Joscelin, Goslin, or Gauzlin (died 16 April 886),
Bishop of Paris
The Archdiocese of Paris (; ) is a Latin Church ecclesiastical jurisdiction or archdiocese of the Catholic Church in France. It is one of twenty-three archdioceses in France. The original diocese is traditionally thought to have been create ...
and defender of the city against the Northmen (885), was, according to some authorities, the son of
Rorgon I,
count of Maine
The capital of Maine was Le Mans. In the thirteenth century it was annexed by France to the royal domain.
Dukes of Maine (''duces Cenomannici'')
* Charivius (fl. 723) – appears as ''dux'' in a document of 723. Controlled twelve counties and ...
, according to others the natural son of the emperor
Louis I Louis I may refer to:
Cardinals
* Louis I, Cardinal of Guise (1527–1578)
Counts
* Ludwig I, Count of Württemberg (c. 1098–1158)
* Louis I of Blois (1172–1205)
* Louis I of Flanders (1304–1346)
* Louis I of Châtillon (died 13 ...
.
In 848 he became a
monk
A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...
, and entered a monastery 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 ...
, later he became
abbot of Saint-Denis. Like most of the prelates of his time he took a prominent part in the struggle against the Northmen, by whom he and his brother
Louis
Louis may refer to:
People
* Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name
* Louis (surname)
* Louis (singer), Serbian singer
Other uses
* Louis (coin), a French coin
* HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy
See also
...
were taken prisoners (858), and he was released only after paying a heavy ransom (''Prudentii Trecensis episcopi Annales'', ann. 858). From 855 to 867 he held intermittently, and from 867 to 881 regularly, the office of chancellor to
Charles the Bald
Charles the Bald (; 13 June 823 – 6 October 877), also known as CharlesII, was a 9th-century king of West Francia (843–877), King of Italy (875–877) and emperor of the Carolingian Empire (875–877). After a series of civil wars during t ...
and his successors.
In 883 or 884 he was elected bishop of Paris, and foreseeing the dangers to which the city was to be exposed from the attacks of the Northmen, he planned and directed the strengthening of the defences, though he also relied for security on the merits of the relics of
St Germain and
St Genevieve. When the attack finally came (885), the defence of the city was entrusted to him and to
Odo, Count of Paris
Odo (; c. 857 – 1 January 898) was King of West Francia from 888 to 898. He was the first king from the Robertian dynasty, the parent house of the House of Capet. Before assuming the kingship, Odo was the Count of Paris, since 882. His reign ...
, and
Hugh the Abbot
Hugh the Abbot of Auxerre (died 12 May 886) was a prominent nobleman and prelate in the Carolingian Empire, who held several ecclesiastical and administrative posts in the West Frankish Kingdom during the reigns of king Charles the Bald and his ...
.
The city was attacked on 26 November and the struggle for the possession of the bridge (now the
Pont-au-Change) lasted for two days; but Joscelin repaired the destruction of the wooden tower overnight, and the
Vikings
Vikings were seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway, and Sweden),
who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded, and settled throughout parts of Europe.Roesdahl, pp. 9� ...
were obliged to give up the attempt to take the city by storm. The
Siege of Paris lasted for about a year longer, while the emperor
Charles the Fat
Charles the Fat (839 – 13 January 888) was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 887. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandson of Charlemagne. He was t ...
was in
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. Joscelin died soon after the preliminaries of the peace had been agreed on, worn out by his exertions, or killed by a pestilence which raged in the city. He was succeeded by
Askericus.
References
Sources
*Duval, Amaury. ''L'Evéque Gozlin ou le siege de Paris par les Normands, chronique du IX siècle''. Paris, 1832.
*MacLean, Simon. ''Kingship and Politics in the Late Ninth Century: Charles the Fat and the end of the Carolingian Empire''. Cambridge University Press: 2003.
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Joscelin
886 deaths
Rorgonid dynasty
Bishops of Paris
9th-century French bishops
Year of birth unknown