Saint William of Volpiano (Italian: ''Guglielmo da Volpiano''; French: ''Guillaume de Volpiano'', also of Dijon, of Saint-Benignus, or of Fécamp; June/July 962 – 1 January 1031) was a

Northern Italian Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative regions ...

monastic reformer, composer, and founding abbot of numerous abbeys in Burgundy,

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

and

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 ...

Life and career

Not much is known about him. The main source is a '' Vita'' of the monk Raoul Glaber, a novice who accompanied William and who sometimes regarded his master as a rival, but also as a mentor who encouraged his work as a chronicler. William was born on the family

citadel A citadel is the core fortified area of a town or city. It may be a castle, fortress, or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of "city", meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. I ...

on the island of San Giulio,

Lake Orta Lake Orta (Italian: ''Lago d’Orta'') is a lake in northern Italy, west of Lake Maggiore. It has been so named since the 16th century, but was previously called Lago di San Giulio, after Saint Julius (4th century), the patron saint of the regi ...

Novara Novara (, Novarese: ) is the capital city of the province of Novara in the Piedmont region in northwest Italy, to the west of Milan. With 101,916 inhabitants (on 1 January 2021), it is the second most populous city in Piedmont after Turin. It i ...

Piedmont it, Piemontese , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

. The son of Count Robert of

Volpiano Volpiano is a '' comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Turin, in the Italian region Piedmont. The city is located about 15 km north-east of Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business an ...

, he was born during an assault on the citadel by the Emperor Otto. The assault being successful, Otto became the sponsor and

patron Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...

of Count Robert's son. The fourth son of Count Robert, in 969, at the age of seven, he began his education at 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 ...

abbey at Locadio,

Vercelli Vercelli (; pms, Vërsèj ), is a city and ''comune'' of 46,552 inhabitants (January 1, 2017) in the Province of Vercelli, Piedmont, northern Italy. One of the oldest urban sites in northern Italy, it was founded, according to most historians, ...

. He became a monk at this abbey. In 987, he became a monk at the

Abbey of Cluny Cluny Abbey (; , formerly also ''Cluni'' or ''Clugny''; ) is a former Benedictine monastery in Cluny, Saône-et-Loire, France. It was dedicated to Saint Peter. The abbey was constructed in the Romanesque architectural style, with three churche ...

under Saint Majolus.Potts, Cassandra. ''Monastic Revival and Regional Identity in Early Normandy'', Boydell & Brewer, 1997, p. 28
/ref> Zealous for reform, Saint Majolus had reorganized Saint Sernin Abbey on the Rhône River. William was ordained in 990 and served as abbot of Saint Benignus' Abbey at Dijon, dedicated to Saint Benignus of Dijon. Under William's direction, and his zeal for the

Cluniac reform The Cluniac Reforms (also called the Benedictine Reform) were a series of changes within medieval monasticism of the Western Church focused on restoring the traditional monastic life, encouraging art, and caring for the poor. The movement began wi ...

, St. Benignus' became a center of spirituality, education, and culture.A unique fully notated

tonary A tonary is a liturgical book in the Western Christian Church which lists by incipit various items of Gregorian chant according to the Gregorian mode (''tonus'') of their melodies within the eight-mode system. Tonaries often include Office ant ...

(Montpellier, Bibliothèque interuniversitaire de Médecine, Ms. H159) which indicates the pitches of chant and its microtonal shifts, has been survived from the time of his reform ( Tonary of St. Bénigne, Dijon). A similar chant notation had also been used for the chant books of William of Volpiano's later Norman foundations. It also became the mother house of some forty other monasteries in Burgundy,

Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Gra ...

, and northern Italy. In 1001, he was called to rebuild the destructed

Abbey of Fécamp An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The conce ...

(present-day department of

Seine-Maritime Seine-Maritime () is a department of France in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the northern coast of France, at the mouth of the Seine, and includes the cities of Rouen and Le Havre. Until 1955 it was named Seine-Inféri ...

) by Richard II, where the Dukes of Normandy had their palace and had chosen to be buried. William had to supervise the (re)construction and to found several abbeys in Normandy ( Bernay, and Mont Saint-Michel). In 1015 he became abbot of

Jumièges Abbey Jumièges Abbey () was a Benedictine monastery, situated in the commune of Jumièges in the Seine-Maritime ''département'', in Normandy, France. History Around 654 the abbey was founded on a gift of forested land belonging to the royal fisc ...

. He was chosen as building contractor for Mont Saint-Michel in the 11th century. He designed the Romanesque church of the

abbey An abbey is a type of monastery used by members of a religious order under the governance of an abbot or abbess. Abbeys provide a complex of buildings and land for religious activities, work, and housing of Christian monks and nuns. The con ...

, daringly placing the transept crossing at the top of the mount. Many underground crypts and

chapel A chapel is a Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. Firstly, smaller spaces inside a church that have their own altar are often called chapels; the Lady chapel is a common ty ...

s had to be built to compensate for this weight. These formed the basis for the supportive upward structure that can be seen today. He also rebuilt the Abbey of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. William died of natural causes at Fécamp.

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William of Volpiano in Normandy: current position

{{DEFAULTSORT:William Of Volpino 962 births 1031 deaths People from Orta San Giulio Italian Benedictines French abbots 11th-century Italian architects Italian untitled nobility Italian saints Cluniacs 11th-century Christian saints Fécamp Abbey Medieval French saints Tonaries Abbey of Fruttuaria

Life and career

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External links