Monasticism, Reform, and Authority in the Carolingian Era

Abstract

In the late 820s, a group of disgruntled monks traveled from the monastery of Moyenmoutier to the imperial court of Louis the Pious (r. 814–40) in Aachen. They did so in order to lodge a complaint against their abbot, whom they accused of mismanagement and unsatisfactory leadership for his refusal to allow the monks access to the resources they needed to “live a regular life.” The dispute had already simmered for quite a while. Two imperial missi —Bishop Frotharius of Toul (814–849/50) and Abbot Smaragdus of Saint-Mihiel (d. c. 840)—had been sent to make sense of the situation, which itself was the result of an earlier settlement between the community, the emperor, and the abbot. They wrote in their report that the trust between monks and abbot had been broken to such an extent “that without [Louis’] judgment, nothing would be done,” and that the monks “would rather be expelled from the monastery and live like beggars on the road” than be thwarted by false promises again.

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