Abbo II of Metz

Saint Abbo II was bishop of Metz from 697 to 707 and died on 15 April 707. He is venerated as a saint in the diocese of Metz, with commemoration on 15 April. Our sources call him the thirty-⁠third bishop of Metz (Russian) or the thirty-⁠fifth (English), which does not agree. We have no Orthodox act of canonization, so we call him a local saint of the undivided Church in the West.

The historical sources say nothing of his origin and early years. It is known that not later than 697 he was elected bishop of Metz. It was formerly believed that the first testimony about him dates from 25 June 667, when a Bishop Abbo was mentioned in a charter of the bishop of Soissons; it was supposed that the same bishop is mentioned also in a charter of Aigilbert of Le Mans of 683 and in a royal diploma of Clovis III of 693 or 694, in which a territorial dispute between the dioceses of Metz and Verdun was judged and Abbo was named as the representative of the former. On this basis some historians placed Abbo II's accession to the see of Metz much earlier than 697 and his death at 700 or 705. It was then established that these documents concern his namesake, the bishop of Troyes.

Today historians hold that Abbo II was elected head of the diocese of Metz at the end of the seventh century. Paul the Deacon, in the Deeds of the Bishops of Metz, writes that Abbo was elected "to calm the faithful people". The same author says that on the see of Metz Abbo II succeeded Saint Landry; most historians think likewise. Still, according to one supposition, Abbo II could have been successor of another, but most probably Landry was only administrator of the diocese. In several episcopal lists Abbo appears as the second head of the diocese of Metz with this name. The first Abbo on the see of Metz is the bishop better known as Goeric. Sometimes the two are confused.

The medieval memorial book of the cathedral of Metz says that Abbo II died on 15 April, after ten years, one month and twenty-⁠six days of governing the diocese. On this basis his accession is dated to 18 February 697 and his death to 15 April 707.