Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy
The Principality of Stavelot-Malmedy was an ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Princely power was exercised by the Benedictine abbot of the double monastery of Stavelot and Malmedy. At 600 km2, it was among the territories in the Empire. As a prince-abbot, the abbot of Stavelot-Malmedy sat on the Ecclesiastical Bench of the College of Ruling Princes of the Imperial Diet, in 1795, the principality was abolished and its territory was incorporated into the French département of Ourthe. The Congress of Vienna in 1815 assigned Stavelot to the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, both are currently parts of the Kingdom of Belgium—since the 1830 Belgian Revolution and the 1919 Treaty of Versailles, respectively. Sigebert granted forest land, charged his Mayor of the Palace, Grimoald the Elder, the site of Malmedy was probably already settled before the foundation of the abbey, despite etymology seeming to indicate Malmedys unsuitability. Malmund-arium was a place with winding waters, or, most probably, Malmund-arium, the Warchenne was partially canalised and its banks strengthened, to prevent the flooding that Malmedy often experienced.
The abbey church in Malmedy was dedicated to St Benedict, the monastery of Malmedy is considered by historians and hagiographers to be slightly older than the monastery of Stavelot, with the town claiming its foundation date as 648. Malmedy is listed on earlier maps than Stavelot, and the commission appointed in 670 by Childeric II, in order to delimit the abbey territory, the territory of the abbey was enlarged westwards, so that Stavelot became the geographical centre and the capital of the principality. The first church in Stavelot was built by abbot Godwin and, on 25 June 685, was dedicated to saints Martin, the relics of Saint Remaclus were housed in this new church. In 747, Duke of the Franks and Mayor of the Palace of Austrasia, enlarged the abbeys lands with gifts from his own, throughout the ninth century, the abbeys played an important cultural role in Lotharingia, particularly thanks to abbot Christian. Through the seventh and eighth centuries, the two followed their mission of evangelism, along with forest clearance.
Welcoming pilgrims and the sick was a part of the monks mission, in December 881, including Godfrid, Duke of Frisia, invaded the area, burning both abbeys and causing the monks to flee with their treasures and relics. Several historical sources provide evidence of the raid of 881, which was prepared and organised. Stavelot and Malmedy were both burned, with the monks not returning until just before Christmas 882, with a stay in Chooz, relics from Aachen, which had been entrusted to the monks at Stavelot because of the Norman threat, were returned intact. After the invasions, abbot Odilon began to rebuild the abbey of Stavelot, with support from bishops of Liège—including Notker. The abbots Odilon and Werinfride rebuilt the abbeys, with new building, re-established the monastic community, by the time of the Ottonian dynasty in the early 10th century, the abbeys were once again of suitable Imperial stature. A new abbey church was built in Malmedy in 992, dedicated to St Quirinus, in 1007, another danger threatened the abbey—and the Western Empire—in the 10th century, the Hungarian invasions
Relic
In religion, a relic usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangible memorial. Relics are an important aspect of forms of Buddhism, Islam, Shamanism. Relic derives from the Latin reliquiae, meaning remains, and a form of the Latin verb relinquere, to leave behind, a reliquary is a shrine that houses one or more religious relics. In ancient Greece, a city or sanctuary might claim to possess, without necessarily displaying, the sanctuary of the Leucippides at Sparta claimed to display the egg of Leda. The bones were not regarded as holding a power derived from the hero, with some exceptions. Miracles and healing were not regularly attributed to them, their presence was meant to serve a tutelary function, the bones of Orestes and Theseus were supposed to have been stolen or removed from their original resting place and reburied. Plutarch says that the Athenians were likewise instructed by the oracle to locate, the body of the legendary Eurystheus was supposed to protect Athens from enemy attack, and in Thebes, that of the prophet Amphiaraus, whose cult was oracular and healing.
As with the relics of Theseus, the bones are sometimes described in sources as gigantic. On the basis of their size, it has been conjectured that such bones were those of prehistoric creatures. The head of the poet-prophet Orpheus was supposed to have transported to Lesbos. The 2nd-century geographer Pausanias reported that the bones of Orpheus were kept in a stone vase displayed on a pillar near Dion, his place of death and these too were regarded as having oracular power, which might be accessed through dreaming in a ritual of incubation. The accidental exposure of the bones brought a disaster upon the town of Libretha, according to the Chronicon Paschale, the bones of the Persian Zoroaster were venerated, but the tradition of Zoroastrianism and its scriptures offer no support of this. In Hinduism, relics are less common than in other religions since the remains of most saints are cremated. The veneration of corporal relics may have originated with the movement or the appearance of Buddhism.
