Liawizo

ON BLESSED LIBENTIUS, ARCHBISHOP OF BREMEN.

Year of Christ 1013.

Libentius, Archbishop of Bremen (St.)

The name of Archbishop Libentius is inscribed in the sacred calendar on this day. For Ferrarius in his general Catalogue of the Saints has: "At Bremen in Saxony, St. Lubentius the Bishop." The Benedictine Calendar published at St-Malo: "St. Lubentius the Archbishop, who even after being made bishop lived in the cloister as one of the brethren, and by his preaching converted many to the faith." He is also recorded by Arnold Wion and Hugo Menardus with a fuller eulogy, in the words of Krantzius.

Various authors have written about him; we shall give here what Master Adam of Bremen transmitted in his Ecclesiastical History, chapter 71, or Book 2, chapter 29.

LIFE FROM ADAM OF BREMEN.

Libentius, Archbishop of Bremen (St.)

By Adam of Bremen.

CHAPTER I.

The Outstanding Virtues of Blessed Libentius.

[1] Libentius held office for twenty-five years. He received the pallium from Pope John XV. * He received the episcopal staff from Otto III. He was the first of all to be consecrated by his suffragans. Consecration, learning, homeland of Blessed Libentius. He was a most learned man, adorned with all probity of character, who had once followed Bishop Adaldagus from Italy — and emulating his life and teaching, he alone was found worthy by the disposition of so great a father to be entrusted with the care of the Hamburg diocese.

[2] Chastity. He was a man of such chastity that he rarely allowed himself to be seen by women; of such abstinence Abstinence. Humility. that he bore a face made pale by fasting; and of such humility and charity that he lived in the cloister as one of the brethren. Many indeed were his virtues: for, content with what he had, he rarely went to court to acquire more. Sitting quietly at home, Care for his flock. Zeal for souls. Care of guests and the sick. he gave the most diligent care to his diocese, and turning all his effort to the profit of souls, he maintained all his communities under the strictest rule.

[3] The archbishop also personally cared for the hospital, ministering daily to the brethren and the sick; and in his turn he entrusted the hospice to his nephew Libentius. While there was still peace in * Slavonia, he frequently visited the peoples across the Elbe and nurtured the mother church of Hamburg with paternal love. He carried out his mission to the pagan nations, as his predecessors had done, with diligence, although the wickedness of the times stood in the way. He visits his diocese.

* Whether this is probable we shall discuss in the life of St. Gregory VII on May 25. Adam wrote when that question was especially being debated under Emperor Henry IV, so it should not seem surprising if he either favored the Emperor's side or was otherwise mistaken, following the erring crowd.

* Krantzius: Vandalia.

CHAPTER II.

The Tyrant Sven and the Pirates Punished.

[4] King Sven of Denmark, refusing to heed him, is defeated in war. At that time, when King Sven of Denmark had carried out a great persecution of Christians in Denmark, the archbishop labored with suppliant envoys and frequent gifts to render the fierce king's spirit gentle toward the Christians. But Sven, having rejected these, did not cease to rage in his cruelty and perfidy — and the divine vengeance followed the king who rebelled against God. For when he undertook war against a the Slavs, he was captured twice and carried b into Slavonia, and was twice ransomed by the Danes for an enormous weight of gold. Yet he still did not wish to return to God, whom he had first offended by the death c of his father, and then by the slaughter of the faithful. And the Lord, angered in his wrath, delivered him into the hands of his enemies, that he might learn not to blaspheme.

[5] Then the most powerful King of the Swedes, Heric, having collected an innumerable army, great as the sand of the sea, invaded Denmark, and Sven, forsaken by God, went out to meet him, hoping in vain in his idols. Naval battles of the Northerners. But when all the forces of the Danes had been crushed on both sides in a naval battle (for that nation is accustomed to fight in this way), King Heric, the victor, obtained Denmark. Sven, therefore, expelled from the kingdom, received from God the Zealous the reward worthy of his deeds. From whom the author had this. And the younger Sven related to us, astonished, that these things happened to his grandfather by the just judgment of God, because he had forsaken him whom his father had as a good defender.

