Baldric of Dol ( 10507 January 1130) was prior and then

abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the male head of a monastery in various Western religious traditions, including Christianity. The office may also be given as an honorary title to a clergyman who is not the head of a monastery. The ...

Bourgueil Bourgueil () is a commune in the Indre-et-Loire department in central France. Population Bourgueil wine Bourgueil is an ''appellation d'origine contrôlée'' (AOC) for wine in the Loire Valley region, and produces primarily red wine from th ...

from 1077 to 1106, then made

bishop of Dol-en-Bretagne The Breton and French Catholic diocese of Dol existed from 848 to the French Revolution. It was suppressed by the Concordat of 1801. Its see was Dol Cathedral. Its scattered territory (deriving from the holdings of the Celtic monastery, and inclu ...

in 1107 and archbishop in 1108 until his death. He fulfilled his monastic duties by travelling to attend Church councils and writing of poetry and history, his most influential piece being a historical account of the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the medieval period. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Islamic r ...

Life

He was born in

Meung-sur-Loire Meung-sur-Loire () is a commune in the Loiret department, north-central France. It was the site of the Battle of Meung-sur-Loire in 1429. Geography Meung-sur-Loire lies 15 km to the west of Orléans on the north bank of the river Loire ...

, most likely in 1046, where he passed his early days. He was of a modest background, not coming from nobility and belonging to a rural farming class. While living in Meung-sur-Loire, Baldric may have attended the

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

house of Saint Liphard, which had recently been established, for his early education. This would only have been the beginning of Baldric’s education in monastic schools as, despite not coming from a particularly wealthy area, there were many schools established by the Church with talented instructors around the Loire Valley to educate students in

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

due to the increasing demand for those who could work with text. After a course of studies at the school of

Angers Angers (, , ) is a city in western France, about southwest of Paris. It is the prefecture of the Maine-et-Loire department and was the capital of the province of Anjou until the French Revolution. The inhabitants of both the city and the pr ...

, he entered the Abbey of Bourgueil in Anjou, where he became prior around 1077 and later abbot in 1089 following the death of his predecessor. Here, Baldric and his monks lived by a Benedictine rule, which states: “Idleness is the enemy of the soul.” To adhere to this lifestyle, Baldric would set to work studying writing and the texts that were a part of the wealthy monastery’s library. He would then put this knowledge to use when writing his poetry and history as a method to spread the teachings of his faith. In addition to his writing while at the abbey, Baldric witnessed charters, such as those of St. Aubin d’Angers, and took part in councils of the Church in France, one noteworthy example being the

Council of Clermont The Council of Clermont was a mixed synod of ecclesiastics and laymen of the Catholic Church, called by Pope Urban II and held from 17 to 27 November 1095 at Clermont, Auvergne, at the time part of the Duchy of Aquitaine. Pope Urban's speech ...

in 1095, which he would include in his work on the First Crusade, that had been spurred by claims of Muslim violence toward Christian pilgrims. In addition to his various official duties, he was an active participant in the loose association of regional Latin literary writers known today as the Loire School. Baldric would become a prevalent figure within the Church in Loire Valley, even developing rivalries for high-ranking Church positions. Bishop Ivo of Chartres accused Baldric to

Hugh of Die Hugh of Die ( 1040 – October 7, 1106) was a French Catholic bishop. Biography Hugh was prior of the monastery of Saint-Marcel in Chalon-sur-Saône. On October 19, 1073, he became bishop of Die, Drôme and on March 9, 1074 received his episcopal ...

of attempting to become bishop of

Orléans Orléans (;"Orleans"
(US) and In 1107 he received from

Pope Paschal II Pope Paschal II ( la, Paschalis II; 1050 1055 – 21 January 1118), born Ranierius, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 August 1099 to his death in 1118. A monk of the Abbey of Cluny, he was cre ...

the see of Dol, and once again Ivo of Chartres would oppose the decision, as would the clergy of Dol. Nonetheless, the pope overruled their opposition, making Baldric Archbishop of Dol a year later. Despite the ruling of the pope, Baldric was not able to win the favor of the clergy at Dol, leading him to travel to several locations across France and Europe for councils, witnessing charters, and resolving Church-related disputes rather than remaining at home with a hostile monastery. In Avranches, he witnessed a charter in 1115 which saw Henry I of England grant the monks who founded the abbey of Savigny, and were led by preacher and former hermit Vital of Mortian, its forest. Two years later he returned to Bourgueil to witness an agreement between it and the abbey of Montierneuf. Baldric also traveled to

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

multiple times, first in 1108, then in 1116, and finally in 1123 when we went to counter a charge that saw a papal legate suspend him and successfully clear his name. He also left an account of a journey to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and exercised considerable activity as bishop in reforming monastic discipline. Baldric spent the last years of his life away from Dol near the coast of

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

, writing, teaching, and visiting monasteries until his death in 1130 at the age of 84 years old. He was buried on December 30 of that same year in the abbey church of Saint Pierre-de-Preaux in the Diocese of Lisieux, remaining in his preferred region of France in Normandy where many monastic figures would originate from and spend their lives.

