Chrodegang of Metz

Saint Chrodegang was Bishop of Metz from 742 or 748 until his death on 6 March 766, and earlier chancellor to his kinsman Charles Martel. He is honoured as a saint in the Catholic and the Orthodox Church as a guide of the spiritual reform of the Frankish realm.

Youth and service at court

He was born in the early eighth century in the region of Hesbaye, in present-⁠day Belgium, around 712 or 715, of a noble Frankish family. According to tradition his parents were Sigramnus, Count of Hesbaye, and Landrada, the sister of Rotrude, the first wife of Charles Martel. He was educated at the monastery of Saint-⁠Trond, one of the oldest and most powerful abbeys of the Low Countries, then at the cathedral school of Metz, without taking monastic vows. At the court of Charles Martel he was referendary, then chancellor, and in 737 prime minister. After 742 he was appointed Bishop of Metz in place of Sigibald, while keeping his civil office.

Ministry and reforms

In 753 he met and escorted Pope Stephen II, who had come to France to ask for help against the Lombards. As apostolic delegate to the Frankish kingdom he was directly involved in the coronation of Pepin in 754 and in the victory over the Lombard king Aistulf, and he accompanied the pope to Ponthieu. After the death of Saint Boniface, Pope Stephen gave him the pallium (754 to 755), raising him to the rank of archbishop without elevating the see of Metz. He presided at councils at Ver in 755, at Verberie in 757 and at Attigny in 762.

From Rome he brought back a love for the Roman liturgy and chant and founded the famous school of chant at Metz. He adorned the cathedral, brought relics of saints to his diocese, and arranged ordinations on the Roman model. A supporter of Benedictine monasticism, in 748 he founded Gorze Abbey near Metz, then Saint Peter's Abbey on the Moselle, and he did much for the abbeys of Gengenbach and Lorsch. For Lorsch he is said to have obtained the relics of Saint Nazarius, and for Gorze those of Saint Gorgonius. In 762, in a grave illness, he established among his priests a confraternity of prayer known as the League of Attigny.

The rule for canons

Around 755 he wrote for the canons of his cathedral a rule, the Regula Canonicorum, in thirty-⁠four chapters, based on the Rule of Saint Benedict. Its aim was chiefly pastoral. He wished to encourage mutual support, as in a monastery, while recognizing the very different duties of canons, who served the spiritual needs of the faithful. Chrodegang adapted the Benedictine rule, especially in regard to hospitality and the care of the sick, since cathedrals had neither guest houses nor hospices. The rule was widely circulated and gave a strong impulse to community life among the secular clergy. In 816 it was in part incorporated into the Institutio canonicorum Aquisgranensis, established at the Council of Aachen. In the eleventh and twelfth centuries it was gradually replaced by rules based on Saint Augustine. It is thought that Irish monks carried it to their homeland from the monasteries of north-⁠eastern Gaul.

Repose

He fell asleep in the Lord at Metz on 6 March 766 and was buried at Gorze, where his principal shrine was, though the tomb has not been preserved. One scholar says that his work lay at the foundation of the Carolingian spiritual revival. The Church commemorates him on 6 March.