In Buddhism, relics of the Buddha and various sages are venerated, after the Buddhas death, his remains were divided into eight portions. Afterward, these relics were enshrined in stupas wherever Buddhism was spread, some relics believed to be original remains of the body of the Buddha still survive, including the much-revered Sacred Relic of the tooth of the Buddha in Sri Lanka. A stupa is a building created specifically for the relics, many Buddhist temples have stupas and historically, the placement of relics in a stupa often became the initial structure around which the whole temple would be based. Today, many hold the ashes or ringsel of prominent/respected Buddhists who were cremated
Amandus
Amandus, commonly called Saint Amand, was a bishop of Tongeren-Maastricht and one of the great Christian missionaries of Flanders. He is venerated as a saint, particularly in France and Belgium, the chief source of details of his life is the Vita Sancti Amandi, an eighth-century text attributed to Beaudemond. The vita was expanded by Philippe, abbot of Aumône, according to this biography, Amand was born in Lower Poitou. He was of noble birth but at the age of twenty he became a monk on the Île dYeu, from there he went to Bourges and became a pupil of bishop Austregisilus. There he lived in solitude in a cell for fifteen years, living on no more than bread, after a pilgrimage to Rome, he was made a missionary bishop in France in 628, without a fixed diocese. At the request of Clotaire II, he evangelized the inhabitants of Ghent. Initially he had success, suffering persecution and undergoing great hardships. However, after performing a miracle the attitude of the people changed and he founded a monastery at Elnon where he served as abbot of for four years.
Amandus was made a bishop in 628, returning to France in 630, he angered Dagobert I by attempting to have the king amend his life. In spite of the intervention of Saint Acarius, Amand was expelled from the kingdom, Dagobert asked him to return and tutor the heir to the throne. In 633, Amandus founded two monasteries in Ghent, one at Blandinberg, and the named for St. Bavo. His next missionary task was among the Slavic people of the Danube valley in present-day Slovakia, Amand went to Rome and reported to the Pope. While returning to France, he is said to have calmed a storm at sea, in 639, he built an abbey near Tournay. From 647 till 650, Amand briefly served as Bishop of Maastricht, the pope gave him some advice on how to deal with disobedient clerics and warned him about the Monothelite heresy, at that time prevalent in the East. Amand was commissioned by the pope to organize church councils in Neustria and Austrasia in order to pass on the decrees from Rome. The bishops asked Amand to transmit the proceedings of the councils to the pope.
He resigned the see to St. Remaclus, to resume his missionary work, around this time, Amand established contact with the family of Pepin of Landen and helped Gertrude of Nivelles and her mother Itta establishing the famous monastery of Nivelles. At the same time, he was now 70 years old, returning home, he founded several more monasteries in present-day Belgium with the help of king Dagobert
Duchy of Thuringia
It was recreated in the Carolingian Empire and its dukes appointed by the king until it was absorbed by the Saxon dukes in 908. From about 1111/12 the territory was ruled by the Landgraves of Thuringia as Princes of the Holy Roman Empire, with Bisinus a first Thuringian king is documented about 500, who ruled over extended estates that stretched beyond the Main River in the south. His son and successor Hermanafrid married Amalaberga, a niece of the Ostrogoth king Theoderic the Great, when King Theoderic died in 526, they took the occasion to invade the Thuringian lands and finally carried off the victory in a 531 battle on the Unstrut River. King Theuderic of Rheims had Hermanafrid trapped in Zülpich where the last Thuringian king was killed and his niece Princess Radegund was kidnapped by King Chlothar I and died in exile in 586. The Thuringian realm was shattered, the north of the Harz mountain range was settled by Saxon tribes. The estates east of the Saale River were beyond Frankish control, the first documented duke of remaining Thuringia was a local noble named Radulf, installed by King Dagobert in the early 630s.
