Chrodegang of Metz (d. 766), bishop. Born near Liège and educated at the abbey of Saint-Trond, he was appointed in turn secretary, chancellor, and principal minister by Charles Martel. He became bishop of Metz in 742 and acted as ambassador of Pepin to Stephen III, working for the coronation of the emperor in 754 and helping to establish Frankish rule in Italy through the defeat of the Lombards.
His political achievements were matched by equally important ecclesiasticalones. In 748 he founded the abbey of Gorze which became a prominent reforming monastery, in some ways comparable to Cluny. But Chrodegang was best known as the author of a Rule for canons, written for those of his own cathedral. Under it they lived a community life devoted to the public prayer of the Church, but in close association with diocesan personnel and with full authorization to own property individually. This attracted the attention of Charlemagne who enacted that all clerics living in community should follow the Rule of Benedict or else that of Chrodegang. His Rule spread to Germany, Italy, and England, where it was translated into OE and was used in some cathedral chapters which were not monastic.
Chrodegang also founded a school of Church music at Metz, which became long famous for Gregorian Chant. Feast: 6 March.
Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.
- Life ed. G. H. Pertz, M.G.H. Scriptores, x (1852), 552–72
- John the Deacon, Liber de Episcopis Mettensibus, ed. G. H. Pertz, ibid., ii (1829), 267 et seq.; Rule in P.L., lxxxix. 1057–96 with OE version by A. S. Napier (E.E.T.S., 1916 and 1971)
- see also R. Folz, Saint Chrodegang (1967)
