions from a Chartrain point of view are [in chronological order] : --Was Gislebertus' "election"
as bishop of Chartres due to his previous service in the King/Emperor's
chancery ? --Did Gislebertus accompany Charles
on his first trip to Italy, in 876 ? --Was Charles' gift (presumably) of
a precious relic of the Virgin (presumably) in 876 or 877 (presumably)
the product of Gislebertus' familiarity with the Emperor ? ------------------------- [a] Following diplomatic custom, the termini
of Bishop Gislebertus' tenure are determined by (a) the last appearance
of G. as a royal notarius (note 11 below) and (b) the interval
between ("X") the last appearance of Gislebertus himself among
the suviving documentary evidence and the first appearance of his sucessor. [2] Recueil des Actes de Charles II le Chauve, Roi
de France, commencé par Arthur Giry, continué par Maurice Prou, terminé
et publié sous la direction de M. Clovis Brunel…par M. Georges Tessier.
Tome III (Introduction et Table). Paris : Imprimerie nationale,
1955. (in the series Chartes et Diplômes relatifs à l’Histoire de
France publiés par les Soins de l’Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres.
[3] Actes, Number 92. [4] Actes, Number 134, signed (in “Tironian notes”) subscripsit indignus subdiaconus and notarius. [5] Actes, Number 146, signed (in “Tironian notes”) subscripsit indignus diaconus, and no. 150, as simply indignus diaconus and notarius. [6] Actes, Numbers 100, 101, 104, 108, 134, 146, 148, 150, 166, 171, 180 (this latter being entirely written in a Dionysian hand, including the subscription of the chancellery. [7] Actes, Number 124. [8] The scribe of Actes, Number 148 is doubtful,
while nos. 134, 150 and 180 were written by his colleague, Aeneas, whose
influence on Gislebertus may be seen in several other charters. This
leaves nos. 100, 101, 104, 108, 146, 148, 166, 171 (which were written
by him?). [9] We already see in act 104 that he may have been influenced by a charter of Louis the Pious which he had before him, while nos. 148, 166 and 171 demonstrate quite significant differences in overall appearance and letter forms. Gislebertus therefore seems to have two distinct “styles” : in the beginning he is under the influence of Aeneas and some of his other colleagues in the chancellery; later he seems to launch out on his own. [10] At the end his annales entry for 857 Prudence adds this note : “Frotabaldus episcopus Carnotum, insistentibus sibi Danis in eadem civitate, pedibus fugiens fluviumque Auduram natatu petens, aquis interceptus moritur” (Annales Bertiniani, ed. Waitz, p. 48). The necrology of the cathedral of Chartres places the death of Frotabald on the 12th of June, but in 858 : “II id. junii…Anno Incarnationis dominicis dominice DCCCLVIII, indictione VIta a paganis Sequanensibus facta est magna cedes Carnotis, in qua interempti sunt Frotbaldus episcopus, Stephanus presbiter…et cetera multitudo” (Molinier, Obits, p. 14). Historians have generally accepted day date of the necrology, while the year is beyond dispute. [11] Actes, Number 196. [12] Loup de Ferrières, Correspondance, ed. Levilain, II, letters, 92 (see p. 95, n. 5) and 93. Cf. Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, II, p. 471; Depoin, “Essai sur la chronologie des évêques de Paris de 768 à 1138,” Bulletin philologique et historique de Comité des travaux historiques et scientifiques, 1906, pp. 219-220; Aman, L’époque carolingienne, p. 338. It is not clear to me what Tessier means here by Gislebertus “following in the destiny of Aeneas” –by graduating from the chancellery to a see at the King’s appointment? [13] Capitulary of Quierzy, Capitulare Carisiacense, 14 June, 877, apparently the"'testamentum" of Charles II, cap. 15, article 15 (MGH, Capitularia, vol. II, p. 359). The capitulary begins "Qualiter et quo ordine filius noster in hoc regno renameat, et qui debeant esse, quorum auxilio utatur, et vicitudine cum eo sint..." appointing various Bishops of the realm to assist him, including, "si ultra Sequanam perrexerit [Charles' son]...Gislebertus episcopus" among those named to accompany him. The text clearly reads "ultra Sequanam" rather than "ultra Ligeriam" --beyond the Seine, rather than the Loire; and the other clerics (mentioned befoere Gisleberus, for whatever that's worth) are Abbot Hugo of St. Omer, Bishops Walter of Orléans, and Wala of Auxerre, Gislebertus...et ceteri nostri fideles illius partis una cum praedictis..." [14] Tessier cites the Gallia Christiana, vol. VIII, col. 1106-7; Duchesne, Fastes épiscopaux, vol. II, p. 426; Molinier, Obits, pp. 4 and 179. On his career see also M. Jusselin, "Les autographs de Gilbert," in the Mémoirs de la Societé archéologique d’Eure-et-Loir, XVIII (1955), pp. 201-3. ©
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