Radulf was able to secure the Frankish border along the Saale River in the east from Slavic incursions, a punitive expedition led by the Frankish Mayor of the Palace Grimoald ultimatively failed and Radulf was able to maintain his semi-autonomous position. A conflict with Charles Martel around 717–19 brought an end to autonomy, in 849, the eastern part of Thuringia was organised as the limes Sorabicus, or Sorbian March, and placed under a duke named Thachulf. After Thachulfs death in 873, the Sorbs rose in revolt, in 880, King Louis replaced Radulf with Poppo, perhaps a kinsman. Poppo instigated a war with Saxony in 882 and in 883 he and his brother Egino fought a war for control of Thuringia. Egino died in 886 and Poppo resumed command, in 892, King Arnulf replaced Poppo with Conrad. This was an act of patronage by the king, for Conrads house, the Conradines, were soon feuding with Poppos, but Conrads rule was short, perhaps because he had a lack of local support. He was replaced by Burchard, whose title in 903 was marchio Thuringionum, Burchard had to defend Thuringia from the incursions of the Magyars and was defeated and killed in battle, along with the former duke Egino, on 3 August 908.
He was the last recorded duke of Thuringia, the duchy was the smallest of the so-called younger stem duchies, and was absorbed by Saxony after Burchards death, when Burchards sons were finally expelled by Duke Henry the Fowler in 913. The Thuringians remained a distinct people, and in the Middle Ages their land was organised as a landgraviate, a separate Thuringian stem duchy did not exist during the emergence of the German kingdom from East Francia in the 10th century. Large parts of the Thuringian estates were controlled by the Counts of Weimar, according to the medieval chronicler Thietmar of Merseburg, Margrave Eckard I was appointed Thuringian duke. After his assassination 1002, Count William II of Weimar acted as Thuringian spokesman with King Henry II of Germany, Louis I had married the Rhenish Franconian countess Hedwig of Gudensberg and became the heir of extended estates in Thuringia and Hesse. A close ally of King Lothair II of Germany against the rising Hohenstaufen dynasty, the dynasty maintained the landgraviate throughout the fierce struggle of the Hohenstaufen and Welf royal families, occasionally switching sides according to the circumstances
Saint
A saint, historically known as a hallow, is a term used for a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness or likeness to God. Depending on the context and denomination, the term retains its original Christian meaning, as any believer who is in Christ and in whom Christ dwells, whether in Heaven or on Earth. Depending on the religion, saints are recognized either by official ecclesiastical declaration, the English word saint comes from the Latin sanctus. The word translated the Greek ἅγιος, which derives from the verb ἁγιάζω, the word ἅγιος appears 229 times in the Greek New Testament, and its English translation 60 times in the corresponding text of the King James Version of the Bible. In the New Testament, saint did not denote the deceased who had recognized as especially holy or emulable. Many religions use similar concepts to venerate persons worthy of some honor, the anthropologist Lawrence Babb in an article about Sathya Sai Baba asks the question Who is a saint.
These saintly figures, he asserts, are the points of spiritual force-fields. They exert powerful attractive influence on followers but touch the lives of others in transforming ways as well. In the Bible, only one person is called a saint, They envied Moses in the camp. The apostle Paul declared himself to be less than the least of all saints in Ephesians 3,8, in the Catholic Church, a saint is anyone in Heaven, whether recognized on Earth or not. There are many persons that the Church believes to be in Heaven who have not been formally canonized, sometimes the word saint denotes living Christians. They remind us that the Church is holy, can never stop being holy and is called to show the holiness of God by living the life of Christ, the Catholic Church teaches that it does not make or create saints, but rather recognizes them. Proofs of heroicity required in the process of beatification will serve to illustrate in detail the general principles exposed above upon proof of their holiness or likeness to God.
