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

bishop A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of Episcopal polity, authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of di ...

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 (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

. He was a son of Reginar of Bastogne, the son of Gozlin, Count of Bidgau and Methingau, the son of Count Palatine Wigeric of Lotharingia. Adalberon's uncle is Adalberon, Archbishop of Reims. He studied at

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

and was in the chapter of Metz Cathedral. He became bishop of Laon in 977. The chronicler Richer of Rheims reports an accusation of 977 against him of adultery, with Queen Emma of Italy. Emma's son

Louis V of France Louis V ( – 22 May 987), also known as Louis the Do-Nothing (), was a king of West Francia from 979 (co-reigning first with his father Lothair until 986) to his early death in 987. During his reign, the nobility essentially ruled the country. ...

removed him from Laon in 981. When Laon was taken by Charles, Duke of Lower Lorraine, in 988, Adalberon was put into prison, whence he escaped and sought the protection of

Hugh Capet Hugh Capet (; ; 941 – 24 October 996) was the King of the Franks from 987 to 996. He is the founder of and first king from the House of Capet. The son of the powerful duke Hugh the Great and his wife Hedwige of Saxony, he was elected as t ...

, 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. 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 arts, visual, literature, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently Nonfiction, non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ...

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 ( 972 – 20 July 1031), called the Pious () or the Wise (), was List of French monarchs, King of the Franks from 996 to 1031, the second from the Capetian dynasty. Crowned Junior King in 987, he assisted his father on military matters ...

, in which he argued against contemporary episcopal and monastic reform (such as the

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

). He showed his dislike of Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, 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'', 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 writers in Latin