ON ST. THEOFRID, BISHOP OF ALBI IN GAUL.
Seventh century.
CommentaryTheofridus, Bishop of Albi in Gaul (St.)
[1] The first Abbot of Corbie on the Somme was Theofredus, or Theofridus, or Theodefredus, summoned from the monastery of Luxeuil, and afterward created Bishop. Concerning him the author of the earlier Life of St. Bathild, number 7, says: St. Theofrid, Abbot of Corbie, "And what a monastery she built by her own work, called Corbie, in the diocese of Amiens, where the venerable man the Lord Theudofredus -- now Bishop, but then Abbot -- presided over a great flock of Brothers, whom the aforesaid Lady Bathild had requested from the most reverend Lord Galbert, former Abbot, from the monastery of Luxeuil, and had wonderfully directed to that same monastery of Brothers, which stands to this day and is praiseworthy." The same is found in the second Life, number 9.
[2] Trithemius, book 4 of Illustrious Men of the Order of St. Benedict, chapter 209, calls him Tendefridus and says that he was a learned man and left not a few monuments of his talent -- but what were they? He adds that he was most illustrious no less in his character than in his lineage. Bishop of Albi. Whence did Trithemius derive this? As to his saying he was Bishop of Albi, Wion, book 2, Lignum vitae, chapter 37, interprets this as Albigensian. Albi, or Albia, is a city of Gallia Narbonensis, situated on the river Tarn, ten miles from Toulouse and the same distance from Rodez, distinguished by a wealthy bishopric and by the admirable basilica of St. Cecilia the Virgin, as Papirius Massonus writes in his book On the Rivers of Gaul. Among the Bishops of Albi, John Chenu and Claudius Robert number St. Theofrid, but they incorrectly place him after St. Salvius, before Desideratus and Constantius. For after the death of St. Salvius, St. Gregory of Tours says, book 8, chapter 22, Desideratus was given as Bishop to the Albigensians, before the year 595. Constantius, however, attended the Council of Rheims under Sonnatius around the year 630, when Corbie had not yet been founded. The name of Theofrid is lacking in the catalogue of the Bishops of Albi as given by William Catellus.
[3] That he died on January 26 is reported by Wion, Chenu, and Claudius Robert, and all call him a Saint. Ferrari on the same day: feast day, "In Aquitaine, St. Theodofredus, Bishop of Albi." That bishopric is indeed reckoned to Aquitaine I in the catalogue of the provinces of Gaul, because the principal part of the diocese lies on this side of the Tarn, which is the boundary of Aquitaine, although the city of Albi itself lies beyond the Tarn in Gallia Narbonensis. On the same day Saussay celebrates him with a rather extensive eulogy, drawn from the Life of St. Bathild. We have found nothing else about him so far.