On 3 January 993, Pope John XV became the first pope to proclaim a person a saint, on the petition of the German ruler, before that time, the popular cults, or venerations, of saints had been local and spontaneous. Pope John XVIII subsequently permitted a cult of five Polish martyrs, walter of Pontoise was the last person in Western Europe to be canonized by an authority other than the Pope, Hugh de Boves, the Archbishop of Rouen, canonized him in 1153. Thenceforth a decree of Pope Alexander III in 1170 reserved the prerogative of canonization to the Pope, one source claims that there are over 10,000 named saints and beatified people from history, the Roman Martyrology and Orthodox sources, but no definitive head count. Alban Butler published Lives of the Saints in 1756, including a total of 1,486 saints, the latest revision of this book, edited by Rev. Herbert Thurston, SJ and British author Donald Attwater, contains the lives of 2,565 saints. Monsignor Robert Sarno, an official of the Congregation for the Causes of Saints of the Holy See, expressed that it is impossible to give an exact number of saints
Nancy Cathedral
Nancy Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church located in the town of Nancy, France. Erected in the 18th century, it is a national monument, king Sigebert III of Austrasia was laid to rest here. Declared a saint later, the became a pilgrimage site. The cathedral is dedicated to the Holy Virgin and him, the cathedrals architecture dates mainly to the 17-18th century. The great organ of the cathedral of Nancy has been built from 1756 by Nicolas Dupont, one century later, Aristide Cavaillé-Coll signed here its biggest work in France outside of Paris. The organists of these Monument Historique organ are Johann Vexo and Guillaume Beaudoin. S, bach - Sinfonia of Cantata BWV29 J. S. Bach - Fantasy and fugue in C minor BWV537 F. Liszt - Consolation in D flat C. M, widor - Andante sostenuto Audio contents
Cunibert
Saint Cunibert, Cunipert, or Kunibert was the ninth Bishop of Cologne from 627 to his death. Contemporary sources only mention him between 627 and 643, Cunibert was born somewhere along the Moselle to a family of the local Ripuarian Frankish aristocracy and educated at Metz at the court of Chlothar II. He entered the church and became archdeacon of Trier and he was elected bishop of Cologne in 627. As bishop, Cunibert served as an advisor to King Dagobert I and he was created co-regent along with the mayor of the palace, Adalgisel, in Austrasia following the investiture of Sigebert III, Dagoberts son and heir. Following the death of Adalgisels successor Pepin of Landen, Cunibert served as the public official of the king. Throughout his episcopacy, monasticism flourished and churches were founded and restored and he is regarded today as a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and his feast day is the day of his death, November 12. He is buried in a church bearing his name in Cologne, city where he lived and died
Dagobert I
Dagobert I was the king of Austrasia, king of all the Franks, and king of Neustria and Burgundy. He was the last king of the Merovingian dynasty to wield any real royal power, Dagobert was the first of the Frankish kings to be buried in the royal tombs at Saint Denis Basilica. Dagobert was the eldest son of Chlothar II and Haldetrude, Chlothar had reigned alone over all the Franks since 613. In 623, Chlothar was forced to make Dagobert king of Austrasia by the nobility of that region, the rule of a Frank from the Austrasian heartland tied Alsace more closely to the Austrasian court. Dagobert created a new duchy in southwest Austrasia to guard the region from Burgundian or Alemannic encroachments, the duchy comprised the Vosges, the Burgundian Gate, and the Transjura. Dagobert made his courtier Gundoin the first duke of this new polity that was to last until the end of the Merovingian dynasty, upon the death of his father in 629, Dagobert inherited the Neustrian and Burgundian kingdoms. His half-brother Charibert, son of Sichilde, claimed Neustria but Dagobert opposed him, brother of Sichilde, petitioned Dagobert on behalf of his young nephew, but Dagobert assassinated him and gave the Aquitaine to his own younger sibling.
Charibert and his son Chilperic were assassinated in 632, Dagobert had Burgundy and Aquitaine firmly under his rule, becoming the most powerful Merovingian king in many years and the most respected ruler in the West. In 631, Dagobert led three armies against Samo, the ruler of the Slavs, but his Austrasian forces were defeated at Wogastisburg, in 632, the nobles of Austrasia revolted under the mayor of the palace, Pepin of Landen. As king, Dagobert made Paris his capital, during his reign, he built the Altes Schloss in Meersburg, which today is the oldest inhabited castle in that country. Devoutly religious, Dagobert was responsible for the construction of the Saint Denis Basilica and he appointed St. Arbogast bishop of Strasbourg. Dagobert died in the abbey of Saint-Denis and was the first Frankish king to be buried in the Saint Denis Basilica, the author of the Chronicle of Fredegar criticises the king for his loose morals in having three queens almost simultaneously, as well as several concubines.
