library OF THE UKWOfcITY OF ILUIWI* ONSTANTINE OF FLEURY, -985-1014, A.D, F. M. WARREN REPRINTED FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE CONNECTICUT ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES, VOL. XV, JULY, IQO9 Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2017 with funding from University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Alternates https://archive.org/details/constantineoffleOOwarr M, S. Williams *e> C 1 5 7 w UHWtRS\TY mot' X.— Constantine of Fleury (—985—1014). Among the many letters written by Gerbert before he became Pope Sylvester II are three addressed to a certain Constantine, sco- lasticus at Fleury (St. Benoit-sur-Loire), and afterwards abbot of St. Mesmin, to the West of Orleans. 1 Another letter of Gerbert’s to the monk Bernard emphasizes his friendship for the scolasticus , and his high opinion of his intellectual attainments, particularly his talent for music. 2 And this friendship is again affirmed in the com- position of the treatise, Libellus de Numerorum Divisione , for Con- stantine, a work of pure affection, the preface tells us. 3 These eulogies lead to the inevitable conclusion that, in Gerbert’s opinion at least, Constantine was one of the foremost scholars of the day, an ardent lover of the authors of Latin antiquity, and an authority in the domain of music. They also indicate the places where Constantine lived, Fleury and St. Mesmin, during the closing years of the tenth century. But ot his past life not a word, nor yet a hint of his future activity. Further information regarding this scolasticus is, however, not lacking. Andre of Fleury who, in 1041, wrote the life of Gauzlin, a bastard son of Hugh Capet, abbot of Fleury from 1004 and bishop of Bourges from 1013 to his death in 1030, knew something of Con- stantine. He tells us that our monk had been brought up at Fleury, that it was Arnulf, bishop of Orleans, who had made him abbot of St. Mesmin, and that while still at Fleury he had set a poem on St. Benedict to music. But this poem was sung only after a lapse 1 See Lettres de Gerbert , edited by J. Havet : Paris, 1889 ; letters 86, 141, 191, as well as 143 written by Constantine to Gerbert. 2 Ergo si quisquam vestrum cura talinm rerum permovetur, vel in musica perdiscenda, vel in his quae hunt ex organis, quod per me ad- implere nequeo, si cognovero certum velle domini abbatis P., cui omnia debeo, per Constantinum Eloriacensem supplere curabo. Est aenim no- bilis scolasticus, adprime eruditus, michique in amicicia conjunctissimus. Letter 92 3 Vis amici tiae poene impossibilia redigit ad possibilia. Nam quomodo rationes numerorum abaci explicare contenderemus, nisi te adhortante, o mi dulce solamen laborum Const. ? Op , cit ., p. 238. — See also Richer, Historiarum iii, c. 54 (Societe de l’Histoire de Erance series), where the Libellus is mentioned as intended for “ C. grammaticum.” 286 F. M. Warren , of years, under Gauzlin, not under Abbo. 1 And much earlier than Andre’s record, back in the previous century, before the death of Louis, king of France (f 987), and therefore about the time of Ger- bert’s first letter to his absent pupil, a former fellow-student at Rheims had addressed some verses to Constantine. In obscure phrases the unknown poetaster expresses his sorrow over his old com- rade’s change of residence, and then proceeds to praise the poetry he used to write, in excellence rivalling the lines of Sophocles. 2 Piecing out the hints afforded by this effusion with the statements made by Andre of Fleury, we can construct an outline of Constantine’s youth. He had been nurtured by the monks at Fleury, had won their admiration as a student of promise, had been sent by them to Gerbert’s school, then at the height of its prosperity, had there attained proficiency in music, one of the Seven Arts for which Gerbert was famous, had composed verse of considerable merit, and had returned to Fleury by the end of 986. He was now twenty- five or thirty years old, assuming that Gerbert’s words of commen- dation indicate a man of some maturity. But what of Constantine’s surroundings at Fleury ? Gerbert’s first letter, an answer to one received from Constantine, more than intimates that there was dissension in the abbey. The scolasticus was evidently in open revolt against his superior, Abbot Oilbodus, whom Gerbert does not call by name but whom he stigmatizes as “ pervasor.” The date of this epithet is July or August, 986, ac- cording to Havet, 3 who is undoubtedly correct in his surmise. For 1 His etenim diebus, historia patris Benedicti adventus, quam Constan- tinus, illius loci nutritius, atque abbatiae Miciacensis honore ab Arnulfo, Aurelianensium presule donatus, musicae artis dictaverat pneumatibus, suasu Helgaudi precentoris, permissuque Gauzlini abbatis, Floriacensi loco primo insonuit. — See Vita Gauzlini in Neues Archiv , vol. iii, p. 352. — The precentor Helgaud has come down to posterity as the biographer of Robert the Pious. Constantine may have written the poem as well as composed the music. But it should be said that his contemporary at Fleury, Aimoin, author of a life of Abbot Abbo (988-1004), closes another work, the Historia Francorum , with a poem in hexameters on the trans- lation to France of St. Benedict’s remains. See Migne, Patrologia Latina , vol. 139, col. 797-802. 