Frothar of Toul

Frothar ( rare frotar, lat Frotharius ) was from about 813 bis 847/48 Bishop of Toul. From him a part of his letter correspondence is obtained. A critical edition has first published Karl Hampe in the Monumenta Historica Germaniae.

Life

Grew up later Bishop claims to be in Gorze monastery. (Letter 28) Later, he worked at the court chapel of Charlemagne. Either this, or his successor, Louis the Pious made ​​Frothar Bishop of Toul. His activity was directed largely to his diocese. But he also took on imperial orders. He aspired to the ecclesiastical goods to preserve his diocese and multiply. He was also trying to carry out the ecclesiastical reforms of his time. Frothar left after a fire in the cathedral of Toul rebuild.

His letters show that he was in contact with the bishops of neighboring dioceses, to influential people in the imperial court, and even with the emperor and his wife. He tried the needs of his time as inflation, Feuerbrünste or Wolf plagues to mitigate and lamented the high burden of taxes or the burden of military service.

Letters

Narrated is part of his letter correspondence in a manuscript fragment of the 9th century, the now one originating from Saint- Germain -des- Prés manuscript collection (Paris, Bibliothèque Nationale, lat 13090 ) belongs. The fragment contains 22 written by Frothar and 10 letters addressed to him. The time unordered letters were put into an order, among other things Hampe; the younger edition of Parisse, however, follows the order of the manuscript. The letters received probably only include the correspondence of the first years Frothars as a bishop. The letters following the period have been lost.

Content

In a chronological first letter, he reported to the Emperor, who has used him a wolf Plage and the number of wolves that he has had succumbed. Hampe assumes that this may have been only Charlemagne. The letter must be from the early days of Frothars episcopate.

The two following letters are from Archbishop Hetti of Trier. In the first he ordered Frothar to convene troops against King Bernard of Italy. In the second it came to the implementation of the ecclesiastical reforms that were agreed at the synods of Aachen 816-819. These related to the enforcement of the Rule of St. Benedict as a mandatory standard for all the monasteries and the regulation of the life of the canons and canonesses.

In the letter to Hugo, an illegitimate son of Charlemagne Frothars, it is clear that this a time of Ludwig the Pious had been given into the care Frothars with his brothers.

In the letters, 6 and 7 of army trips to Spain the speech that probably were associated with uprisings in the year 826. Also, the talk of Visit Louis the Pious in Toul.

Between 825 and 830, the Cathedral of Toul burned down. The beginning of a new building is mentioned in letter 9. It is also about a stay of the Emperor Louis the Palatinate in Gondreville near Toul possibly in 828 Frothar appears in desperate and overwhelmed by the burden of the church building, the commanded construction of the Palatinate Gondreville and explains unable to be to afford even the construction of the Pfalz in Aachen. If it Erzkaplan Hilduin not succeed, the emperor to move to take this burden from him, he threatened to resign from the office of bishop. Apparently he has had no success with writing, he turned in another letter but to another dignitary at the court. However Resigned he is not. In the year 828 the church is obviously ready, because the bishop an abbot asks colors for the painting. He thanks another abbot of hiring a foreman.

In letter 13, which potentially can be dated to the year 829, asks Frothar Archbishop Hetti when this would come into the diocese of Toul, and sometime after the reform provisions a Synodalkonzil would take place. The reason for the request, he indicates that he would have to inspect the Sent Hostels between the Alps and Aachen on behalf of the Emperor, and therefore for a while was absent.

In the letters, 14-16 is about the successor of Archbishop Jeremiah of Sens. The canons of the church asked in Sens, after her first staff proposal had already been rejected, so that the new candidate can at least imagine the Emperor. The Emperor has no consideration to the requests and appointed archbishop of Sens Aldrich.

In letter 18 Frothar Erzkaplan Hilduin asked for help in order to regain possession of the Touler church. Similar content had the following letter to another person. It is similar in letter 21 to the abbey of St. Evre alienated possession. The letter is associated with a certificate Frothars, in which he ordered the relations of the monastery around 838.

The letters 22-24 from the years 825-830 have the dispute between the monks of the monastery in the diocese of Toul Moyenmoutier with their abbot to content. In letter 25 Frothar asked a Sichard to intervene with Emperor Lothar for the son of an earl Haudulf.

In the letters 28 and 29, he turned to the half-brother of the Emperor Bishop Drogo of Metz, and the empress Judith. The letters are related in his diocese with an order made ​​by Frothar of ownership of the churches. Compared with Drogo he complains that some of these Metz under standing, but located in the Diocese of Toul churches let degenerated. Compared to the Empress, he complains that the data sent by her Missi interventions have made ​​in the order arranged by him of the church property. The letters can be roughly dated to the years 826-840.

From the letters of 30 and 31 and to Abbot Wichard of indene shows that Frothar had inventoried by imperial order the possession of the monastery indene. The last letter 32 is aimed at two abbots. It is the talk of last Notjahren.

Writings

• Karl Hampe (ed.): Frotharii episcopi Tullensis Epistolae. In: Epistolae Karolini Aevi, Volume 2 ( Monumenta Historica Germaniae, Epistolae, Volume 5 ). Weidmann, Berlin 1899, pp. 275-298 ( digitized ).
• Michel Parisse (ed. ): La Correspondance d'un évêque carolingien. Frothaire de Toul (ca. 813-847 ) avec les lettres de Theuthilde, abbesse de Remiremont ( documents d' histoire et text médiévale, volume 2 ) Publications de la Sorbonne, Paris 1998, ISBN 2-85944-348-7. ( with French translation )