[6] They say that at that time a fleet of pirates, whom our people call Ascomannos, having landed in Saxony, devastated all the maritime regions of Frisia and Hadeln. Danes and Swedes devastate Lower Saxony: When they ascended through the mouth of the river Elbe and broke into the province, the assembled Saxon magnates, having but a small army, went out from the ships and met the barbarians at Stade, which is a strategic stronghold of the port of the Elbe. That battle was great and memorable, but less than fortunate, for though both sides fought manfully, our men were at last found to be the lesser. The Swedes and Danes therefore crushed the entire strength of the Saxons. Captured there were Sigafried the Margrave, Thiadericus the Count, They rage cruelly against the captives. and other illustrious men, whom the barbarians, binding their hands behind their backs, dragged to the ships, shackled their feet with chains, and then plundered the entire province with impunity. But when only the Margrave Sigafried escaped from the captives, stolen away secretly at night by the help of a certain fisherman, the pirates immediately turned to fury — and all whom they held in bonds, making sport of the better men, they mutilated in hands and feet, and cutting off their noses, disfigured them and cast them half-dead upon the ground. Among these were certain noble men who survived long afterward, a reproach to the Empire and a pitiable spectacle to all the people of that deed. This slaughter was soon avenged by Duke Benno and Margrave Sigafried, They are slain. who arrived with an army, to such a degree that all the pirates whom we said had disembarked at Stade were crushed by them with the Lord's help.

[7] Another band of them, led into the marshes by a captive, is slaughtered. The other part of the Ascomannos, who had disembarked by the river Weser and plundered as far as Liestmona by way of Hadeln, arrived with a great multitude of captives at a marsh called Glindesmor, where, having been attacked by our men who followed behind, they were all slaughtered to the last man; their number was twenty thousand. A certain Saxon horseman who had been captured by them, having been made their guide, led them into the more difficult parts of the marsh, where, long fatigued, they were easily overcome by our men. His name was Heriward, and he is celebrated with perpetual praise by the Saxons.

[8] Bremen is walled for fear of pirates. From that time, frequent hostile attacks by pirates were made upon this region. For all the cities of Saxony had been struck with great fear. Then Bremen too began to be fortified with a most sturdy wall. And Archbishop Libentius had the treasure of the Church and all the ecclesiastical furnishings transported to the Provostry of Bücken. So great was the fear in all the borders of this diocese. For the bishop himself cursed the pirates Blessed Libentius excommunicates the pirates. who were devastating the bishopric with anathema. One * of them, dying in Norway, remained with his body intact for seventy years, until the time of Archbishop Adalbert, when Bishop Alward came there and absolved the dead man from the bond of excommunication, The force of ecclesiastical excommunication. and immediately the corpse dissolved into ashes.

[9] After the vengeance for the crimes he had committed against the churches of God and the Christians, King Sven, defeated and deserted by his own — for God had deserted him — wandered about, bereft and helpless, and came to the Norwegians, where Thrucco, son of Hakon, was then reigning. He, though a pagan, [Sven, a fugitive, wanders about, rejected by the Norwegians and English, received by the Scots.] was nevertheless moved by no compassion for the exile. So that unhappy man, rejected by the entire world, crossed to England, vainly seeking consolation from his enemies. At that time, Aethelred, son of Edgar, ruled over Britain. He, not unmindful of the injuries the Danes had from ancient times inflicted upon the English, repelled the exile. At last the King of the Scots, taking pity on his misfortune, kindly received him and kept him with him for fourteen years during his exile, until the death of Heric. These perils of his parricide grandfather, King Sven recounted to us, astonished. Then he turned his narrative to Heric the conqueror.

a Krantzius: the Vandals. b Krantzius: Julian, or Julinum. c Of blessed Harald, of whom we shall treat on November 1. * Krantzius says he was their leader.

CHAPTER III.

Libentius Ordains Many Bishops and Sends Them to Convert the Nations.

