Egbert (archbishop of Trier)
Egbert | |
---|---|
Archbishop of Trier | |
Church | Catholic Church |
Diocese | Electorate of Trier |
In office | 977–993 |
Personal details | |
Born | c. 950 |
Died | 9 December 993 |
Egbert (c. 950 – 9 December 993) was the
Egbert was a son of
Egbert was a significant patron of science and the arts, who established one or more workshops of goldsmiths and enamellers at Trier, which produced works for other
Efforts to secure the primacy of Germany
To be established as the
In the traditional account, the battle for the primacy was in fact effectively lost in 975, two years before Egbert acceded to Trier, when
Patron of the arts
Egbert was one of the most important Ottonian clerical patrons, and though he also built churches and monasteries, and no doubt commissioned wall-paintings and works in other media, the surviving pieces are in the form of metalwork with enamel and
Metalwork
The workshop Egbert is presumed to have established at Trier is the only Ottonian workshop producing enamels that can be clearly located. There are three main survivals of metalwork pieces certainly commissioned by Egbert, though contemporary literary references make it clear there was originally a large production, and both the three clear survivals and a larger group of objects often related to Trier both show "astonishingly little unity" in style and workmanship, which makes the confident attribution of other pieces such as the
The staff-reliquary now in Limburg uses iconography to promote the claims of the see of Trier, with sets of enamel plaques with portraits of the Apostles paired with those of the earliest bishops of Trier, and other sets matching popes with later bishops. There is evidence that "Egbert put the reliquary to frequent use" to relieve droughts and the like, and very likely to also to "brandish" it to increase his authority in synods and other important meetings.[15]
Manuscripts
Egbert's major commissions of manuscripts seem to date from about 980 onwards, and it is unclear where they were produced; monastic scribes and illuminators may have been rather mobile between the major centres. Egbert commissioned the compilation of the
The Egbert Psalter, which he commissioned for his own use in Trier Cathedral, was used a number of times after his death as a diplomatic gift, travelling as far as Russia and Hungary, and has been in Cividale del Friuli in northern Italy since 1229.[18] A number of other manuscripts survive.[19] The miniatures in Egbert's manuscripts repeat many of the themes promoting the claims of the see of Trier that are found in the metalwork; in the psalter miniatures show the scribe (named as Ruodpreht) presenting the book to Egbert, who in turn presents it to Saint Peter. The square halos (for a living person) given to Egbert in both the portraits illustrated here are one of the elements showing Italian influence on Trier miniatures.[20] A well-known miniature in the Registrum Gregorii of Gregory writing probably represents Egbert also, and the pairing of portraits of popes and bishops of Trier found on the Limburg staff also appears.[21]
Notes
- ^ Head, 73
- ^ Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Egbert, Archbishop of Trier". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.
- ^ Head, 76; Lasko, 95
- ^ Lasko, 95; Dodwell, 134;
- ^ Head, 65
- ^ Head, 65–68
- ^ Head, 71–73, 72 quoted
- ^ Head, 76
- ^ Dodwell, 134–144, especially 134; Beckwith, 96–104, 133–134
- ^ Metz, 47–49
- ^ An area where evidence is generally thin across Europe, see Cherry, Chapter 1
- ^ Head, 76
- ^ Lasko, 95–99, 96 quoted; Head deals with the first two objects; Beckwith, 133–135 for the book cover; Image of the foot reliquary.
- ^ Metz, 45–46; Lasko, 95
- ^ Head, 71–73, 72 quoted
- ^ Dodwell, 141–142, 141 quoted
- ^ Dodwell, 134–144 and see index, gives extended coverage; Beckwith, 96–104
- ^ Beckwith, 97–98; Dodwell, 134–139
- ^ Dodwell, 135, 139–144
- ^ Beckwith, 98
- ^ Dodwell, 135
References
- Beckwith, John. Early Medieval Art: Carolingian, Ottonian, Romanesque, Thames & Hudson, 1964 (rev. 1969), ISBN 050020019X
- Cherry, John, Medieval Goldsmiths, The British Museum Press, 2011 (2nd edn.), ISBN 9780714128238
- ISBN 0300064934
- Head, Thomas. "Art and Artifice in Ottonian Trier." Gesta, Vol. 36, No. 1. (1997), pp 65–82.
- ISBN 014056036X
- Metz, Peter (trans. Ilse Schrier and Peter Gorge), The Golden Gospels of Echternach, 1957, Frederick A. Praeger, LOC 57-5327
- ISBN 0582081564.