Thegan of Trier

Thegan ( * before 800; † March 20 849-852, also Theganbert or Degan, Theganbertus Latinized ) was a Frankish chaplain and biographer of Louis the Pious.

Life

Thegan ( Old High German " warrior " ) or Theganbert ( Old High German ", the famous warrior " ) came from a distinguished Frankish family, and received his training as a cleric probably in Lorsch. Then, not before 814, he was choir bishop of Trier and the latest 842 - pin provost of Cassius in Bonn. 848 mentioned last time, 853 Rutgar instead of Thegan appears in a document for the Bonn pin from July 1 as dean; from one concludes that Thegan died 849-852. Of his death, March 20, is preserved in the oldest necrology of the monastery of St. Maximin in Trier.

Work

835/37 Thegan wrote a biography of the Emperor Louis the Pious, the Gesta Hludowici ( " The deeds of Louis "). The representation extends to the summer 835 An anonymous continuator probably from the pen of St. Castor in Koblenz complemented the years 836 and 837

Upon written sources Thegan has hardly supported, but above all on eyewitness reports of friendly abbots ( Adalung of Lorsch, Grimald of White Castle, Mark Ward of Prüm ). In addition Thegan Einhards Vita Karoli knew and was oriented in the design of his work to her, but could not reach their literary quality.

Thegans Gesta Hludowici are passages as deliberately biased. Thegan was deeply outraged by the dismissal of the employed according to his understanding of God Emperor Louis the Pious. Therefore, it is the main subject of his work, Ludwig - still reigned in writing of the biography - to defend against his critics. In addition, exercises Thegan sharp criticism of the clergy who were involved in the suspension of Louis, especially Archbishop Ebo of Reims. The had indeed been deprived of his office in the spring of 835, but there was still the possibility of his return to the chair Archbishop of Reims, and this tried Thegan with the detection of Ebos to prevent unworthiness.

In the non- tendentious passages of the source value of Thegans Ludwig biography will be very high. So Thegans Gesta Hludowici also the image of Louis the Pious to date have strongly influenced. Even the famous abbot of Reichenau Walahfrid Strabo told 840/49 Thegans Gesta Hludowici into chapters and wrote a short preface in which he distanced himself from Thegans heated polemics and his inelegant Latin, the work but otherwise having regarded as valuable.

Output

  • Ernst Tremp (ed.): Scriptores rerum Germanicarum in usum scholarum separatim editi 64: Thegan, The deeds of the Emperor Louis ( Gesta Hludowici imperatoris ). Astronomus, Life of Emperor Louis ( Vita Hludowici imperatoris ). Hannover 1995 ( Monumenta Historica Germaniae, digitized )
  • Reinhold Rau ( translator's ): Thegan life of the Emperor Louis. In: Reinhold Rau ( ed.): Sources for the Carolingian Empire history. First part ( Selected sources on German history of the Middle Ages 5). Darmstadt 1974, p 216-253
767388
de