Adalgisel Grimo (died after 634) was a

deacon A deacon is a member of the diaconate, an office in Christian churches that is generally associated with service of some kind, but which varies among theological and denominational traditions. Major Christian churches, such as the Catholic Chur ...

and member of the

Austrasia Austrasia was a territory which formed the north-eastern section of the Merovingian Kingdom of the Franks during the 6th to 8th centuries. It was centred on the Meuse, Middle Rhine and the Moselle rivers, and was the original territory of th ...

n nobility. He is chiefly significant because of his will, dated 30 December 634. This is the oldest known early medieval deed for the territory between the

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a ...

and the

Rhine The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...

and contains important information about the settlement, constitutional, economic and social history of this region. Adalgisel Grimo had a double name, such as appears occasionally in early medieval sources. ''Grimo'' is the diminutive of a longer polysyllabic name. He was educated at the

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the ''cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denominatio ...

Verdun Verdun (, , , ; official name before 1970 ''Verdun-sur-Meuse'') is a large city in the Meuse department in Grand Est, northeastern France. It is an arrondissement of the department. Verdun is the biggest city in Meuse, although the capital ...

, served as a deacon under Bishop Paulus of Verdun, and founded Tholey Abbey. He controlled a large territory between the Meuse and Rhine, which he bequeathed to

St. Maximin's Abbey, Trier St. Maximin's Abbey (german: Reichsabtei St. Maximin) was a Benedictine monastery in Trier in the Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. History The abbey, traditionally considered one of the oldest monasteries in western Europe, was held to have been fo ...

and the Monastery of Longuyon, among others. His will provides information regarding his family relationships. His sister was a deacon named Ermengundis. He mentions that his aunt, whose name is not given, is buried in the church of Saint-George in Amay. In 1977 the gravestone of

Saint Chrodoara Saint Chrodoara was a Merovingian noblewoman and traditionally the foundress of the Abbey of Amay, now in Wallonia, Belgium. Chrodoara is thought to have been born around the year 560 in Swabia. She was probably married to Bodegisel-Bobo, the s ...

was found in this church. Chrodoara was married to a duke named

Bodegisel Bodegisel (also spelled Bodygisil, died 585 or 588) was a Frankish duke (''dux''). He was the son of Mummolin, duke of Soissons, and served the kings Chilperic I and Childebert II. Bodegisel was ''dux'' of Provence. He was celebrated in song by t ...

, a member of a north Aquitanian aristocratic family. This helped confirm previous assumptions about the membership of Adalgisel in this family whose members are identifiable by names ending in "-gisil". A 10th-century transcription of the Latin testament of Adalgisel Grimo resides in the State Archives in

Koblenz Koblenz (; Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz''), spelled Coblenz before 1926, is a German city on the banks of the Rhine and the Moselle, a multi-nation tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman military post by Drusus around 8 B.C. Its na ...

(

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...

).LHAKo Bestand 1 A, Nr. 1 Grimo Testament. The definitive edition of the text was presented in 1932 by Wilhelm Levison.

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