Abbo of Fleury (in Latin Abbo Floriacensis), also known as Abbon or
Saint Abbo' (c. 945–13 November,1004) was a monk, and later abbot, of the Benedictine monastery of
Fleury sur Loire (the modern Saint-Benoit-sur-Loire) near Orléans, France.
He was born near Orléans and was educated at Paris and
Reims, devoting himself to philosophy, mathematics, and astronomy. He spent two years in
England assisting Archbishop Oswald of York in restoring the
monastic system. He was also abbot and director of the school of the newly founded monastery of Ramsey in the County of Huntingdon from 986 to 987. When in England he
learned of the martyrdom of Saint Edmund (November 870), and wrote a passion in Latin
on it. He also wrote a Latin grammar for his students in England. Among his other works are a simplification of the
computus, the computation of the date of Easter; an
Epitome de vitis Romanorum pontificum (book on the lives of Roman popes); and other
treatises on controversial topics and letters. Around 980 to 985, he wrote a commentary on the "Calculus" of Victorius of Aquitaine, before the introduction of Arabic numerals, when calculations were often
quite complex. The wide range of Abbo's thought is reflected in the commentary, covering the nature of wisdom, the philosophy of
number, the relationship of unity and plurality, and the arithmetic of the Calculus. Abbo drew on his knowledge of grammar, logic
and cosmology to illustrate his arguments, and set it all in the broader context of his theology of Creation.
Abbo returned to Fleury in 988, where he was selected abbot of Fleury after the death of the Abbot
Oilbold. But another monk, who had secured the support of the King and his son Robert, Bishop of
Orléans, contested the choice, and the matter assumed national importance. It was finally settled in favour of Abbo by the
famous Gerbert of Aurillac (later Pope Sylvester
II). The new abbot was active in contemporary politics: He was present at the Synod of St.
Basolus (St. Basle), near Reims, at which Arnulf, Archbishop of Reims
was tried for treason and deposed, to make way for Gerbert. In 996 King
Robert II (Robert the Pious) sent him to Rome to ward
off a threatened papal interdict over Robert's marriage to Bertha. On the way to Rome he met
Pope Gregory V, who was a fugitive from the city from which the Antipope John XVI had expelled him. Between the Pontiff and the Abbot the greatest esteem and
affection existed. The royal petition for a dispensation was rejected. Abbo succeeded in bringing about the restoration of Arnulf
to the see of Reims. He was influential in calming the excitement and fear about the
end of the world which was widespread in Europe in
1000.
In 1004 he attempted to restore discipline in the monastery of La Reole, in Gascony, by transferring some of the monks of Fleury into that community. But the trouble increased; fighting
began between the two parties and when St. Abbo endeavoured to separate them he was pierced in the side by a lance. He concealed the wound and reached his cell, where he died in the arms of his faithful disciple
Aimoin, who has left an account of his labours and virtues. The miracles wrought at his tomb soon
caused him to be regarded in the Church of Gaul as a saint and
martyr, although he does not seem to have been officially canonized by Rome. His feast is kept on 13
November.
His biography, written by his disciple Aimoin of Fleury, in
which much of Abbo's correspondence was reproduced, is of great importance as a historical source of information for the reign of
Robert II of France, especially with reference to the Papacy.
External links and references
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