2 Eia cara chelis, protelans vocibus aptis, Carmina pange viro morum probitate colendo, Solo Soffocleo quae sint condigna coturno. Neues Archiv , vol. ii, pp. 222—227. Lines 62—64 contain the quotation a plagiarism from Virgil. 3 Letter 86. Constantine of Fleury. 287 Amalbert, Oi'lbodus’ predecessor, had died in April, 985, and the installation of a new abbot must have followed shortly afterward, certainly within a year. A letter of Gerbert to Mai'eul of Cluny, which is dated by Havet in February, 986, shows Oi'lbodus in pos- session. 1 Why there was opposition to him we do not know. King Lothaire may have forced him on the community, a somewhat im- probable conjecture, resting only on the epithet quoted above. 2 Or Constantine, who had just arrived from Rheims, conscious of his intellectual attainments and relying on Gerbert’s friendship, may have aspired to the pastorate in vain. What is certain is that Constantihe was hostile to Oi'lbodus, that Gerbert battled valiantly for him, 3 or for his faction, and that both master and pupil did not refrain from showing their joy when the “ pervasor ” departed this mundane existence. 4 An untimely rejoicing it proved, for the passing of Oi'lbodus did not profit Constantine. His partisans were clearly in the minority, and Abbo, the most talented of the older friars, a staunch supporter of Oi'lbodus, who had been sent by him early in 986 to instruct the monks of Ramsey, in England, at the request of Archbishop Oswald, then recalled after a two years’ mission by his father superior, was elected to the abbacy towards the end of 988. 5 Some inferences may be allowed at this point. Abbo must have been the head of the Fleury school before he went to England, and quite likely Constantine’s first teacher. But Gerbert calls Con- stantine scolasticus. Therefore he was Abbo’s substitute for the time being. Filled with zeal for the new learning he had acquired at Rheims, it is more than probable that he gave a direction to the instruction at Fleury which did not meet with Oi'lbodus’ approval. Abbo, an erudite man in his way, and a renowned educator, based his courses on the Church Fathers and did not admit to his curric- ulum Cicero, Virgil and the lyric poets of pagan Rome. 6 The 1 Letter 69. 2 See Lettres de Gerbert , p. 65, n. 5. 3 Lettres de Gerbert , nos. 80, 87, 88, 95. 4 Op. cit. , letters 142, 148. 5 Vita S. Abbonis , by Aimoin of Fleury inMigne, Patrologia Latina , vol. 139, col. 590-593. Cf. F. Lot, titudes sur le regne de Hugues Capet (in the Bibliotheque de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes series, no. 137), p. 13, n. 5. 6 See Ch. Pfister’s interesting comparison of the monkish idea of edu- cation at this time with the tendencies of the bishops’ schools, in his Etudes sur le regne de Robert le Pieux (Bibliotheque de l’Ecole des Hautes Etudes series, n. 64), pp. 2 ff. 288 F. M. Warren, urgent summons which hastened Abbo’s return from Ramsey shows that his presence was imperatively demanded by the authorities at Fleury. Oilbodus evidently felt that his strength was declining. The protagonists of the new education at Fleury were also his personal opponents. He wished to make sure of the succession to the pastoral office, and he did so, but not by winning over the malcontents. Abbo’s biographer admits that the election was not unanimous. Some friars objected, “ as is wont to happen in such cases,” 1 and among these objectors we can hardly fail to find Con- stantine. The subsequent relations of our monk to Fleury escape us. Aimoin mentions a “ Constantinum presbyterum,” who was to accompany Bernard of Beaulieu on a pilgrimage to Rome, late in 989 or in 990, but he is almost certainly not the old scolasticus . 2 The silence of this writer must have been intentional. He belonged to the dominant party, whose adherents seem to have decided on the elimination of Constantine. The testimony of Andre of Fleury, that Constantine’s music for the poem on St. Benedict was not sung until Gauzlin had succeeded to Abbo, indicates the purpose on the part of the Fleury officials to ignore their brilliant subordinate. If such was their intention is was thoroughly executed. When Constantine appears again in the records of the day it is no longer as a friar at Fleury, but as the abbot of St. Mesmin, a foundation not many miles away from his earlier station. Unfortun- ately the first document which shows this transfer and promotion is a letter of Gerbert, written as late as 997, 3 and which is wholly devoted to its author’s own troubles at Rheims. It does not allude to Constantine’s affairs, and we would be entirely at loss to know how he had secured his abbacy, did not we not possess Andre of Fleury’s statement, already cited, that he had been appointed to the position by Arnulf of Orleans. The ecclesiastical annals of the nineties may perhaps furnish a clue to this bishop’s benevolent intervention. In June, 991, a council of prelates had convened at Verzy, near Rheims, to pass on the conduct of Arnulf, archbishop of Rheims, 1 Migne, loc. cit ., col. 593. 