Abel of Reims
Bollandists) | |
|---|---|
| Venerated in | Catholic Church |
Abel (
Bollandists
.
Origins
In the late 10th century,
Boniface, in a letter to a priest in the English kingdom of Mercia, insisted that Abel had in fact been born and raised in England. The modern historian Wilhelm Levison has suggested there were two individuals with the same name, but Eugen Ewig accepts the identification by Boniface as more accurate. If Folcuin's later testimony has any basis in reality, it may be that Abel, like his near contemporary Ecgberht (d. 729), had once visited Ireland and formed a close association.[1]
Bishop of Reims
In March 744,
Pope Zacharias confirmed this decision by sending Abel the pallium which conferred episcopal authority.[1] Abel is next named in the sources as one of Boniface's 'fellow bishops' who around 746 sent a letter of exhortation to Æthelbald, king of Mercia as part of his wider missionary efforts. It seems that Milo (bishop of Trier) in effect controlled a number of episcopal sees (despite only being a laymen), while Abel remained in office only as suffragan bishop. In 751, Boniface once more addressed a letter to Pope Zacharias, in which he lamented the injustices of lay control over the church, but his erstwhile ambitions to change this were not realised in his lifetime.[1] It is unknown when Abel gave up his position or died. The 9th-century Life of Saint Remigius, written by Hincmar, Archbishop of Rheims, claims that Milo had driven Abel out from the see in favour of Tilpin. The date given is 748, but it also may be the case that Tilpin only succeeded in 762 or 763 when Able died. It's suggested that Abel may have retired in his later years to Lobbes Abbey to become abbot.[1]
Commemoration
Abel has been recognized at various times as a
Bollandists include a Life of Abel under 5 August, compiled by John Pinius.[2]
Notes
References
- Costambeys, Marios (Sep 2004). "Abel (fl. 744–747)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (Jan 2010, online ed.). Oxford University Press. . Retrieved 28 April 2010.
Further reading
Primary sources
- Acts of the Council of Soissons (744), ed. A. Werminghoff (1906–1908). Concilia aevi Karolini. 2 vols. MGH Concilia 2. Hanover.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link) - Letters of Boniface, ed. M. Tangl (1916). Die Briefe des heiligen Bonifatius und Lullus. MGH Epistolae Selectae 1. Berlin. nos. 57–8, 73–4, 87.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link); tr. Ephraim Emerton (2000). The Letters of Boniface. Records of Western Civilization. New York: Columbia UP. - Folcuin, Gesta abbatum Lobiensium, ed. G. H. Pertz (1841). Annales, chronica et historiae aevi Carolini et Saxonici. MGH Scriptores 4.
- Hincmar, Vita Remigii episcopi Remensis, ed. B. Krusch (1896). Passiones vitaeque sanctorum aevi Merovingici. MGH Scriptores Rerum Merovingicarum 3. Hanover.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)