[10] Bishop Poppo of Schleswig handles hot iron unharmed: Heric, he said, held two kingdoms, of the Danes and the Swedes, and he himself a pagan, was very hostile to the Christians. To him was sent as an envoy of the Emperor and the Hamburg Archbishop a certain Poppo, a holy and wise man, then ordained Bishop of Schleswig, to demand on the Emperor's behalf the rights regarding the Danish kingdom or peace for the Christians. They also say that, for the assertion of Christianity, when the barbarians after their custom sought a sign, Poppo did not delay but immediately carried hot * iron in his hand and was found to be unharmed. And when this seemed easily to remove all ambiguity of error for the pagans, the saint of God showed yet another equally great miracle to further remove the paganism of that people: namely, clothed in a wax-coated tunic, standing in the midst of the people in a circle, he ordered it to be set on fire in the name of the Lord. He himself, with eyes and hands raised toward heaven, Likewise remains unharmed when his wax-coated garment is burned away. bore the melting flames so patiently that when the garment was entirely consumed and reduced to ash, he testified with a cheerful and joyful countenance that he had not felt even the smoke of the fire. Through the novelty of this miracle, many thousands believed through him at that time, and to this day the name of Poppo is celebrated among the peoples and churches of the Danes. Some confirm these things happened at Ribe, others at Schleswig.

[11] Odincar, Apostle of the Swedes and Danes. At that time there also flourished in Denmark the elder Odincar of happy memory, of whom we spoke above, who, preaching in Funen, Zealand, Scania, and in Sweden, converted many to the Christian faith. His disciple and grandson was the younger Odincar, himself also noble, of royal Danish blood, so rich in land that they report the Bishopric of Ribe was founded from his patrimony. He had long since been placed in the schools of Bremen and was baptized by Bishop Adaldagus with his own hands, who called him Adaldagus after his own name. His grandson becomes Bishop of Ribe. He was now ordained by Archbishop Libentius for the mission to the nations and received his see at Ribe. For he was acceptable to God and to men by his illustrious life and holy manner of living, and he defended Christianity in Denmark most valiantly. These we have found to be famous in that region at that time, while others who had survived from the days of Adaldagus were not idle. They also progressed into Norway and gathered many people for Jesus Christ.

[12] Blessed Libentius consecrates a church of a provostry at Rosfeld. The same Adam a little further on, in chapter 32 of Book 2, has the following: "At the same time, the venerable Count Henry established a provostry at Rosfeld with the consent of Archbishop Libentius and with the archbishop consecrating the church. These things were done in the last period of the elder Libentius, under Duke Bernard, son of Hermann, who grievously afflicted the Slavic people. At which time also the dispute of Bishop Bernard of Verden concerning Ramsloh was settled before Pope Sergius." Krantzius gives a fuller account, writing that the place was awarded to Libentius in memory of St. Anschar. Sergius IV held the papacy from August 31, 1009 until May 13, 1012.

[13] In the twenty-second year of the Archbishop, therefore, Duke Benno of the Saxons died, and his brother Ludger, who together with his venerable wife Emma did many good things for the Church of Bremen. At Magdeburg, Daganus succeeded Archbishop Gislerius. Then Walthardus merited the chair. Libentius ordains many bishops and sends them to the nations. Meanwhile, our archbishop, solicitous about his mission to the pagan nations, ordained several bishops, whose names and sees are uncertain because a time of persecution came upon them. As we have learned from the account of the Fathers, Esico succeeded Poppo at Schleswig; Odincar was distinguished at Ribe, as we said above. And the report is that after the death of Archbishop Adaldagus, the entire region of Jutland was divided into two bishoprics down to our own time, with the third at Aarhus having ceased to exist. For Slavonia, however, the archbishop ordained Folcquard, and then Reginbert, of whom the former, having been expelled from Slavonia, was sent by the archbishop to Sweden or Norway, where, having won many for the Lord, he returned with joy.

[14] Libentius dies. After this, with all things well ordered, the blessed Archbishop Libentius died, together with the Bishop of Verden, in the year of the Lord 1013, in the eleventh Indiction, and was buried in the middle of the choir, before the steps of the sanctuary, on the day before the Nones of January.

[15] Nearly the same things about Libentius are written by Albert Krantzius in the Metropolis, Book 3, chapters 42 and 48, and by the author of the history of the Bishops of Bremen published with the history of Adam by Erpoldus Lindenbrogius.

* Krantzius adds that this iron was formed in the shape of a glove.