2 Migne, loc. cit ., col. 598. Aimoin speaks of a u Constantines presbyter ” — probably the same monk — who was present at the relation of a miracle, apparently after Abbo’s death (*j* 1004). See Miracles de St. Benoit (in the Societe de l’Histoire de Trance series), iii, c. 3 (p. 132). 3 Op. cit ., letter 191. Cf. T. Tot, Etudes sur le regne de Hugues Capet , pp. 272-276. Constantine of Fleury. 289 in reference to the kings of France. The bishops who took part in this council finally united in condemning Arnulf. Among them was Arnulf of Orleans. But of the abbots at Verzy, two in particular stood out against the decision of the bishops, and one of these two was Abbo of Fleury. There seems to be no doubt that on this occasion Abbo was solely actuated by a desire to strengthen the power of the Pope in matters pertaining to church government. Yet the practical result of his attitude was to increase the friction between him and the bishop of Orleans, in the other party. For some years the community of Fleury and the bishop of Orleans had been at loggerheads about certain properties. Under Oi'lbodus a dispute had arisen over the revenue of a vineyard near Orleans. 1 Later, perhaps before the council of Verzy, but certainly not by many months, as Abbo himself was on the way to Tours to celebrate St. Martin’s festival, he was attacked by the bishop’s men and lost some of his retinue in the fight. 2 To compose this difficulty the authority of the kings of France was needed. 3 On the other hand, in 992 or 993, an outbreak of monks occurred at a council held at St. Denis, an outbreak which Arnulf accused Abbo of fomenting. So it is perfectly clear that no love was lost between these neighbors, dignitaries of the Church. 4 Now when we take into consideration that the condemnation of Arnulf of Rheims by the bishops assembled at Verzy led to the elevation of Gerbert to the archbishopric — an elevation which the papal party claimed to be illegal — we readily understand how the private quarrels of Abbo and Arnulf of Orleans might affect the career of a friend of Gerbert, who was under Abbo’s rule, and who objected to it. And we might fairly assume that the transfer of Constantine from Fleury to St. Mesmin was a direct result of all this bickering. The promotion may have followed at once on the council of Verzy, and Constantine may have become firmly estab- lished in his new office by the end of 992. How long was he allowed to exercise his prerogatives in peace ? We do not know. Gerbert’s letter of 997 asks for sympathy. It does not condole. But this letter was occasioned by a disquieting trip of Abbo to Rome, whence we may conclude that not only Gerbert, but Constantine as well, was kept on the alert by the 1 Miracles de St. Benoit , ii, C. 19 (p. 124). 2 Vita S. Abbonis , by Aimoin, loc. cit., col. 394. 3 Recueil des historiens des Gaules , etc., vol. x, p. 561 (diploma of 993). 4 See F. Lot, op. cit ., p. 184, n. 1. Trans. Conn. Acad., Vol. XV. 19 July, 1909. 290 F. M. Warren, persistent hostility of that determined monk. For when the curtain rises again on the life of the ex- scolasticus , in the year 1001, it reveals to us the presence of a rival abbot at St. Mesmin, who had probably been put forward by the redoubtable Abbo. and who was certainly upheld by king Robert, ever under the influence of the monastic orders. 1 After a few brief years of comparative quiet, during which the harried Constantine may have found solace and relaxation in those authors of pagan antiquity whose very names were anathema at Fleury, the unfortunate friend of the great teacher and Pope is once more in subjection to his enemies. But this time he rouses himself to a more vigorous and a more effectual resis- tance. A letter, addressed by Abbo to the friars at St. Mesmin,. and to Constantine “ decano,” defends Abbot Robert against the charges of the brethren, who had driven him and a favorite of his away from the abbey, and reproaches them for having slandered Robert to Foulques, bishop of Orleans. 2 Foulques had become bishop in 1003. Abbo was killed in 1004. The date of the letter and the revolt, which is its burden, can therefore be fixed within definite time limits. For good or for ill then Constantine may be located at St. Mesmin from about 992 to 1004. Robert was restored to his abbey, and we may suppose that his return preluded by only a few months the departure of Constantine, whom he had supplanted but not overcome. 3 For another migration must have seemed advisable to the luckless “ decanus,” and some friendly influence must have soon opened the way for it. At St. Mesmin he had won the goodwill of a man who was respected for his learning and admired for his 1 See the charter by king Robert in favor of the monks of St. Mesmin and their abbot, Robert, given under date of April, 1001. Recueil des historiens des Gaules , etc., vol. x, p. 579. 