Adalberon, or Ascelin (died July 19, 1030/1031), was a French

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 ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

. He was a son of Reginar of Bastogne, and a nephew of Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims. He studied at

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

and was in the chapter of

Metz Cathedral Metz Cathedral, otherwise the Cathedral of Saint Stephen, Metz (french: Cathédrale Saint Étienne de Metz), is a Roman Catholic cathedral in Metz, capital of Lorraine, France. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen. First begun in the early 14th centu ...

. He became

bishop of Laon The diocese of Laon in the present-day département of Aisne, was a Catholic diocese for around 1300 years, up to the French Revolution. Its seat was in Laon, France, with the Laon Cathedral. From early in the 13th century, the bishop of Laon ...

in 977. The chronicler Richer of Rheims reports an accusation of 977 against him of

adultery Adultery (from Latin ''adulterium'') is extramarital sex that is considered objectionable on social, religious, moral, or legal grounds. Although the sexual activities that constitute adultery vary, as well as the social, religious, and legal ...

, with Queen Emma of Italy. Emma's son Louis V of France removed him from Laon in 981. When Laon was taken by

Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine Charles (953 – 22 June 992×995) was the Duke of Lower Lorraine from 977 until his death. Life Born at Reims in the summer of 953, Charles was the son of Louis IV of France and Gerberga of Saxony and the younger brother of King Lothair. He w ...

, in 988, Adalberon was put into prison, whence he escaped and sought the protection of

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; french: Hugues Capet ; c. 939 – 14 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, ...

, king of France. Winning the confidence of Charles of Lorraine and of Arnulf, archbishop of Reims, he was restored to his see; This cites: * Richer, ''Historiarum Libri III. et IV.'', which appears in the ''Monumenta Germaniae historica. Scriptores.'' Band iii. (Hanover and Berlin, 1826–1892) * A. Olleris, ''OEuvres de Gerbert pape sous le nom de Sylvestre II.'' (Paris, 1867) * ''Histoire litteraire de la France'', tome vii. (Paris, 1865–1869). but in 991 he gave Laon, together with Charles and Arnulf, into the hands of Hugh Capet.Patrick J. Geary, ''Phantoms of Remembrance: Memory and Oblivion at the End of the First Millennium'' (1994), p. 151. Subsequently, he took an active part in ecclesiastical affairs, and died on July 19, 1030/1031.

Works

Adalberon wrote a

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or ...

poem, ''Carmen ad Rotbertum regem'', in the form of a

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

dedicated to

Robert II of France Robert II (c. 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious (french: link=no, le Pieux) or the Wise (french: link=no, le Sage), was King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his ...

, in which he argued against contemporary episcopal and monastic reform. He showed his dislike of Odilo,

Abbot of Cluny The Abbot of Cluny was the head of the powerful monastery of the Abbey of Cluny in medieval France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, o ...

, and his followers, and his objection to persons of humble birth being made bishops. Versions include: *Carozzi, Claude (ed. and trans.). ''Adalberon de Laon. Poème au roi Robert''. Les classiques de l'histoire de France au moyen âge 32. Paris, 1979. *Migne, J.P. (ed.). ''

Patrologia Latina The ''Patrologia Latina'' (Latin for ''The Latin Patrology'') is an enormous collection of the writings of the Church Fathers and other ecclesiastical writers published by Jacques-Paul Migne between 1841 and 1855, with indices published between ...

'', vol. 141. Paris, 1844
Transcription available from Documenta Catholica Omnia
*Valois, H. (ed.). ''Carmen panegyricum in laudem Berengarii''. Paris, 1663. First (modern) publication of the poem. Feudal organization

He seems to be famous in French history because of a poem in which he made mention of (the) three orders in society : "oratores, bellatores, laboratores" : the clergy ("praying Church"), nobles and chivalry ("the fighting church"), and, third, the labouring people ("church of toiling"), the last one supporting the others, and all supporting the whole edifice of mankind. This idea was incorporated into the "three social orders" of the Ancien Régime in France.

Secondary sources

*''Histoire de la France'', ed. George Duby, Larousse 1988, vol I, p. 301; *Franco Gardini, in ''The Medieval World'', ed. Jacques le Goff, 1987, Eng. transl. 1990, Collins & Brown, p. 75. Not in the more pragmatic (?) English literature. -

Notes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adalberon Bishops of Laon 11th-century French Roman Catholic bishops 1030s deaths Year of birth unknown 11th-century French poets 11th-century Latin writers