Works

Baldric's poetic oeuvre was written almost entirely while abbot at Bourgueil. The 256 extant poems are found almost exclusively in a single contemporary manuscript which is most likely an authorized copy. They consist of a wide range of poetic forms ranging from

epitaph An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...

riddle A riddle is a statement, question or phrase having a double or veiled meaning, put forth as a puzzle to be solved. Riddles are of two types: ''enigmas'', which are problems generally expressed in metaphorical or allegorical language that requ ...

s and epistolary poems to longer pieces such as an interpretative defense of

Greek mythology A major branch of classical mythology, Greek mythology is the body of myths originally told by the ancient Greeks, and a genre of Ancient Greek folklore. These stories concern the origin and nature of the world, the lives and activities ...

and a praise poem for

Adela of Normandy Adela of Normandy, of Blois, or of England (c. 1067 – 8 March 1137),LoPrete, Kimberly. "Adela of Blois." ''Women and Gender in Medieval Europe: An Encyclopedia.'' Ed. Margaret Schaus. New York: Routledge, 2006. 6–7. also known as in Roman ...

that describes something very like the Bayeux Tapestry within its 1,368 lines. His thematics are dominated by two great topics: desire/friendship (''amor'') and game/poetry (''iocus''). His constant citations and interpretations reveal a deep knowledge and appreciation of

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

that was rare for the age, and many biblical allusions and references to classic texts throughout his works reflects the vast amount of literature available to Baldric during his time at the Abbey of Bourgueil. In only one of his poems, titled ''De sufficientia votorum suorum'', inspiration from Roman poets Horace,

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: th ...

, and

Tibullus Albius Tibullus ( BC19 BC) was a Latin poet and writer of elegies. His first and second books of poetry are extant; many other texts attributed to him are of questionable origins. Little is known about the life of Tibullus. There are only a f ...

can be found. Poetry was often an outlet for Baldric to express facets of his own life. He used it to communicate his rustic origins, noting in one poem that his sister was married to a farm laborer who would not have owned land. His epistolary poems to notable figures such as Count Roger of Sicily and Adela of Normandy also suggest Baldric had few ties to the aristocracy since he does not mention any connections with the nobility despite his attempts to impress them. Baldric's most valuable work from the second part of his career is his "Historiae Hierosolymitanae libri IV", an account about 36,000 words long of the First Crusade, based in part on the testimony of eyewitnesses in the '' Gesta Francorum'', and submitted for correction to the Abbot Peter of Maillezais, who had accompanied the Crusaders. He was one of the chief rewriters of this text, the other two being Robert the Monk and Guibert of Nogent. This work has 24 known surviving manuscripts, and was composed in 1105 before Baldric finished composing another version with added details and revisions two years later. Because, up until recently, only seven manuscripts were known to exist, it was thought that the text held little historical significance in comparison to other, more commonly found works. Additionally, while nearly all of the first seven manuscripts originated from France, the 17 that have since been found were located and possibly produced in multiple locations across Europe, further suggesting that this work is a more influential historical text than previously believed. Due to having written the text years after the end of the First Crusade, Baldric was able to offer a hindsight perspective on the Christian forces, noting that they were socially respectful and deserved greater compensation than they were awarded. In the account, Baldric covers the time period from November of 1095 to August of 1099, beginning at the Council of Clermont, which Baldric was able to cover in greater detail compared to other authors who wrote on the event due to having been in attendance, where Pope Urban II delivered his sermon and ending with the conquest of

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

where a Muslim army was defeated at Ascalon to end the First Crusade. Direct speech makes up a notable portion of the text, displaying Baldric’s unique writing style that places characters at the forefront of the narrative and is indicative of his belief that they should be used to communicate historical perspectives, which was not common among Medieval historical narratives. Among his other works are poems on the conquest of England and on the reign of

Philip I Philip(p) I may refer to: * Philip I of Macedon (7th century BC) * Philip I Philadelphus (between 124 and 109 BC–83 or 75 BC) * Philip the Arab (c. 204–249), Roman Emperor * Philip I of France (1052–1108) * Philip I (archbishop of Cologne) (1 ...

; lives, in Latin, of his friend Robertus de Arbrissello, of St. Valerian, and of St. Hugh of Rouen; finally a letter to the monks of Fécamp Abbey which contains some valuable material relating to Breton manners, and to English and Norman monasteries. Duchesne and Bouquet, ''Historiens de France.''

Notes

References

External links

,''Adelae Comitissae''
poetic description of the Bayeux Tapestry {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldric Of Dol 1050s births 1130 deaths Bishops of Dol Breton bishops 12th-century French Roman Catholic bishops Crusade literature Medieval Latin poets 12th-century French historians 12th-century Latin writers

Life

Works

Notes

References

Further reading

External links