2 Migne, op. cit ., vol. 139, col. 436—438. 3 This Robert is the so-called Robert of Blois, who succeeded a monk of Fleury as abbot of St. Florent, near Saumur, as early as 988 perhaps, certainly before 994. He had united this charge with the abbacy of St. Mesmin by 1001 — as we have seen — and finished his life at this latter post, dying in 1011. Chroniques des eglises d’ Anjou (in the Societe de l’Histoire de France series), pp. 187—199 ; Gallia Christiana , vol. xiv, p. 625, and vol. viii, pp. 1531 ff. — He may be the Robert of St. Mesmin whom Gerbert denounces so bitterly in 988 (letter 136), have gone from there to St. Florent and afterwards returned to St. Mesmin (F. Lot, A Derniers Carolingiens , p. 232, n. 4). In this case he would be an old enemy of Gerbert and his friends. Constantine of Fleury. 291 energy ^ the monk Letaldus. 1 An old friend of Abbo, as the latter’s correspondence shows, 2 Letaldus could still discern some virtues in Bishop Arnulf of Orleans. 3 He had joined in the expulsion of Robert from St. Mesmin, and had been taken to task for it by Abbo, who even accused him of heading the revolution. On Robert’s return he too left St. Mesmin and journeyed to the abbey of La Couture, near Le Mans, reaching it while Gosbert (f 1007) was still its abbot. 4 5 His . departure must have been preceded by Constantine’s or shortly followed by it, for the next reference to Constantine which the documents contain is made by Letaldus himself. At a date unknown to us, the latter priest sends to the monks of the abbey of Nouaille, near Poitiers, and to their abbot, Constantine, an account of miracles which were performed by the relics of St. Junian, the first abbot of Nouaille, at a council held in the abbey of Charroux. 6 In distant Nouaille the old scolasticus of Fleury finds final refuge from monastic quarrels and ecclesiastical vengeance. Perhaps it was the last efforts of the dogged, uncompromising Abbo which had driven him far away from his fatherland, to which he had clung through so many bitter years of strife and oppression. Should this conjecture prove true he would have reached Nouaille by the end of 1004. A gentle soul he may have been, certainly not a purpose- ful one, for he had fallen before every onslaught. Yet he clearly possessed the faculty of winning devoted friends, first Gerbert and his comrades at Rheims, afterwards Letaldus. Perhaps his tempera- ment was preeminently sympathetic. Undoubtedly it was emotional, for he was both a poet and a musician. And this artistic tempera- ment may have been the real cause of his trials, his defeats, and also the reason for the good fortunes which retrieved his successive disgraces. Some stronger will than his stood ever ready to rescue him from his enemies. As an administrator he probably was a failure. Even in the congenial surroundings of Nouaille he could not cope with the situation, and the intervention of Odilo of Cluny eventually became necessary to reform the community. 6 Still our 1 B. Haureau, Histoire litter air e du Maine , vol. vii, pp. 188—200 ; Migne, op. cit ., vol. 137, col. 781 ff. 2 Migne, op. cit., vol. 139, col. 438, 439. 3 Letaldus, De Miraculis S. Maximini, in Migne, op. cit., vol. 137, col. 816. 4 Gallia Christiana, vol. xiv, p. 470. 5 Migne, op. cit., vol. 137-, col. 823. G Gallia Christiana , vol. ii, p. 1240. Odilo’s mission may have been per- formed in 1011. 292 3 0112 072462218 F. M. Warren, Constantine of Fleury. judgment of his character might be different did we control all the facts. The slight basis for our inferences renders them inconclusive. Besides Letaldus’ narrative of the wonders worked by St. Junian’s relics and Odilo’s disciplinary visit to Nouaille, the annals of the day furnish no hints regarding Constantine’s last incumbency. Their silence may point to the calm which follows the storm. The gener- ation of embittered adversaries, who made a shuttlecock of his career, had passed away with Arnulf and Abbo. Let us hope that the victim of their rivalries was allowed to exercise the duties of his new charge in peace. But one more mention of him has reached us, the note which records his death, in the year 1014, after a decade or less of pastorate at Nouaille. And this note, which registers the j-ather unfavorable opinion of his contemporaries as to his general ability, shows that the poet of the school of Rheims maintained to the end his reputation as a musician. 1 1 Anno MXIY. Obiit Constantinns, abbas S. Juniani Nobiliaci, cui temporaneus extitit Letandns, Abbo et alii multi ; sed inter alios prae- cipnns musicus et cantor. Huic Constantino successit Imo. Chronicle of St. Maixent, in Recueil des historiens des Gaules etc., vol. x, p. 232. — The text reads u Abba,” which I change to “ Abbo ” for obvious reasons. Letaldus was never abbot, though a Letaldus had been abbot of St. Mes- min in 930. Yale University. F. M. Warren.