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St. Robert of Rheims


Frankish RIGOBERT
VII/VIII Centuries
St. Rigoberto (or Robert) was born at Ribemont and became a monk at Orbais. He later became abbot of the Benedictine house. Pippin (d. 714) appointed him archbishop of Rheims because he was a Ripuarian, an inhabitant of the Rhine valley who obeyed Frankish law. Before his appointment to the see, Rigoberto had baptized and, some legends say, sponsored Charles Martel (d. 741), with whom he later quarreled over the latter's insistence that he controlled the church. Famed for his organizational skill, Rigoberto refused to support Martel in a dispute with the mayor of Neustria; Martel exiled him to Gascony c. 721. Martel appointed Milo, a more pliant churchman, to the bishopric. The two clergymen were later reconciled: Rigoberto came back to Rheims and was allowed to perform liturgical functions in the cathedral, and Milo remained as archbishop. Rigoberto became a hermit. He died c. 730, and his relics were kept at St-Denis in Rheims.

Karen Rae Keck

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