The chronicle names the queens and the otherwise obscure Wulfegundis and Berchildis, in 625/6 Dagobert married Gormatrude, a sister of his fathers wife Sichilde, but the marriage was childless. After divorcing Gormatrude in 629/30 he made Nanthild, a Saxon servant from his personal entourage and she gave birth to, Clovis II king of Neustria and Burgundy. Shortly after his marriage to Nanthild, he took a girl called Ragnetrude to his bed and it has been speculated that Regintrud, abbess of Nonnberg Abbey, was a child of Dagobert, although this theory does not fit Regintruds supposed date of birth between 660 and 665. She married into the Bavarian Agilolfing family
Childebert the Adopted
Childebert III the Adopted was a Frankish king. Childebert was a son of the Mayor of the Palace Grimoald the Elder and he was thus a grandson of Pepin of Landen. He was adopted by King Sigebert III and Queen Chimnechild, when Sigebert III died in 656, Grimoald had Sigebert’s biological son Dagobert II shorn of hair and sent him to an Irish monastery and proclaimed Childebert king of Austrasia. Grimoald and Ansegisel were finally seized and turned over to the king of Neustria, Clovis II, there are two differing accounts of his death, however. Either Clovis and his mayor of the palace, Erchinoald and executed him in 657 or Chlothar III annexed Austrasia in 661, deposing the young usurper, the family reappeared in politics with the rise of Ansegisel’s son, Pepin of Herstal
Clovis II
Clovis II succeeded his father Dagobert I in 639 as King of Neustria and Burgundy. His brother Sigebert III had been King of Austrasia since 634 and he was initially under the regency of his mother Nanthild until her death in her early thirties in 642. This death allowed him to fall under the influence of the secular magnates, Clovis wife, whose Anglo-Saxon origins are now considered doubtful, was sold into slavery in Gaul. She had been owned by Clovis mayor of the palace and she bore him three sons who all became kings after his death. The eldest, succeeded him and his second eldest, the youngest, succeeded Childeric in Neustria and eventually became the sole king of the Franks. Clovis was a minor for almost the whole of his reign and he is sometimes regarded as king of Austrasia during the interval 656–57 when Childebert the Adopted had usurped the throne. He is often regarded as an early roi fainéant, medieval monks deemed him insane and attribute the stupidity of his descendants to that cause.
Noted Belgian historian Henri Pirenne stated that Clovis died insane, Clovis II was buried in Saint Denis Basilica, Paris. Media related to Clovis II at Wikimedia Commons
Dynasty
A dynasty is a sequence of rulers from the same family, usually in the context of a feudal or monarchical system but sometimes appearing in elective republics. The dynastic family or lineage may be known as a house, historians periodize the histories of many sovereign states, such as Ancient Egypt, the Carolingian Empire and Imperial China, using a framework of successive dynasties. As such, the dynasty may be used to delimit the era during which the family reigned and to describe events, trends. The word dynasty itself is often dropped from such adjectival references, until the 19th century, it was taken for granted that a legitimate function of a monarch was to aggrandize his dynasty, that is, to increase the territory and power of his family members. The longest-surviving dynasty in the world is the Imperial House of Japan, dynasties throughout the world have traditionally been reckoned patrilineally, such as under the Frankish Salic law. Succession through a daughter when permitted was considered to establish a new dynasty in her husbands ruling house, some states in Africa, determined descent matrilineally, while rulers have at other times adopted the name of their mothers dynasty when coming into her inheritance.
It is extended to unrelated people such as poets of the same school or various rosters of a single sports team. The word dynasty derives via Latin dynastia from Greek dynastéia, where it referred to power, dominion and it was the abstract noun of dynástēs, the agent noun of dynamis, power or ability, from dýnamai, to be able. A ruler in a dynasty is referred to as a dynast. For example, following his abdication, Edward VIII of the United Kingdom ceased to be a member of the House of Windsor. A dynastic marriage is one that complies with monarchical house law restrictions, the marriage of Willem-Alexander, Prince of Orange, to Máxima Zorreguieta in 2002 was dynastic, for example, and their eldest child is expected to inherit the Dutch crown eventually. But the marriage of his younger brother Prince Friso to Mabel Wisse Smit in 2003 lacked government support, thus Friso forfeited his place in the order of succession, lost his title as a Prince of the Netherlands, and left his children without dynastic rights.
In historical and monarchist references to formerly reigning families, a dynast is a member who would have had succession rights, were the monarchys rules still in force. Even since abolition of the Austrian monarchy and his descendants have not been considered the rightful pretenders by Austrian monarchists, nor have they claimed that position. The term dynast is sometimes used only to refer to descendants of a realms monarchs. The term can therefore describe overlapping but distinct sets of people, yet he is not a male-line member of the royal family, and is therefore not a dynast of the House of Windsor. Thus, in 1999 he requested and obtained permission from Elizabeth II to marry the Roman Catholic Princess Caroline of Monaco. Yet a clause of the English Act of Settlement 1701 remained in effect at that time and that exclusion, ceased to apply on 26 March 2015, with retroactive effect for those who had been dynasts prior to triggering it by marriage to a Catholic
