A Church Called Saint Discord

By Kim Rendfeld

When the churchman Virgil arrived at Mayor of the Palace Pippin’s residence in Quierzy-sur-Oise in late 743 or early 744, did he foresee his role in a dispute between a ruler of Francia and his brother-in-law, the duke of Bavaria?

Virgil apparently had been abbot of Aghaboe in Ireland before deciding to embark on a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There is some dispute over his nationality. He might have been an Irishman, from a high-ranking family, perhaps a descendant of the legendary King Niall. Or he could have been a Frank or Bavarian who had studied in Ireland. For my work in progress, I’m leaning toward high-ranking Irishman. If he was from the nobility, he would have been familiar with the role of politics in his homeland and understood the need to make the right allies.

Saint Virgil, photo by Karin Rager
(CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

The summer before Virgil arrived at Quierzy, Pippin and his elder brother, Karlomann, mayor of the palace for a different region of Francia, had been at war with Bavarian Duke Odilo. The brothers were probably still steamed that their sister, Chiltrude, had run off to marry Odilo, the father of her unborn child, two years earlier. After the most recent war, Pippin and Karloman claimed victory, but in reality, the fighting had dealt heavy losses to both sides.

Nevertheless, Odilo remained in power, without ceding territory or paying tribute. A few months after the war, the episcopal chancery of Freising gave Odilo the title “gloriossisimus,” also used for Frankish kings and mayors of the palace. At that time, Francia had a king, Childeric III, who gave the brother moral authority, but he owed his position to the mayors of the palace, who had found him in a monastery and installed him on the throne.

It’s not too much of stretch to think that residents of Quierzy were still talking about the recent war, grousing about how Odilo sent a papal legate to Pippin on the eve of battle to tell him to back off. Perhaps they were furious when they learned Odilo had the title of “gloriossisimus.” That spring, Virgil likely knew about Pippin’s reaction to Karlomann making a separate peace with Odilo, perhaps with Bishop Boniface as a mediator.

We don’t know exactly what Virgil and Pippin talked about or how often they interacted. Apparently, Pippin was impressed with how learned Virgil was. Another thing might have impressed Pippin even more: he could count on Virgil as an ally.

Pippin needed allies in Bavaria. The bishops, three of whom were appointed by Boniface in 739, were loyal to Odilo. If Boniface did broker Karlomann and Odilo’s peace agreement, Pippin probably thought he couldn’t trust the Anglo-Saxon bishop, either.

At Niederaltaich abbey church, the founder, Bishop Pirmin,
plants a new oak with Odilo (photo by Wolfgang Sauber,
CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)

After a few months or two years at Quierzy, Virgil went to Salzburg, the see held by Bishop Johannes. In the mid-740s, there might have been speculation about Johannes’ health. Johannes died in June 745 or 747. Close to that time, 746, Virgil and another cleric complained to the pope that Boniface had enjoined them from administering baptisms. Boniface and Virgil’s disagreement centered on a priest who had botched the Latin. Instead of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the priest had baptized the child in the name of the fatherland, daughter, and Holy Spirit. Boniface said the baptism was invalid, while Virgil argued it was. Perhaps realizing that bad Latin was common, the pope sided with Virgil.

Boniface and Virgil still clashed. Probably in 747, Boniface complained to the pope that Virgil was sowing discord between Boniface and Odilo, and he accused Virgil of teaching doctrine contrary to Scripture.

In 747, Virgil became abbot of Saint Peter monastery in Salzburg. A fellow Irishman, Dobdagrecus, served as bishop, apparently at Virgil’s direction. The Irish had a different hierarchy than the Continent. There, bishops were under the authority of abbots. Soon after he became abbot, Virgil picked a fight with Odilo and asserted his abbey rights over the site of a small monastery in Bischofshofen.

Photo by Wolfgang Sauber, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The site of a miracle, monastery dedicated to Saint Maximillian had been founded before 716 by Salzburg Bishop Rupert, Duke Thedo, and two brothers from the noble Albini clan, Tonanzo and Urso. Although the land in question officially belonged to the Church, the Bavarian donor family expected to maintain control of it, a common practice. The Albini brothers’ nephews or sons trained as clerics at Salzburg. They asked for and received at least half the property from Rupert. The monastery was later destroyed by Slavs and abandoned.

After Odilo returned from exile in 741, he entrusted the property to his archchaplain, Urso, who was either one of the founders or a relative. Urso had accompanied Odilo to exile in Charles Martel’s court, and the duke might granted Urso’s request as a reward for loyalty.

Odilo also needed someone he could trust at Bischofshofen. It was strategically placed on the upper Salzach River, across the Lueg Pass south of Salzburg, near an old Roman road traversing the High Tauern Alps. Odilo would have been loath to let someone loyal to an adversary have it. At first, Odilo offered Virgil property somewhere else, but Virgil turned it down. After a while, Odilo gave Virgil half the property at Bischofshofen.

Virgil built a church on his side, still demanding the rest of the property, and Urso, with Odilo’s support, constructed a church on his portion. Urso went so far as to have a bishop without a see consecrate the church. Virgil retaliated by banning priests from practicing rites there, calling Urso’s church “Saint Discord.”

Odilo died on January 18, 748, and his six-year-old son, Tassilo, succeeded him. Likely serving as regent, the widowed Chiltrude might have sought support for her son when she and Tassilo made a generous gift to Salzburg in Odilo’s memory.

After another war in 748-49 over who would rule Bavaria, ending with Pippin restoring Tassilo to his duchy, Virgil became that bishop of Salzburg. He and Tassilo had an alliance that would last until Virgil’s death in 784. Yet “Saint Discord” remained under ban all that time.

Sources

From Ducatus to Regnum: Ruling Bavaria under the Merovingians and Early Carolingians by Carl I. Hammer

Unjust Seizure: Conflict, Interest, and Authority in an Early Medieval Society by Warren Brown

Land and Landscape: The Transition from Agilolfing to Carolingian Bavaria, 700-900 by Leanne Marie Good

Conflicting Loyalties in Early Medieval Bavaria: A View of Socio-Political Interaction, 680-900 by Kathy Lynne Roper Pearson

"History and Memory in Early Medieval Bavaria," History and Memory in the Carolingian World by Rosamond McKitterick

"St. Vergilius of Salzburg" by William Turner, The Catholic Encyclopedia

“St. Virgilius,” EWN


~~~~~~~~~~

In Kim Rendfeld's Queen of the Darkest Hour, Queen Fastrada must stop a conspiracy before it destroys everyone and everything she loves. The book is available on Amazon, iBooks, Barnes & Noble, Kobo, and Smashwords.

Kim has written two other books set in 8th century Francia. In The Cross and the Dragon, a Frankish noblewoman must contend with a jilted suitor and the fear of losing her husband (available on Amazon). In The Ashes of Heaven's Pillar, a Saxon peasant will fight for her children after losing everything else (available on Amazon). Kim's short story “Betrothed to the Red Dragon,” about Guinevere’s decision to marry Arthur, is set in early medieval Britain and available on Amazon.

Connect with Kim at on her website kimrendfeld.com, her blog, Outtakes of a Historical Novelist at kimrendfeld.wordpress.com, on Facebook at facebook.com/authorkimrendfeld, or follow her on Twitter at @kimrendfeld.