Ulger (''Ulgerius''; died 1149) was the
Bishop of Angers
The Roman Catholic Diocese of Angers (Latin: ''Dioecesis Andegavensis''; French: ''Diocèse d'Angers'') is a diocese of the Latin Rite of the Roman Catholic Church in France. The episcopal see is located in Angers Cathedral in the city of Anger ...
from 1125. Like his predecessor,
Rainald de Martigné Rainald is a name of a number of historical persons listed in the Domesday Book. (died 1123), he consolidated the
Gregorian reform
The Gregorian Reforms were a series of reforms initiated by Pope Gregory VII and the circle he formed in the papal curia, c. 1050–80, which dealt with the moral integrity and independence of the clergy. The reforms are considered to be na ...
in his diocese.
Ulger was a student of
Marbod
Maroboduus (d. AD 37) was a king of the Marcomanni, who were a Germanic Suebian people. He spent part of his youth in Rome, and returning, found his people under pressure from invasions by the Roman empire between the Rhine and Elbe. He led the ...
and the latter's successor as archdeacon. Ulger composed a eulogy for his teacher, crediting him with bringing genius (''ingenium'') and art (''studium'') to Anjou. He also compares his master to Cicero, Virgil and Homer: "Cicero gives way to him, Virgil as well and Homer: there I may say he has defeated them equally".
Shortly after becoming bishop, Ulger entered into a dispute with
Glanfeuil Abbey
Glanfeuil Abbey, otherwise the Abbey of St Maurus (french: Abbaye de Glanfeuil, ''Abbaye Saint-Maur de Glanfeuil'', ''Abbaye de Saint-Maur-sur-Loire''), was a French Benedictine monastery founded in the 9th century in the village of Saint-Maur-su ...
, whose abbot, Drogo, rejected the authority of the bishop over his monastery and even had a papal bull forged to support his claim. As bishop, Ulger established several new parish churches, began renovation to
Angers Cathedral
Angers Cathedral (french: Cathédrale Saint-Maurice d'Angers) is a Roman Catholic church dedicated to Saint Maurice in Angers, France. It is the seat of the Bishops of Angers.
Built between the 11th and 16th centuries, it is known for its mi ...
and constructed a hospice at
Saint-Maimboeuf. In the 1140s, Ulger also got involved in a dispute with
Fontevraud Abbey
The Royal Abbey of Our Lady of Fontevraud or Fontevrault (in French: ''abbaye de Fontevraud'') was a monastery in the village of Fontevraud-l'Abbaye, near Chinon, in the former French duchy of Anjou. It was founded in 1101 by the itinerant preach ...
, which became an international scandal. The abbess Petronilla accused the bishop's men of having despoiled the property of laymen, named Basset, who was a friend of the abbey's. The victim went to Rome to appeal to
Pope Innocent II
Pope Innocent II ( la, Innocentius II; died 24 September 1143), born Gregorio Papareschi, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 14 February 1130 to his death in 1143. His election as pope was controversial and the fi ...
directly, while the celebrated
Bernard de Clairvaux
Bernard of Clairvaux, O. Cist. ( la, Bernardus Claraevallensis; 109020 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was an abbot, mystic, co-founder of the Knights Templars, and a major leader in the reformation of the Benedictine Order through ...
wrote an angry letter to Ulger (in which he first described the incident as a ''scandalum''). The pope appointed a panel of five bishops to decide the case—which really concerned the abbey's rights in
Les Ponts-de-Cé
Les Ponts-de-Cé () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France.
Les Ponts-de-Cé is a suburb of Angers.
History
In September 1432, during the Hundred Years' War, the routiers of Rodrigo de Villandrando, in the pay of Geo ...
—and in 1149 the bishopric was ordered to pay restitution to Basset of 1,000 marks.
Ulger was a supporter of the
Angevin ruling family. He supported Count
Geoffrey Plantagenet when the latter invaded
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 ...
and he supported his wife, the
Empress Matilda
Empress Matilda ( 7 February 110210 September 1167), also known as the Empress Maude, was one of the claimants to the English throne during the civil war known as the Anarchy. The daughter of King Henry I of England, she moved to Germany as ...
, in the
English civil war
The English Civil War (1642–1651) was a series of civil wars and political machinations between Parliamentarians ("Roundheads") and Royalists led by Charles I ("Cavaliers"), mainly over the manner of Kingdom of England, England's governanc ...
. In 1139, at the
Second Lateran Council
The Second Council of the Lateran was the tenth ecumenical council recognized by the Catholic Church. It was convened by Pope Innocent II in April 1139 and attended by close to a thousand clerics. Its immediate task was to neutralise the after-ef ...
, Ulger asserted publicly (and incorrectly) that Matilda had been anointed empress by
Pope Pascal 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 ...
. He also supported the
Knights Templar
The Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon ( la, Pauperes commilitones Christi Templique Salomonici), also known as the Order of Solomon's Temple, the Knights Templar, or simply the Templars, was a Catholic military order, o ...
, who had close connections to the Angevin dynasty. Sometime after the
fall of Edessa, between 1144 and 1149, in light of the
new crusading impetus, he urged his clergy to promote the Templars throughout the diocese and strongly commended their holy way of life.
Ulger was buried in an enamelled sarcophagus. Inside his tomb were found cloths were (pseudo-)Arabic lettering, a ring with a Latin transcription from Arabic and a boxes of a Spanish style, all suggesting that Ulger had contacts with Spain during his lifetime. The metal- and enamelwork on his tomb is probably of Spanish origin.
Notes
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{{authority control
1149 deaths
Bishops of Angers
Year of birth unknown