HERISTAL
. On the Meuse about six miles northeast of Liège, Heristal (modern Herstal) was one of
the residences of the Carolingians. The Meuse Valley, a region of many lands belonging
to the Pippinid ancestors of the Carolingians as well as to many of their aristocratic
supporters, was the center of their early power. Pepin II is sometimes called Pepin of
Heristal. It was the principal residence of Charlemagne until 784 and sometimes the site
of general assemblies of the Franks, one of which produced the Capitulary of Heristal
(779).
Steven Fanning
[See also: PEPIN]
Ewig, Eugen. “Résidence et capitale dans le haut moyen âge.” In Spätantikes und fränkisches
Gallien: Gesammelte Schriften (1952–1973). 2 vols. Zurich: Artemis, 1976, Vol. 1, pp. 390–95.
HILDEBERT OF LAVARDIN
(1055/56–1133). Hildebert was born at Lavardin, near Vendôme, but little is known
about his early years. In 1091, he was appointed director of the cathedral school at Le
Mans, and in 1096 he was elected bishop of Le Mans. Hildebert’s ecclesiastical career
was fraught with political conflicts. In 1099, for example, William II Rufus, king of
England and duke of Normandy, forced Hildebert into exile in England, claiming that the
bishop had used his office to launch an attack against William’s castle in Le Mans.
Hildebert returned to Le Mans in 1100 after William’s death. In 1125, he was elected
archbishop of Tours. Although much that has been attributed to Hildebert is spurious, he
nevertheless left behind a significant body of work that attests to his literary
accomplishments. His best-known prose works, however, do not reveal great originality.
His Vita sanctae Radegundis, for example, is a revision of an account by Fortunatus,
whom he credits as his source. De querimonia et conflictu carnis et spiritus seu animae is
modeled on Boethius’s De consolatione Philosophiae. More successful as a poet,
Hildebert displayed both originality and versatility in his verse. His poems include an
account of his exile in England, a eulogy to Berengar of Tours, and descriptions of Rome
inspired by his three visits to that city. Using his vast classical knowledge to illustrate
religious themes in his poetry, Hildebert is an important representative of the Christian-
Latin culture that began to develop at the close of the 11th century.
E.Kay Harris
[See also: BOETHIUS, INFLUENCE OF; LATIN LYRIC POETRY]
Hildebert of Lavardin. Opera. PL 171(1854). 9–1458. [Includes much that is spurious.]
——. Hildeberti Cenomanensis episcopi carmina minora, ed. A.Brian Scott. Leipzig: Teubner,
1969.
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